How do you categorize skills on a resume?

Here’s how you categorize skills on a resume: List your hard skills first. You can categorize these skills under the heading “hard skills.” Hard skills are the skills or certifications necessary to do the job. For example, you need a driver’s license to be a taxi driver. List your soft skills next. You can categorize these skills under the heading “soft skills” or “additional skills.” Soft skills are linked to your personality. For example, if you’re outgoing, you likely have great interpersonal skills. Employers want to hire people with strong soft skills because they work better within a team.

How can I describe my skills on my resume?

Describe your skills on your resume by focusing on your accomplishments and using action-oriented language. Instead of just listing skills, provide specific examples of how you’ve applied those skills to achieve results in the professional experience section of your resume. Use your bullet points to describe achievements and connect them to relevant skills, and quantify achievements by using metrics to demonstrate the impact of your skills.

What should not be listed in a resume skills section?

Things that shouldn’t be listed in your resume skills section are irrelevant or overly generic skills. Skills that aren’t related to the job you’re applying for clutter your resume and dilute its focus. Additionally, omit skills that are too basic or assumed for the role. For example, basic computer skills or proficiency in Microsoft Office are assumed for a lot of jobs and probably don’t need to be listed unless specifically mentioned in the job ad. Prioritize skills that directly align with the job description to demonstrate that you’re a perfect match for the role.

How to Write a Resume Skills Section in 2025

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Are you unsure how to identify the best skills to include on your resume? We’ll show you how and where to put them.

@resumegenius Your skills section is an important part of your resume. To write a strong skills section, you first need to know how to choose the right skills to add and learn how to highlight them effectively. 📝 Watch this video to learn what to put in your skills section. Read more tips on how to list your skills on your resume here: 🔸 resumegeniusDOTme/skills-section-resume #resumetips #resumegenius #skills #careeradvice #resumewriting #jobsearchtips ♬ Campfire – Charmer & Klay

1. Format your skills section properly

The most common way to format your skills section is by using bullet points. This way, it looks organized and takes up as little space as possible.

Place your skills section at the bottom of the page to draw more attention to your experience section, like in this billing specialist resume example:

A skills section gives employers a quick overview of your skill set, so it should be easy to skim. Full sentences should be saved for your work experience section, unless you’re writing a functional resume.

When choosing a header for your skills section, pick one of these three options:

1. Additional skills section

An additional skills section is a standard component of a resume. Hiring managers expect to see at least a basic skills section, so you’ll see it on most resume templates you see online.

An additional skills section is best for:

Chronological resumes
Entry-level positions
Customer- or client-focused roles

On a traditional chronological resume, your additional skills section should be small, while your work experience section should take up the most space and showcase your skills-based accomplishments.

However, you should still put about five to 10 relevant skills in your additional skills section that make a strong case as to why you’re the perfect hire.

Here’s an example of an additional skills section on a server resume:

2. Technical skills section

If your skill-set is equally as important to the job as your work experience, then having a dedicated technical skills section on your resume is an effective way to impress hiring managers by highlighting your technical prowess.

A technical skills section is best for:

Jobs where technical skills are more important than soft skills
Applicants with many years of experience
Candidates in the IT, medical, marketing, and research sectors

You can either include only a technical skills section, or pair it with an additional skills section.

Check out this example of a technical skills section from a machine learning resume:

This applicant breaks their machine learning skills down into core areas like languages, frameworks, and platforms, which organizes an extensive list into easy-to-read chunks of skills for the hiring manager.

You can use skill bars or other visual elements to highlight skill levels on your resume.

3. Relevant skills section

A relevant skills section is used on a functional resume or a skills-based resume, which you can use to downplay your work experience if you have extensive work history gaps or are transferring into a new industry.

A relevant skills section is best for:

Job seekers switching industries
Workers with gaps in their work history
Applicants with skills they want to detail in depth

Using a relevant skills section allows you to demonstrate how past achievements and work have helped you hone specific skills.

