Resume Skills Section: What to Include (2025 Guide)

Staring at the "Skills" box on your resume and wondering what to put there? You're not alone. Choosing the right resume skills can feel like guessing what's in a recruiter's head-and what an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) wants at the same time.

In 2025, your resume skills section is no longer a simple list of buzzwords. It's a targeted, keyword-rich summary of what you can actually do-and it often decides whether you get an interview or get filtered out in seconds.

What resume skills really matter in 2025 (and which to skip)
How many skills to include and how to format them
Examples of strong skills for common roles
A simple process to choose the best skills for your resume today

Use this guide with your resume open. As you read each section, pause for 2-3 minutes to update your skills in real time so you finish with a ready-to-send resume.

Start improving my skills section

Want a simple way to apply this guide? Keep your resume open in another tab and update your skills section live as you read-treat this article like a checklist, not theory.

Open my resume and start editing

Why your resume skills section matters in 2025

Your resume skills section is the fastest way for both humans and software to decide if you're worth a closer look. Think of it as the "features list" for your career: concise, scannable, and packed with the most marketable parts of your background.

6-8 seconds

Average time a recruiter spends on an initial resume scan, according to eye-tracking studies by Ladders

75%

Approximate share of resumes filtered by ATS before a human ever sees them

89%

Recruiters who say soft skills are just as important as hard skills, per LinkedIn's 2024 Global Talent Trends report

Why this section is non‑negotiable

Your skills section is often the only part of your resume that recruiters read in full on the first pass. If it doesn't match the job, the rest of your experience may never get a chance.

ATS filter: ATS software searches your resume skills for exact and related keywords from the job description.
Fit signal: Recruiters skim the skills section to judge role fit before reading your work history.
Conversation starter: Interviewers often build their first questions directly from the skills you list.
Brand snapshot: The right mix of hard, soft, and technical skills positions you as either a junior, mid-level, or senior hire instantly.

A strong, targeted skills section turns your resume from a biography into a search-optimized profile that hiring teams can match to their open roles in seconds.

How ATS and recruiters scan your resume skills

Modern Applicant Tracking Systems act like search engines for resumes. They index your resume skills, job titles, and experience, then compare them to the job description using keyword matching and simple AI models.

Many companies now layer AI screening on top of ATS. To understand what's changing, check how AI is used in hiring. The short version: if a must-have skill is missing, your application is often rejected automatically, no matter how strong the rest of your resume is.

The ATS parses your resume text and splits it into fields (skills, experience, education).
It searches for keywords and phrases from the job description, especially in your resume skills section.
It scores how closely your resume matches the role based on those keywords.
Recruiters sort or filter candidates by these scores and then do a quick visual scan.

If your resume skills are buried in graphics, written in vague terms, or missing key keywords, you lose interviews you were qualified for. For formatting tactics that ATS can actually read, see how to make an ATS-friendly resume.

Recruiters then scan your resume in an F-shaped pattern: across the top, down the left, then across. Your resume skills section should sit where the eye naturally lands-usually near the top right or in a clear column-so they can confirm fit in a few seconds and decide to keep reading.

Types of resume skills you can list

Not all resume skills are equal. Hiring teams look for a mix of hard skills, soft skills, and technical skills that match how the role actually works day to day.

Hard skills - Job-specific abilities you can test (Excel modeling, Python, copywriting, CAD).
Technical skills - Tools, platforms, and technologies you use to do the work (SQL, Salesforce, Figma, AWS).
Soft skills - How you work with people and solve problems (communication, leadership, prioritization).
Transferable skills - Skills that carry across roles or industries (project management, data analysis, stakeholder management).

On a technical skills resume, for example, you might emphasize programming languages, frameworks, cloud platforms, and testing tools. On a customer-facing resume, you'll still list tools, but you'll lean harder on skills like de‑escalation, active listening, and conflict resolution.

Simple rule for balance

Aim for roughly 60-70% hard/technical skills and 30-40% soft skills in your resume skills section. Employers hire you for what you can do, then decide between finalists based on how you work with others.

