The skills section helps recruiters, and the software they use, check quickly that you match the job. The best skills section is short, honest and built around the advert.
Hard skills and soft skills
Hard skills are technical and measurable: Excel, forklift licence, Python, food hygiene, bookkeeping, a foreign language. Soft skills are personal qualities: communication, teamwork, problem solving, organisation, customer service.
How to choose them
Read the job advert and underline the skills it asks for. Keep the ones that are true for you, using the same words, and add the ones that make you stand out. 6 to 12 skills is plenty.
Prove them in your experience
A skill listed without proof is easy to ignore. Back up the most important ones in your work experience bullet points.
Before Excellent communication skills.
After Handled 60+ customer calls a day and resolved 90% of issues on the first call.
Examples by job
- Retail: till handling, stock control, visual merchandising, customer service
- Warehouse: forklift licence, pick and pack, health and safety, inventory systems
- Office: Microsoft 365, data entry, diary management, minute taking
- Care: personal care, medication rounds, safeguarding, care plans
The quickest way to start: fill in a ready-made template, see the result live and download the PDF. You can even describe your background in a few lines and let the AI fill in the form, then check everything. Free, no sign-up.