Introduction

Resume writing is the first and foremost thing you do before entering the professional stage of your life. The resume is like a key that lets you enter the gateway of many opportunities. A resume is where you compile your professional and academic achievements, work experiences, extra curriculum activities, and, most importantly, your skills. 

So, it is necessary to learn how to write a resume and master the art of writing a splendid resume to capture opportunities. However, despite having incredible skills and achievements, some individuals end up making immense mistakes that make them fail in writing a captivating resume. Those mistakes can be improved if people willingly learn how to write a resume correctly.

How to Describe Skills on Resume?

Even if people learn the basics of resume writing, there are still a few chances of common mistakes that might make their resume unattractive. People do not usually understand the true importance of maintaining their resume, and because of this, their chances of getting an interview call from their dream company shrink. 

Furthermore, skills play a vital part in everyone’s resume because, without them, it is hardly possible that any company would reach out to you. Therefore, it is essential to make your resume’s layout attractive, for which your skills should be mentioned appropriately.

So, here is the step-by-step guide on how to adequately describe your skills on your resume:

Step # 1: Understand the Job Requirements

When you see a job ad, avoid rushing and applying for it straight away. Instead, carefully read the job description. Make sure you give proper attention to all the job details and requirements because you will have to update your resume accordingly. 

After reading and understanding the job description, figure out your skills and compare your skills to what employers want in the job requirements. In this way, despite quickly skimming the resume, these matching skills will capture the attention of employers, elevating your possibility of getting an interview call right away.

Step # 2: Divide the Skills into Categories

Once you are done identifying your skills as per the job requirements, you proceed to mention them in the resume. Now, you need to comprehend this part because rather than simply mentioning the skills altogether, the hard and soft skills must be separated. To do so, understanding these two skills categories is significant. 

Hard skills include technical skills that are specific to the job, like coding, computer skills, software proficiency, and social media handling. On the other hand, soft skills are personal expertise that lets you excel in your workplace, like interpersonal communication, problem-solving, time management, and leadership skills.

Step # 3: Be Specific and Provide Examples

While mentioning skills, make sure to specifically highlight the aspects that helped you achieve that particular skill. Moreover, provide examples of where you have implemented those skills, like internship, volunteer work, or academic projects. 

Instead of directly mentioning “good interpersonal communication skills”, write it in a captivating way like “successfully communicated the plans to the social media team in an effective way to schedule the daily posts”. It is an efficient approach to making a lasting impression of your skills on employers.

Step # 4: Mention Achievements

Always remember to mention what you have achieved with your skills by far. For instance, instead of writing “Leadership skills”, make it strong by mentioning the achievement, like “effectively managed the team of ten content writers, enhancing 20% of the quality of each content”. In this way, the employer will find it fascinating that you know how to implement your skills and make them work out in the best way possible.

Step # 5: Use Action Verbs

Always make sure to start writing your skills with an action verb, like managed, maintained, achieved, and accomplished. The action verbs increase the significance of your statements, making them more meaningful. Also, by using action verbs, your resume gives employers an idea of how active you are in your abilities.

Step # 6: Adjust As Per the Job Role

Emphasize the job role you are applying for and adjust your skills accordingly. Thoroughly read the job description and identify the skills that are required for the job role. If the role requires communication skills, then make sure to highlight your communication skills in your resume. If management skills are necessary for the job, then make the achievements and implementations of your management skills prominent on your resume to capture the attention of the hiring team.

Step # 7: Prioritise Important Skills

Since employers quickly scan the resume, it is a healthy approach to highlight the significant skills in your resume so that those skills would capture their attention, making it feasible for them to get an idea of their candidate's professional profile quickly. Therefore, make those skills prominent that are relevant for the job to get an interview call from your dream workplace.

Step # 8: Use Keywords

Nowadays, most businesses frequently use the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) for reviewing the resume, which is why it is better to use keywords that are appropriate to your sector. In this way, these keywords are tracked, and your well-maintained resume increases your chances of being shortlisted for the interview.

Step # 9: Highlight Transferable Skills

Highlighting your transferable skills enhances your resume even more, especially when you switch to a new job. These skills enable the hiring manager to acknowledge the adaptability and versatility of your skills that can help you flourish regardless of the type of industry you are applying for. Transferable skills also give an everlasting impression on your resume writing.

Step # 10: Proofread and Update

The last and most significant part, proofreading, is the one that people mostly ignore, which results in errors that decrease the chance of getting hired. By proofreading your resume, not only do you know the errors you made in it, but it also enables you to learn how these errors can be corrected or improved.

In addition, the resume should be kept updated every time you learn a new skill, switch to a new job, or accomplish something. There is no end to updating the resume, like there is no end to learning. Therefore, it is compulsory to give your resume a final read and update it to allow employers to know about your professional status.

Conclusion

To sum up, the skills should be mentioned in a concise yet specific way that remarkably aligns with the examples, implementations, and achievements. Also, the skills should be relevant to the job roles so that your resume is more likely to be shortlisted, and for that, it is necessary to understand the job requirements. Using action verbs and prioritizing the primary skills is significant to leave a strong impression on your employers. 

Furthermore, make sure to use the transferable skills in your resume that are adaptable to any company, and always remember to proofread and update your resume to lower the chances of making any errors.

In addition, resume writing is a skill in itself, and everyone should learn it in order to ace their professional status. Therefore, the skills should be mentioned in the resume to quickly capture the hiring team's attention, confirming that they have finally found the one they are looking for.