12 Best Skills To Put On Your Resume In 2023 (With Real Examples and FAQ)

Crafting an effective, up-to-date resume is crucial for job seekers to stand out and advance their careers in an increasingly competitive landscape. While correctly detailing your professional experiences and educational credentials is essential, recruiters today also emphasize the critical skills and strengths you possess.

Soft skills revealing your work ethic, communication abilities, and leadership potential are just as vital for validation by hiring managers across most industries. This article uncovers the 12 most impressive resume skills that candidates should highlight in 2023 based on workplace trends, especially regarding valued emotional intelligence and collaboration needed to thrive in the modern cooperative workplace.

The Most Sought-After Soft Skills

Well-rounded soft skills form the foundation of an impactful resume across most occupations. These attributes showcase interpersonal strengths that allow effective interaction, relationship building, and general versatility prized by employers.

Here are 5 of the most desirable soft skills that enable workplace success:

1. Communication Skills

The ability to exchange ideas, instructions, perspectives, and narratives through written, verbal and non-verbal modes. For example, structuring persuasive messages, delivering engaging presentations, and active empathic listening

2. Teamwork & Collaboration Skills

The capacity to successfully work in coordination with groups where tasks and information are interdependent by giving and receiving oversight, assistance, and feedback. For example, brainstorming mutually beneficial ideas, delegating responsibilities, and resolving conflicts.

3. Problem Solving Skills

The aptitude to detect issues, diagnose root causes through questioning, quickly gather relevant data from resources, and then generate optimum solutions evaluating pros and cons. For example, addressing process bottlenecks and system bugs to boost efficiency.

4. Adaptability Skills

The competence to positively adjust perspectives or methods and remain resilient when having to respond swiftly to substantially changing situational priorities, environments or expectations. For example, re-prioritizing work during crises or learning new digital tools.

5. Time Management Skills

The propensity to effectively organize extensive responsibilities and prioritize personal and collaborative tasks to optimize productivity and consistently fulfill objectives without overworking. For example, through upholding structured schedules, work plans, and project roadmaps.

Now that we have covered versatile soft skills that apply broadly, here are 7 additional hard and technical skills that round out an impactful, well-balanced resume:

7 More Resume Skills That Demonstrate Excellence

6. Leadership Skills

Guiding, overseeing, and motivating teams through mentorship, transparency, and strategic vision while streamlining efforts to accomplish complex objectives. For example, providing coaching and coordination across departments to launch a new product.

7. Research Skills

Employing investigative methods through interviews, surveys, academic studies, and data analysis to gain market insights that inform business decisions and future strategies. For example, synthesizing findings into recommendations to capture untapped opportunities.

8. Project Management Skills

Planning and overseeing multifaceted long-term initiatives while efficiently allocating resources, budgets, and labor despite constraints through phases using tools like Gantt charts. For example, coordinating vendors and staff hiring to open 10 satellite office locations.

9. Data Analysis Skills

Collecting, interpreting, and structuring complex quantitative and qualitative information into digestible reports, visualizations, and models that provide actionable revelations through Excel, SQL, Tableau, and more. For example, pinpointing above-average customer churn segments.

10. Creativity Skills

Producing innovative ideas, solutions, services, and approaches that disrupt status quo business methods and norms by thinking originally or from a new lens. For example, devising retention incentives through gamification during turbulent times.

11. Critical Thinking Skills

Logically evaluating multifaceted information, evidence, patterns, and assumptions from diverse sources to determine optimal next steps and solutions. For example, weighing the pros and cons of new technologies or processes.

12. Technology Skills

Understanding and leveraging the latest systems, software, tools, coding languages, and workplace digital transformation initiatives to enhance capabilities and efficiency. For example, migrating reporting to cloud-based business intelligence platforms.

Now that we have covered the 12 most impressive resume skills that applicants across industries should emphasize, let's showcase some illustrative examples:

Demonstrating Skills Through Impactful Examples

The difference between simply listing abilities versus proving them lies in providing specific examples that quantify accomplishments. Here are a few impactful examples across earlier highlighted skills:

• Communication: Persuaded 25+ clients per quarter through tailored email campaigns and interactive product demonstrations improving sales conversion rates by 35%.
• Teamwork: Coordinated seamlessly with 5 cross-functional subject matter experts to deliver executive dashboard simplifying data insights and accelerating informed decision making.
• Problem-Solving: Identified and recommended correcting inventory mismanagement by analyzing supplier records and warehouse data lowering costs by 10% within 3 months.
• Adaptability: Rapidly learned 3 proprietary programs to take over responsibility for exiting team members while assisting with the transition plan lessening productivity impact by 80% over prior turnovers.
• Time Management: Routinely handle heavy customer support volume through ticketing system optimization while ensuring a 90%+ satisfaction rating through effective prioritization even during launch peaks.
• Leadership: Promoted to senior product manager responsible for road-mapping, launch, and training a 10-person team coordinating cross-departmentally yielding highest rated features release.
• Research: Combined extensive industry trend analysis with 12 user interviews and multiple focus groups to put forth recommendations on company rebranding and restructuring marketing.
• Project Management: Created project plans using MS Project and managed full life cycles of $500k website overhaul coordinating both internal and external resources resulting in a beautiful, user-friendly site.

Data Analysis: Built interactive Tableau dashboard in just 3 weeks condensing findings across 8 disparate data sources into simplified views enabling swift, data-backed inventory planning.

Creativity: Increased newsletter subscriber conversions by 15% A/B testing inventive content formats, personalized messaging, and gamification through referral programs.

Critical Thinking: Weighed advantages and disadvantages of migrating legacy Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system or undergoing customization based on cost-benefit analysis along with risk assessments.

Technology Skills: Rapidly self-trained cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution to help migrate reporting databases to Salesforce improving accessibility and performance.

As shown through the examples above, highlight achievements first then tie those accomplishments back to the actual skills leveraged. This proves and demonstrates competencies instead of just listing them.

Now let's tackle some frequently asked questions job seekers have regarding the best skills for modern resumes:

FAQ

Q: What are the most desirable skills according to employers now?

A: Based on common workplace changes, the most desirable skills span digital literacy, specialized technological skills, data fluency, flexibility, strategic critical thinking, creativity, and leadership. Soft skills like clear communication, emotional intelligence, and change management also rank very high.

Q: Should I include soft skills like teamwork and leadership on technical resumes?

A:  Yes, technical resumes still benefit from showcasing soft skills through examples. All work involves collaboration so highlighting abilities to cooperate, influence and negotiate adds important depth even for specialized technical roles.

Q: What is the best way to demonstrate communication abilities on a resume?

A:  The best approach is illustrating communication competence through quantified achievement examples like “Increased website conversions 20% through optimized and targeted email subscriber engagement campaigns”. This proves skill application.

Q: Should I customize my resume’s skills for each job application?

A:  Yes, while keeping your strong foundational soft skills, customize the remaining 6-8 skills and examples highlighted based on priorities emphasized in the specific job descriptions you are applying for. This ensures optimal relevance.

Q: How many skills should I include on my resume?

A: Have 5-6 strong soft skills backed by examples as your baseline, then incorporate 6-8 total hard technical or job specific skills customized per application. So aim for around 12 key skills that balance both categories.