If you use a relevant skills section, it should be larger than your work experience section, as you can see on these resume samples:

3. Include the right skills for your job

To decide which skills to add to your skills section, follow these four steps:

1. Brainstorm your skills

Start by listing all the skills you possess that can help you succeed at work. Some work-related abilities are learned in school, others are mastered on the job, and sometimes they’re picked up through extracurricular activities or volunteer work.

2. Check the job ad

To create a job-winning resume skills section, it’s important to know what skills the employer is looking for. The job ad will usually give you a good indication of what type of qualities they want in an employee.

Here’s an example of what a job description for a nursing assistant job might look like, with key skills highlighted in bold:

Nursing assistant job ad

Performs various tasks as assigned, including checking vital signs, weighing patients, applying creams/ointments, applying/changing dressings and collecting specimens.
Meets patient needs by utilizing resources and materials; transporting patients; answering patients’ call lights and requests; and reporting observations of the patient to healthcare team members.
Serves as a conduit between patients and other healthcare providers by recording and communicating all issues to medical team members.
Documents actions by completing forms, reports, logs, and records.
Stores and prepares rooms and medical equipment for patient and healthcare team member use.

Even when certain skills aren’t mentioned explicitly, you can figure out what the hiring manager wants if you look closely enough.

Check out these four examples:

“Reporting observations of the patient” → Oral communication skills
“Completing forms, reports, logs, and records” → Written communication skills
“Prepare rooms” → Organizational skills
“Answering patients’ … requests” → People skills

3. Get more ideas for skills online

If you still need skills to fill up your resume’s skill section, here are some more sources for ideas:

LinkedIn: Look at the LinkedIn page of employees working in similar roles as the job you’re applying for and check whether you have skills in common. If you do, use them on your resume.
O*Net Online and similar sites: O*Net Online lets you view skills by occupation. Type a job into its search bar, and it shows you a list of skills to add to your resume.
Other job ads (for similar roles): You can also look at job sites for similar roles and use skill keywords on your resume if they apply to you.

Additionally, to save time, use a resume maker to get ideas for skills to add. Some resume builders automatically pull from a database to suggest relevant skills for your resume, saving you the effort of searching for yourself.

4. Cut irrelevant skills

Now that you’ve listed your skills and checked the job ad, you need to decide which skills to cut from the list.

Typically it’s best to include a combination of hard and soft skills to show employers you’re a well-rounded applicant. However, if you’re in an industry where hard skills are valued over soft skills or the other way around, it’s okay to focus on one type of skills.

You might’ve heard that you should optimize your resume for ATS by including certain resume keywords over and over. This is a myth! In fact, stuffing your resume full of the same three or four keywords can hurt your chances of landing a job. Showcasing a range of skills is much more effective.

Types of skills to list on your resume

There are two types of skills you can list in your skills section, transferable and industry-specific skills. This is what the two types mean, and how to figure out which kind you should emphasize on your resume:

Transferable skills

While some skills are specific to certain industries, many are transferable across industries. For example, many jobs require basic computer skills such as familiarity with Microsoft Office, or communication tools like Slack and Zoom.

Other common transferable skills include soft skills that help you work well on a team, such as leadership skills and time management.

Transferable skills are especially relevant if you’re switching careers, or if you’re a student or recent graduate who lacks industry-specific skills.

Industry-specific skills

As the name suggests, industry-specific skills are relevant to a particular field. Most industry-specific skills are hard skills, but certain jobs require more well-developed soft skills than others.

Many of these skills are listed as “required” in job ads and you often need formal education or specialized training to acquire them, so make sure to include them to let employers know that you meet the basic requirements of the role.

A good way to find out what skills are needed for your industry is to check out resume examples online.

Ida Pettersson

Career Coach and Resume Expert

Committed to empowering job seekers of all experience levels to take the next step in their careers, Ida helps professionals navigate the job hunt from start to finish. After graduating from New College of Florida with a B.A. in Philosophy and Chinese Language and Culture, Ida moved to Hong Kong to begin her own career journey and finally settled in Taiwan. Her insights on resume writing, interview strategies, and career development have been featured on websites such as LawCareers.net, Digital Marketer, and SheCanCode.

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