What skills to put on a resume
Last updated May 31, 2026
Your skills section is prime ATS real estate, but only if you fill it with the right skills - the ones the job actually asks for and you can genuinely back up. A generic list of soft skills wastes the space.
Hard skills vs soft skills
Hard skills are specific, teachable, and verifiable (SQL, Spanish, financial modeling, Adobe Photoshop). Soft skills are traits (communication, leadership). Prioritize hard skills in the skills section - they're what ATS matches - and *prove* soft skills through bullets instead of listing them.
How to choose which skills to list
- Pull the required skills straight from the job description.
- Keep the ones that are genuinely true for you.
- Order them by relevance to the role, not by how much you like them.
- Aim for ~8–15 concrete skills, grouped if helpful (e.g. Languages, Tools, Methods).
Examples of strong resume skills
- Tech: Python, SQL, AWS, React, Docker, CI/CD
- Data: Tableau, A/B testing, ETL, statistical analysis
- Marketing: SEO, Google Analytics, HubSpot, paid acquisition
- Business: financial modeling, forecasting, Salesforce, contract negotiation
Skills to avoid listing
- Vague soft skills with no proof ("team player", "hard worker").
- Outdated or irrelevant tools the role doesn't use.
- "Microsoft Office" unless the role specifically requires advanced Excel.
- Anything you can't defend in an interview.
Put this into practice
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