What Interpersonal Skills for Resume. Definitions, Examples, How to include

Look, nowadays it is just not enough to highlight your educational qualifications. HR managers are now keen to look at the skills for resume. These are specific natural talents and expertise that will help you deliver on the job.

Listing the right skills in your resume will:

Below, we break down what you need to know about CV skills and explore a list of top in-demand skills to put on resume that could land you an interview and get your next job.

Let’s dive in.

Soft Skills and Hard Skills, What’s the Difference?

Different jobs require different sets of skills. We all have soft skills that show the hiring manager the kind of person they are hiring and hard skills that show how proficient you are for the job opening. Companies are constantly looking for employees with the right mix of hard and soft skills to create a highly effective workplace.

 Soft skills are the nontechnical, interpersonal skills that reflect one’s personality and personal attributes.  These skills can help a person thrive in a variety of roles and industries. Typically, soft skills come naturally and can be developed and strengthened over time.

On the other hand,  hard skills are teachable and measurable technical abilities  that are specific to a certain job. These technical skills are job-specific and are learned through education, certifications, training, course, and on-the-job training. They include anything from an educational degree, foreign language proficiency, software proficiency to professional certifications.

With the ever-mounting competition on the job market, your hard and soft skills have to fit in like a glove with the job opening’s requirements. You must add the skills in a way that is both organic and recognizable.

Let’s take a closer look at the top hard and soft skills to put on your resume.

Most In-Demand Hard And Soft Skills for a Resume in 2021

Both soft and hard skills are important when applying for a job. Most hiring managers understand that a highly trained and experienced new hire who freezes when under pressure or communicates poorly with colleagues and clients can be a liability to the company. It is therefore important to show the hiring team that you not only have the specific skills needed to do the job successfully but also have important people-centric interpersonal skills for any client-facing role.

Here are some skills to include in a job-winning resume:

Top Soft Skills in 2021

The idea is to include a list of at least 5 soft skills in your resume. These should be the most relevant skills to the job you are applying to. If you are an entry-level candidate, include some of the most sought-after skills such as written communication, leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving.

Top Hard Skills In 2021

If you are looking to pushing your career forward, it is important to have a number of the most in-demand hard skills today. Here are a bunch of the most in-demand hard skills according to three reports from Upwork, LinkedIn, and Opportunity:

Typical Hard Skills for 10 of The Most Common Jobs

Unlike soft skills which can cut across various multiple industries, hard skills are more industry and job-specific. Without them, landing an interview or getting past an applicant tracking system can be almost impossible. So, what are some of the key skills that employers look for in candidates? Below, we look at the typical hard skills for some of the most common jobs today:

1. Customer Service Jobs

2. IT Jobs

Let’s look at some technology-related hard skills to put on your resume:

3. Office and Administrative Jobs

4. Marketing Job

5. Accounting and Finance Job

6. Nursing and Healthcare Jobs

7. Engineering And Technical Job

8. Design Job

9. Web Development Job

10. Managerial Job

How To Include Skills In Your Resume?

Will I land an interview if I include all the above skills in my resume? Or even the top 10 skills for a job?

Nope!

The truth is,  you must create an objective list of skills  that are specific to the type of job you are looking for. And even that is not enough. Since hiring managers are usually very busy, they only spend a couple of seconds looking at a resume before they decide whether to pass or shortlist a candidate for an interview.

It is therefore important to create a well-thought-out list of skills for resume and place them strategically to catch the attention of the hiring manager.

But what is the best way to write a skills section for your resume?

Well, ideally, the skills section should list skills that are relevant to the position you are interviewing for.

You should customize it to match the requirements of the job posting as much as possible. For instance, if you are applying for an administrative section, try to include relevant skills such as QuickBooks skills, Microsoft skills, and proficiency in other job-specific software.

Here is how to identify and place skills in a resume:

1. Review the Job description and research the company

Most of us have different skills and strengths. However, recruiters will be looking for an ideal candidate with the most ideal skills for the job. The first place to learn what the recruiter is looking for is in the job description. Most job descriptions will list a number of skills and qualifications fit for the job.

