Resume Skills: 200+ Examples That Get You Past ATS
Hard skills, soft skills, industry-specific skills — organized and ready to use. Learn exactly which skills recruiters and ATS systems are scanning for in 2026.
Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills
You need both — and the ratio matters more than most candidates realize.
Hard Skills
Specific, teachable, measurable abilities you can learn through education, training, or direct practice. Certifiable. Testable. ATS-searchable.
- Python, SQL, React
- Photoshop, Final Cut Pro
- CPA, PMP, AWS Certified
- GAAP, financial modeling
- Mandarin (Business), French (B2)
Soft Skills
Interpersonal and professional traits that define how you work. Harder to measure, but equally demanded by hiring managers — especially for leadership and client-facing roles.
- Cross-functional communication
- Conflict resolution
- Executive presence
- Stakeholder management
- Adaptability under ambiguity
The 60/40 rule: Aim for roughly 60% hard skills and 40% soft skills in your skills section. Pure hard-skill lists look robotic; pure soft-skill lists look vague. The blend shows both technical depth and human capability.
Skills by Industry
Find your field. Take the skills that match your actual experience. Mirror the job description's exact phrasing.
Tech / Software Engineering
Healthcare
Business / Finance
Marketing / Creative
Education
Operations / Supply Chain
Legal
Customer Service
How to Add Skills the Right Way
Format, placement, and quantity all signal competence before a recruiter reads a word.
Placement: After your summary
Position your skills section immediately after your professional summary and before your work experience. This ensures ATS systems capture your keywords early and lets recruiters quickly confirm you meet the technical bar before diving into your history.
Format: Group by category
Don't dump a random list. Group skills logically: 'Programming Languages | Frameworks | Tools | Certifications | Languages.' For non-tech roles, try: 'Technical Skills | Platforms & Software | Languages.' Clean groupings read faster and look more intentional.
Quantity: 10–15 skills maximum
Ten to fifteen is the sweet spot. Fewer than eight looks sparse. More than twenty dilutes your signal — it suggests you're padding rather than curating. If you're listing 'Microsoft Office,' you're wasting a slot. Every skill should pull its weight.
ATS: Mirror the job description
Copy the exact phrasing from the job posting for skills you actually have. If they write 'Salesforce CRM,' don't write 'SFDC' — write 'Salesforce CRM.' ATS systems often don't normalize synonyms. Exact match = higher ranking. Always check.
10 Universal Power Skills Every Resume Needs
These transcend industries. But list them only if you can back them up with evidence in your experience section.
Every role now requires interpreting metrics, dashboards, or reports. 'Data-driven decision making' appears in 74% of job postings across sectors.
Specifically: cross-functional communication. The ability to translate complex information for different audiences — technical to non-technical — is a top-three hire criterion across industries.
Prove it — don't just list it. Pair it in your experience section with a situation where you diagnosed and resolved a non-obvious challenge.
Even if you're not a PM by title, every employer wants staff who can organize work, meet deadlines, and manage deliverables. Agile familiarity is now a bonus in almost every field.
The post-pandemic workforce values comfort with change. Highlight experience navigating reorgs, pivots, or fast-changing environments.
Specifically cross-functional or cross-cultural. Working within your own team is assumed; working across boundaries is a differentiator.
Only valuable if you can show it — not state it. Pair with examples of catching errors, improving quality processes, or producing flawless deliverables.
The ability to evaluate competing information and make sound judgments under uncertainty. Especially valued in consulting, finance, and leadership roles.
Specifically: managing competing priorities without losing quality. Recruiters want evidence you don't just work hard — you work organized.
Even in individual-contributor roles. Leadership means influencing without authority, mentoring peers, and driving initiatives without being asked. Relevant at every level.
8 Skills to Remove From Your Resume
These slots are better used on specific, modern, provable skills.
| Remove This | Why It's Weak | Replace With |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Office | Everyone can use Word and Excel. It signals no technical depth. | Excel (advanced formulas, pivot tables, Power Query) |
| Team player | Vague. Assumed. Says nothing specific. | Cross-functional collaboration / Remote team coordination |
| Hard worker | Self-reported. Unverifiable. Recruiters tune it out. | Remove — let your bullet points prove it. |
| Detail-oriented | Overused on 43% of resumes. Ironically suggests you're not. | Quality assurance / Error rate reduction (with metrics) |
| Fast learner | Everyone says this. It means nothing without evidence. | Remove or prove it: 'Completed AWS certification in 6 weeks' |
| References available upon request | This is understood. It wastes valuable resume real estate. | Delete the line entirely — add another achievement. |
| Typing (WPM) | Only relevant for specific data entry roles, and only if > 80 WPM. | Relevant software, platform, or domain expertise |
| Excellent communicator | Self-reported, unverifiable, overused. Never list what you haven't proven. | Public speaking / Technical writing / Executive presentations |
AI That Finds the Skills You're Missing
Most candidates undercount their skills. Kindyra's AI reads your experience descriptions and surfaces skills you've demonstrated but never listed — then cross-references them against the job posting to flag ATS gaps before you apply.
Skills gap analysis vs. job description
ATS keyword match scoring
Instant suggestions from your experience