How to Emphasize the Best Skills for Your Resume in 2020

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The above picture is of two women sitting at a table with a bunch of empty papers, a pen and reading glasses discussing a resume.

How to Emphasize the Best Skills for Your Resume

The biggest reason why people do not highlight their best skills on their resume is that they don't know they have them. Most well-adjusted people are not taught how to self promote, so when we are asked about ourselves, it is paradoxically a subject about which we know very little about. In this article, you will learn how to uncover the best skills for your resume, and how to emphasize them.

Brainstorm and Then Steal The Skills For Your Resume

The word brainstorm is just a simple way of saying, “Have a think.” It was coined by the news network CNN, who felt that the term “having a think” needed jazzing up for their less-educated viewers. The point is to think up any old thing and write it down. You then sort out the good and bad ideas later.

Think up and list all the skills you have. Start at home, including cooking, cleaning, maintenance skills, etc. Then, think more socially, such as how you may be a good leader and a good team worker, or how you may be able to engage with people of all walks of life.

Move on to your work life. Which skills have you learned while working? Maybe you have till-use skills, or receptionist skills, medical skills, customer care skills, and so forth.

Now comes the time to steal. Go online and look for as many resumes and CVs as you can. Look at what other people are saying about themselves and pick up on a few. It may mention things that you didn't think were skills, but that you can put down in your skills section anyway, such as polite, punctual, well mannered, and so forth.

Skills and Skill Categories

Consider adding many (or all) of the skills listed in the section below. In addition to each skill set, you can add specifics. You may have to keep the specifics short if you are writing a resume, but if you are writing a CV, then you can dedicate pages and whole sections to the specifics of your skills.

• Marketing skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Technical skills
• Computer skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Conceptual skills
• Transferable skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Analytical skills
• Teamwork skills
• Project management skills
• Employability skills
• Creative thinking skills
• Decision-making skills
• Management skills
• Communication skills
• Organizational skills
• Time management skills

This is a very generalized list. You will probably have a whole range of skill sets you can add to it. For example, you may have “patient aftercare” skills or “grief counseling” skill sets. Here are some examples of the specifics you can add in after your skills sets.

Skillset Specifics

Give examples or specifics for each of the skillsets listed above. If you can think of other job-related skills, then add those in too. If you have a lot of skillset specifics, then do not be afraid to mention them. For example, if you have accountancy qualifications and you know how to use 20 different accountancy programs, then it may be worth mentioning each in smaller letters. For example:

• Marketing Skills - PDF creation, email marketing, automated marketing
• Analytical Skills - Big data analysis, fluid traffic dynamics, NiFi proficient
• Computer Skills - Can use Microsoft Office, LibreOffice, and CAD

Skillset Experience

Since you may have had work experience, there is a good chance you can highlight and emphasize the positive skills for your resume by mentioning such experience within the realms of your skillset. It almost acts as proof of what you are writing. Here are some examples:

• Transferable skills - Prison Sanitation for six years with Belmont Prison
• Management skills - Managed a McColl newsagent for five years
• Organizational skills - Office deputy manager for three years.

Highlighting Soft Skills and Hard Skills

Since you probably have many different skills, it may be worth splitting them up on the page, and one way to split them is by hard skills and soft skills. Your hard skills can be highlighted in areas like your qualifications and experience. Examples of hard skills may be programming skills, math qualifications, use of a sales till, graphic design, changing tires, etc.

Soft skills can be listed on their own, they can be added into the sections that describe you as a person and they can even be slipped into your hobbies or extracurricular sections. Soft skills are things like teamwork, make friends easily, punctual, and so forth.

List Your Skills on A Sidebar

Have you seen how some websites have a sidebar? It is an area, usually on the right, where the search bar is or where a blog archive may be placed. Instead of listing your skills with the rest of your resume, why not add a sidebar. Within the sidebar, you may add both your hard and soft skills.

With that in mind, why not create a website to act as your resume. You can send it out along with your job applications, and you can even promote it like a website, such as by sharing it on LinkedIn or sharing it on Facebook job groups. Just refrain from adding your contact details onto your website and opt for a safer contact form as the way you can be reached.

Conclusion - More Is More

The old saying, “Less is more” is lost on a resume. You are already forced to keep your resume to one or two pages, so telling you to curb the number of skills you add to it is foolish. Even if you are writing a large resume, there are few reasons to reduce the number of skills unless they are directly contradictory to your role, such as being an expert hunter and joining PETA.

Seek out skills for your resume. If you read about skills on the internet that you do not have, then seek them out and obtain them. If your telephone manner isn't perfect, then make it perfect. Perhaps, if you have a hard time being sociable, then get out more. Learn the skills, earn the skills, and put them on your resume.

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