What resume skills to include for any job

The best resume skills are not a random list of everything you know. They're a curated set of strengths that match the job description and that you can prove with real examples.

Start with the job description. Highlight every skill, tool, and requirement mentioned.
Separate them into must-haves (mentioned multiple times or in "Requirements") and nice-to-haves.
From your own background, list every skill you genuinely have that overlaps with those lists.
Prioritize the must-have skills and the strongest, most recent tools you use.
Fill remaining space with soft skills that are clearly relevant to how the role works.
Remove any skill you can't back up with a story, metric, or concrete example.

Never list skills you can't defend

Inflating your resume skills might help you get an interview, but it usually backfires in technical screens, take‑home assignments, or reference checks.

To make your skills more credible, connect them with results in your experience bullets. If you're not sure how to do that, read how to quantify achievements on your resume for 50+ examples you can adapt.

Resume skills by job type (2025 examples)

While every role is different, certain resume skills show up again and again in strong applications. Below is a quick snapshot of high-impact skills by common job type in 2025. Use it as a starting point-then customize based on each posting.

Job type	High-impact hard/technical skills	High-impact soft skills
Software engineer	Python or Java, Git, REST APIs, SQL, unit testing, cloud (AWS/Azure)	Problem solving, code review collaboration, mentoring, documentation
Digital marketing	Google Analytics 4, Meta Ads, SEO, email automation, A/B testing, copywriting	Creativity, experimentation mindset, stakeholder communication
Financial analyst	Excel modeling, SQL, FP&A, variance analysis, forecasting, Power BI/Tableau	Attention to detail, business partnering, executive communication
Project manager	Agile/Scrum, Jira, risk management, budgeting, stakeholder mapping	Prioritization, leadership, conflict resolution, cross-functional alignment
Customer support	CRM (Zendesk, Salesforce), ticket triage, knowledge base writing, QA workflows	Empathy, de-escalation, active listening, time management
Data analyst	SQL, Python/R, data visualization, dashboards, experimentation, data cleaning	Curiosity, storytelling with data, influencing without authority

If you work in tech, you'll find complete role-specific ideas in technical resume examples for software engineers and data roles and the broader software engineer job search guide. Marketers can see tailored ideas in marketing resume examples and tips, while finance professionals should check how to write a strong finance resume.

How to write your resume skills section step-by-step

Choose the right location and layout

Place your resume skills section near the top or in a clear side column. Use a simple heading like "Skills" or "Technical Skills" and format as a clean list or grouped categories.

Collect 3-5 target job descriptions

Copy the descriptions of roles you actually want. Highlight required skills, tools, and certifications. This creates your keyword library.

Brain-dump your real skills

List every tool, language, process, and soft skill you use regularly. Include recent training, certifications, and new technologies you're learning.

Match and prioritize

From your brain-dump, pick the skills that overlap with your keyword library and reflect your strongest abilities. Prioritize must-have and high-impact skills first.

Edit for clarity and grouping

Group related skills (e.g., "Data: SQL, Python, Tableau"), remove duplicates, and avoid overcrowding. Most people should list 10-20 key resume skills.

Final ATS and readability check

Ensure skills are in plain text (not images), spelled correctly, and written in standard terms recruiters expect. Print and skim in 8 seconds-can you tell what you're great at?

Use sentence case or Title Case, but be consistent.
Avoid long sentences; keep skills in short phrases separated by commas or vertical bars.
If you have many tools, consider grouped subheadings like "Analytics", "Design", or "Languages".
Remove very basic tools (like generic "Microsoft Office") unless the job description emphasizes them.

If you'd rather have AI match your skills to every job description automatically, GoApply's AI Resume Tailoring can scan roles and refresh your skills section in seconds.

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Best practices for powerful resume skills

Once you've chosen your core resume skills, small tweaks can make them much more persuasive. These best practices apply whether you're a recent grad or a senior leader.

