Skills to Feature in Your Resume

Skills to Feature in Your Resume

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Problem-Solving Skills

Problem-solving is an increasingly important soft skill in the workplace because some of the most toxic work environments don't prioritize it. Here's an example.  An employee named Tina dropped the ball on an important email. Once she realized she had done so, she immediately apologized to the client and received a proverbial 

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Problem-Solving Skills

"slap on the wrist" for doing so. Problem solved, right? Not necessarily. Many workplaces solve small problems when they bubble up to the surface and cannot be ignored any longer. Real problem-solving is getting to the root of things. It’s seeing the problems before they occur. In Tina’s case, maybe the real problem was inefficient 

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Problem-Solving Skills

communication between Tina and her boss. Maybe it was that Tina is responsible for too many job functions. Real problem-solving is creative and investigative. Real problem-solvers are dedicated to finding real, meaningful solutions that coincidentally stop other problems from happening, too.

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Critical Thinking Skills

Like problem-solving, critical thinking is often creative and forward-thinking. Those will advanced critical thinking skills will slow down to pay attention to what's happening instead of speedily heading to the next thing. They are thoughtful, mindful, and they are awake. In fact, critical thinkers are often also great problem solvers.

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Flexibility

Flexibility describes an employee who can roll with the punches and remain unflappable in the face of stress.  Flexibility is a highly-desired skill set—especially in the startup space, where things can change at a moment's notice.

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Communication Skills

Communication soft skills vary—and they're mostly about keeping quiet at first. Communication is listening, learning, gathering knowledge, and relaying it. Communication is being thoughtful with your words and actions (because non-verbal communication is also communication). Communication is in being organized, concise, and clear. 

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Communication Skills

Communication is extremely important, especially when it comes to remote work. It's knowing what can be an email, when to get on a video call, and what needs to be addressed in a meeting. Communication requires respect, adaptability, and an open mind. In short, communication is key on every level of a business—on every level of a career.

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Teamwork

Ultimately, it takes a team to fix a large problem in the workplace. Whether the problem is organizational or personal, it likely will take more than one person to implement a long-term solution. This is where teamwork comes into play. A good problem-solver at work will also be a team player. Great teamwork requires just 

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Teamwork

about every other element we have listed above. Good teamwork absolutely requires an open mind and apt listening skills.  To work as a part of a team, you must be able to communicate effectively and follow directions.

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Organization Skills

If you’ve ever worked with someone who is truly organized, you’ve lived the dream. Maybe you even felt a little jealous. The most organized folks never drop the ball—and they’re juggling at least 30 at a time. Organizational skills are especially important when collaborating remotely. Your best organizer is a pro at 

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Organization Skills

scheduling, delegating, planning, prioritizing, and communicating. Organization skills are going to be crucial to highlight in a project manager resume. These kinds of skills may help with delegation, budgeting, people management, and calendar management.

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Creativity

Creativity is another essential soft skill that comes into play more often than anyone realizes. Typically associated with creative roles (i.e., writing, design, performance arts), creativity can (and should!) be used whenever possible. Because many problems in the workplace can be nebulous, 

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Creativity

they call for creative solutions. Warning: creative solutions should not be mistaken for easy solutions.

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Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is more important than ever. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand both your emotions and the emotions of others around you. Those with high emotional intelligence can manage their emotions, communicate effectively with others, manage challenges, and empathize with those around them.

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Emotional Intelligence

Show emotional intelligence throughout your resume and your work. If you still feel unclear about how to show emotional intelligence on your resume, here are some ideas.

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Attention to Detail

Everyone likes to write that they are detail-oriented in their resume, but what does that actually mean? Some recruiters and hiring managers have admitted that they are turned off when they see “attention to detail” in a resume, right next to a typo. When explaining your attention to detail, include examples of times when your sharp eye saved the day.

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Attention to Detail

– Did you ever catch a typo right before a campaign launched? – Did you ever realize an important stakeholder was missing from an email? – Are you the go-to editor for every piece of written content that leaves your office?

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Responsibility

Responsibility, honesty, and transparency are all important elements of a great employee, but they can be difficult to pinpoint in an interview process. Responsibility means that you complete your tasks, you own your mistakes, and you learn and grow from your experiences every day. To show responsibility on your resume, 

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Responsibility

you might include details about how you started as an entry-level employee at an organization and how you were increasingly entrusted with responsibilities.

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Time Management

Sure, you could bundle this up with organization soft skills, but here's why we don't. Some of the most organized people in the world spend a heck of a lot of time organizing. We need them, we do! However, someone who is great with time management can get the job done proficiently—all without missing a beat or wasting a moment.

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Time Management

Related Time Management Skills: – Adaptability – Flexibility – Self-Discipline

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Self-Awareness

Have you ever worked with someone who seemingly had no idea of how rude they were? Have you ever had a boss who didn't seem to grasp that they were giving you entirely too much work—all while complaining about having nothing to do? Self-awareness is a crucial skill in life and at work, so why do so many people seem to lack .