To create a truly homerun skills section, you’ll want to put skills that touch upon the job description and are relevant to the job opening.

Most job descriptions will have the soft and hard skills hidden between the lines. It is therefore a candidate’s job to try and figure out what the hiring manager is looking for in job seekers.

2. Make A List Of Your Skills

Next, you need to create a “master” list of all your professional skills. These are both hard and soft skills that aptly describe your proficiency and make you good at your job. You’ll be using this comprehensive list to create a highly specific list that matches the recruiter’s requirements.

3. Compare your skills to what the employer wants

Next, compare the skills listed on the job description with your skills. Assess your abilities critically and ask yourself if you have used that skill before. While you may stretch your skills, ensure that tell the truth. Recruiters may find out exaggerated qualifications at some point.

4. List your skills in a separate skills section

Having your skills in a standalone Skills Section’ helps the recruiters identify your strengths in a flash. Since the resume’s skills section has a limited amount of space, it is critical that you only list (in bullets) those skills that are specific to the job you are applying for. As a rule of thumb, this section should be:

5. Include Skills in Your Work experience

Recruiters also look at how a candidate has previously used their skills to complete tasks successfully. By weaving your skills into your work experience, you’ll not only be showing that you possess those skills, but also proving to the hiring manager that you have used them to produce results for previous employers.

The easiest way is to create achievement-oriented bullet points that follow the PAR technique:

For instance: A candidate applying for a project manager position can show how they applied their communication skills to solve a particular problem.
An achievement-oriented bullet point to include in the work experience section would look like this:

6. Include the Most In-demand skills

As earlier mentioned, specific jobs have unique skills that most recruiters are looking for. It is therefore a good idea to include those highly sought-after skills even if they’ve not been explicitly listed as a requirement.

For instance, a candidate applying for an IT job would list UX design and cloud computing as part of their hard skills. This makes their resume stand out from the competition.

To sum it up, here is how you should list your skills:

How Do I Develop New Skills for Resume

If you want to remain competitive,  you must keep your skills up to date.  You also need to keep an eye on all industry trends and ensure that you are strategically positioned by acquiring new skills. This allows you to have a deeper knowledge of modern systems and creates a better chance at promotions or raises.

Keeping your skills up to date and developing new skills have a number of benefits:

There are several ways you can develop your professional skills, including:

1. Check out the most in-demand skills

With fast-paced innovations, the most in-demand skills for different industries keep changing. What might have been a highly rated skill a few years back may not hold any water today. It is therefore important to look at some of the skills that employers are looking for. Read industry-specific journals, blogs, and articles in your field to keep abreast with what’s happening.

2. Find mentors in your space and follow them

This is another hack to keep up with changing industry trends. Subscribe to newsletters, follow blogs and follow industry leaders on Twitter and Facebook to tap into their knowledge.

3. Attend workshops and seminars

Workshops, online tutorials, and webinars are great ways to gain new information about new services, products, and platforms. Through these channels, you can learn a wide range of skills and certifications that can place you ahead of the competition.

4. Take continuing education courses specific to your field

Continuing education courses are taught by industry leaders with wider experience in specific fields. These courses can help you stay current in the industry.

5. Enroll In an Online Course or Degree

While most people may not have the time to attend in-person classes in a college or university, online degrees offer a viable solution for people to upgrade their knowledge and skills. Companies like Jhana, Coursera, LinkedIn, Udemy, and Khan Academy offer low-cost and free courses to help keep your skills fresh. There are plenty of universities that also offer online learning for people looking to advance their professional skills.

The Bottom Line?

Skills are an important part of a resume and help ATS and recruiters get the most qualified candidates for the listed job. Both soft and hard skills show your prospective employer that you have the ability to execute a job or task successfully.

The most important thing is to dig through the job description and list skills that are relevant to that position. Once you have identified the skills to put on resume, you must then ensure that the skills feature in your resume summary and work experience section. Organize your skills by listing the most job-relevant abilities at the beginning of your skills section.

If you are an entry-level candidate who doesn’t have significant hard skills, consider putting the most in-demand soft skills to punch through the ATS wall and increase your chance to land in front of the hiring manager.

To give yourself an advantage, create your resume using our resume templates.