Match the job's language: Use the same phrases the posting uses (e.g., "Google Analytics 4" instead of just "Google Analytics").
Be tool-specific: Write "Salesforce Service Cloud" not just "CRM"; "Python (Pandas, NumPy)" instead of only "Python".
Show seniority: Add context like "team leadership", "mentoring", or "strategy" if you're targeting mid/senior roles.
Prioritize recency: Lead with tools and technologies you've used in the last 2-3 years.
Include remote-work skills: For a remote job, highlight async communication, documentation, and tools like Slack, Zoom, or Notion.
Keep it scannable: One or two lines per group; avoid huge blocks of text in your skills section.
Update quarterly: Revisit your resume skills every 3-4 months or after each major project.

If you're targeting a remote position, you'll find more tactics in this remote job application strategy guide, including how to show you can thrive without in‑office supervision.

Think of your skills as your career keywords

Just like SEO keywords help content get discovered, your resume skills help employers and ATS find you. Use the words your target employers actually search for-not just the ones you prefer.

Already have a draft skills section? Take five minutes to compare it to one live job posting and highlight every missing must-have skill you can honestly claim.

Audit my skills against a job

Resume skills examples: good vs bad

Seeing real examples makes it easier to judge your own resume skills. Compare the weak and strong versions below and notice how small changes make your skills more credible and attractive to employers.

Bad Example

Skills: Microsoft Office, Team player, Hard-working, Good communication, Leadership, Reporting.

Good Example

Skills: Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP, dashboards), SQL (PostgreSQL), Salesforce (Sales Cloud, basic automation), Process improvement (reduced reporting time 30%), Stakeholder communication, Team leadership (managed 3 analysts).

Why the good example works: it names specific tools, adds detail in parentheses, and hints at measurable impact. The bad example is full of vague soft skills that every candidate claims but no one can verify without context.

Common resume skills mistakes to avoid

Even strong candidates lose interviews because their resume skills send the wrong signal. Avoid these common errors that show up in rejected resumes far too often.

Listing outdated tools (Flash, old CRM versions, legacy languages) without newer equivalents.
Mixing levels: Putting beginner and expert skills together without labels, so recruiters can't tell what you're great at.
Overstuffing: Jamming 30-40 skills into a dense block that no one will read.
Irrelevant padding: Including hobbies or generic skills that don't relate to the job at all.
Ignoring context: Listing skills on your resume but never showing them in your work experience bullets.
Inconsistent naming: Using different names for the same skill (e.g., "GA4" in one place and "Google Analytics" in another) and confusing ATS.

For a bigger-picture checkup, compare your entire document against the pitfalls in these 10 resume mistakes that cost you interviews. Fixing just one or two of them can make the skills you already have much more convincing.

If a skill isn't helping you, it's hurting you

Every line of your resume competes for attention. An irrelevant or weak skill doesn't just take space-it distracts from the strengths that actually match the job.

Tools and AI resources to optimize your resume skills

You don't have to figure out your resume skills alone. Modern AI tools can scan job descriptions, surface the most important keywords, and help you phrase your skills in ways that beat ATS without sounding robotic. For an overview of options, see this comparison of the best AI resume builders.

Tools like GoApply go a step further. GoApply's AI Resume Tailoring automatically reads each job description, identifies the critical skills, and customizes your resume skills section and experience bullets to match-while keeping your authentic voice intact.

The ATS Optimization Suite flags missing keywords and formatting issues so your resume skills don't get lost in parsing.
The AI Auto-Apply Engine uses your skills profile to auto-apply you to 50-100+ matching roles per day, each with a tailored, ATS-optimized resume.
The Application Tracker Dashboard shows which skill-focused versions of your resume convert into interviews, so you can double down on what works.

If you'd like to understand how AI job application tools can scale your search once your resume skills are dialed in, read this AI job application guide. And if you struggle to remember which version of your resume you sent where, this job application tracking guide will help you stay organized while you test different skills configurations.

Resume skills FAQ

Here are quick answers to common questions about resume skills in 2025. Use them as guardrails while you edit your own skills section so you don't overthink the details or miss simple wins.

How many skills should I list on my resume?
Should I separate hard and soft skills?
Where should the skills section go on my resume?
Can I include skills I'm still learning?
What are the best skills to put on a resume with no experience?
How do I tailor my resume skills for each job quickly?
Do I need different skills on my resume and LinkedIn?
How often should I update my resume skills?

