Searching for a new job is not for the faint of heart. How do you show potential employers all you can offer them if they’d give you a chance?
The world is a competitive place and job searching is no exception. It used to be you walked into a place and tried to get face to face with the boss. In today’s online world of job sites and recruiters, the game has changed.
What else has changed? How you present yourself as a possible employee. Employers want to know what you offer to them. Think about what skills to put on a resume to best show off how they benefit from hiring you.
Think not just about your experience, but your skills too.
Not Your Old Kind Of Resume
While the data can be tricky, the Bureau of Labor Statistics believes most Americans will change jobs an average of 12 times in their life. They also find that adults are changing jobs nearly every 4 to 5 years.
With all this movement in jobs/careers, you need to have your resume ready at all times. But resumes of the past that showed where you obtained an education and where you worked are old school in today’s world.
Sure those things still matter. But in today’s competitive and evolving career marketplace, you really need to show off your skills too. Your resume should go beyond your work experience and highlight a list of skills you bring to a potential workplace.
Show Off Your Skill Set
Employers want skilled talent. Sure that means the right kind of education and experience for the job. It also means a set of skills that will be an asset to their company.
Your resume should now include a skills section to highlight those hard and soft skills that you offer as an employee. They want to learn what kind of leader and thinker and problem solver you will be for them.
Learn more about presenting yourself and the high-order thinking skills you possess to potential employers.
How To Decide What Skills To Show
The truth is anyone can list a bunch of attributes on a resume. But when it comes down to it, you better be able to back them up with action.
Think carefully about what skills are your strengths. Consider where you have excelled in previous work situations. Ask former colleagues and bosses what skills you had that were a benefit.
Also, consider what skills a potential job might require to be successful. What skills do you feel you have that align with those needs? Those are the skills you want to highlight on your resume.
Presenting Your Skills
In today’s world, your resume needs a skill section. How do you decide what skills to list on a resume and in what format?
Remember, you can always elaborate when meeting and interviewing with a potential employer. Your goal should be to present your skills in a concise and specific way.
Recruiters and employers look at piles and piles (or screen after screen) of resumes. You want to get to the point of what you offer and you want it to match up with the job you hope to get.
You will need to decide how you want to present those skills on your resume. You can certainly use your work experience, especially if you have an abundance of experience, and weave in your skills. Show how you used them differently in each work environment.
You can also choose to designate a section of your resume to the skills you offer. Consider what hard skills you have. Hard skills are the abilities you have, like speaking a foreign language, or working in a particular computer program, that might benefit you on the job.
Soft skills are your own interpersonal skills that you bring. These might include your social skills, leadership skills, or the way you interact with others.
Hard Skills
When considering hard skills, think about the specifics of the job. Do you need to know how to do certain things for the job? Do you need a certain certification?
Some examples of hard skills might include:
- Ability to operate a special kind of equipment
- Writing
- Computer Skills
- Ability to speak a foreign language
- Knowledge of marketing, SEO, or databases
This is a good place to remember to be specific. Instead of listing that you have computer skills. Instead, identify the programs and specific things you can do with technology.
Soft Skills
Consider both your personal strengths and the traits needed for a job. Those are the soft skills you want to highlight on your resume.
An employer can teach someone how to use a computer. But they may not be able to teach you leadership or critical thinking. These are the skills you have honed and refined through life and experience. For this reason, soft skills are remarkably important to employers.
Think about this soft skill list:
- Attention to detail
- Critical thinking
- Problem Solving
- Teamwork
- Flexibility
- Organization
- Communication
- Creativity
What traits do you have that you can offer to an employer? Of course, you will want to do more than just list them on your resume. Find ways to showcase those on the skills section and how you use those skills in the workplace.
Skills To Put On A Resume
Knowing it’s likely you will change jobs multiple times over the course of a career, you need a resume that really sells your abilities to employers. Think about what skills to put on a resume to help showcase your experience, education, and attributes.
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