Conclusion: Turn your resume skills into interview magnets

Your resume skills section is one of the few parts of your application you can control completely-and it has an outsized impact on whether you get interviews. When you choose targeted, specific, and recent resume skills that mirror the job description, you help both ATS and recruiters say "yes" quickly.

You've seen what to include, how to format it, and how to avoid the mistakes that sink otherwise strong candidates. The next step is simple: pick one target role, open your resume, and spend 15 minutes applying the steps from this guide while the details are fresh.

Once your resume skills are dialed in, let GoApply do the heavy lifting-auto-applying you to 50-100+ matching roles per day with tailored, ATS-optimized resumes so you can focus on interviewing.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many skills should I list on my resume?

For most professionals, listing 10-20 targeted resume skills is ideal in 2025. Fewer than 8 often looks too generic; more than 20 becomes hard to scan and can dilute your strengths. Focus on skills that are directly relevant to the job description, that you've used recently, and that you can prove with concrete examples in your experience section.

What are the best skills to put on a resume in 2025?

The best resume skills in 2025 combine role-specific hard skills (tools, technologies, methods) with core soft skills. For example, a marketer might list GA4, SEO, email automation, and copywriting plus communication and experimentation. A project manager might highlight Agile, Jira, risk management, and stakeholder management. Always start from the job description, not generic lists.

Should I separate hard and soft skills on my resume?

Separating hard and soft resume skills can help readability, but it isn't required. What matters most is that hard and technical skills don't get buried under vague soft skills. Many candidates use grouped headings like "Technical Skills" and "Core Skills" or mix them but lead with hard skills. If space is tight, a single well-organized skills section is fine.

Where should the skills section go on my resume?

Place your skills section where a recruiter's eye will land in the first 6-8 seconds. For most people, that means just below your summary or in a clearly labeled side column near the top half of the page. Junior candidates can place resume skills even higher to show they meet basic requirements when their work history is shorter.

Can I include skills I'm still learning?

You can include in-progress skills if they're genuinely at a usable level and relevant to the job. Avoid listing skills after only a single tutorial or weekend course. If you're at an intermediate level, you can label it (e.g., "Python (intermediate)") or show it through a project. Never claim expert-level ability unless you can defend it in an interview or test.

What skills should I put on a resume with no experience?

If you have no formal work experience, focus your resume skills on abilities proven through projects, coursework, internships, volunteering, or part-time work. For example, list Excel, research, customer service, or social media management if you've actually used them. Pair your skills section with strong project or education bullets that show where you practiced those skills.

How do I tailor my resume skills for each job quickly?

The fastest way is to scan the job description, highlight all skills and tools, and compare them to your existing skills list. Add missing but accurate skills and remove less relevant ones. AI tools like GoApply can do this automatically by reading each posting and rewriting your resume skills section to match, while keeping your tone and staying honest about your background.

Do I need different skills on my resume and LinkedIn profile?

Your core resume skills and LinkedIn skills should match, but they don't have to be identical. Your resume is targeted to a specific job, so it should be more focused and tailored. LinkedIn can show a broader set of skills you want to be known for in your field. Just make sure there are no major contradictions between the two, especially for critical technical skills.

How often should I update my resume skills?

Review your resume skills every 3-6 months or whenever you complete a major project, switch tools, or change roles. In fast-moving fields like software, data, or digital marketing, skills can go stale within a year. Regular updates ensure your resume reflects your current strengths and includes emerging tools employers are starting to request in 2025.

Should I include proficiency levels next to my skills?

Including proficiency levels (e.g., beginner, intermediate, advanced) can help, but only if you apply them consistently and honestly. They're most useful when you have a mix of newer and very strong skills on your resume. However, avoid cluttering your skills section with complex rating systems or graphics that ATS can't read; simple text labels work best.

Your resume skills are ready-now put them to work. GoApply can auto-apply you to hundreds of matching roles with a tailored, ATS-optimized resume for each one.

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