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Self-Awareness

general self-awareness? Improve your self-awareness by keeping journals, asking yourself questions, asking questions of your coworkers, and actively listening to what's happening around you.  Really listening and learning will light up endless opportunities for learning and growth in your career and in your personal life

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Virtual Presence Etiquette

According to Adobe, virtual presence etiquette is a skill that is in high demand for a variety of lucrative roles—from DEI professionals to digital marketers. As the world is leaning more on remote work and virtual collaboration, it's crucial to master your digital etiquette. Much like you would maintain eye contact and use body 

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Virtual Presence Etiquette

language and mirroring in a meeting, it's important to translate these communications to your online meetings. Some tips to help elevate your virtual presence, per HBR, include: – Framing yourself with a non-distracting background – Focusing on your camera instead of your image to your 

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Virtual Presence Etiquette

colleagues' digital image, especially when speaking – Remaining engaged in the conversation or meeting – Speaking confidently when participating in meetings

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Computer Software and Application Knowledge

Certain jobs will require very specific software knowledge—including programming, coding languages, and other developer tools. Other jobs might require proficiency in design software, editing software, project management software, and the list goes on.

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Design + Design Thinking

Design thinking is a term that describes the set of cognitive, strategic, and practical processes used to develop design concepts from their inception. Design thinking is crucial in graphic design and web design roles. However, it can be extremely useful in a startup environment, in marketing, branding, engineering, and advertising, too.

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Data Analysis

Data analysis is a high-earning skill because it dovetails creative thinking and mathematical prowess into one killer skill set. For those who never identified as strictly left-brained or right-brained, data analysis combines soft skills like critical thinking and communication with hard skills like algebra and machine learning.

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Data Analysis

Related Data Analysis + Data Management Skills: – SQL – Programming Language – Data Mapping – Wireframes – Big Data – Machine learning – Business Process Modeling – Translating + Communicating Technical Information

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Negotiation

Negotiation can be viewed as a soft skill or a hard skill. In this circumstance, we’re talking about the hard skill part of negotiation skills. This is the sort of negotiation used in sales, to broker a large deal, or to establish partnerships. Negotiation skills can absolutely be learned. We have a crash course that details some popular forms of 

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Negotiation

negotiation used in business settings.

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Mathematics

Math skills are required in a variety of roles—especially within finance, business, engineering, construction, manufacturing, logistics, and technology. Some math skills include mathematical reasoning, number facility, deductive reasoning, and information ordering. If a job explicitly requires mathematical 

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Mathematics

knowledge, it must be included in your resume.

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Project Management

Project management skills include all that aids in the ability to manage task flows and complete assignments. Even when you’re not seeking a project management role, project management is a great skill set for a manager or for someone working alongside multiple individuals. Those with project management skills, aside from 

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Project Management

being impeccably organized, often have a unique set of people skills that allows them to identify and delegate work for a positive and expedient outcome.

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Marketing

Marketing describes the selling and promoting of products and services.There are many subdivisions of marketing, especially when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), digital marketing, social media marketing, and paid advertising. When including marketing skills in your resumes, especially for a marketing role, be sure to use 

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Marketing

specificity in your area of expertise—whether it’s print marketing, digital marketing, marketing for hospitality brands, or marketing to a certain demographic or customer base.

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Administrative Skills

Virtually every job has some administrative aspect to it, even if it isn’t explicitly an administrative role. Administrative skills involve all of your day-to-day work—including organizing, planning, managing a calendar, making priority-based lists, writing emails, and maintaining up-to-date records. Other ways to demonstrate administrative 

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Administrative Skills

skills include mentioning proficiency in software like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or Google's office suite.

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Writing Skills

Writing is an extension of communication. As such, it’s an important skill in the increasingly-remote workplace. Even if you’re not looking for a writing job, writing is still important in client-facing roles, when creating presentations, and in everyday correspondence. Writing skills, grammar, and clear communication are 

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Writing Skills

crucial to every role. Related Writing Skills: – Copywriting – Editing – Technical Writing – Storytelling – Empathy

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Foreign Language

Being bilingual or multilingual can open a candidate up to a myriad of positions that require a deep knowledge of more than one language. In fact, if you do speak, understand, or write in several languages, you should always include that ability in your resume. It might open an opportunity you never considered or edge you out 

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Foreign Language

over another closely-competing candidate for a job position.

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Customer Service Skills

Why didn't we list this under soft skills? Have you dealt with an angry customer before? Customer service skills vary from industry to industry. As such, this skill set needs to have nuanced differences. For example, a customer support agent for JetBlue, working through a huge blizzard on December 23rd is 

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Customer Service Skills

going to call for a much different approach than a customer service agent for a retail clothing company. These specific skills include active listening, patience, flexible problem-solving, and, quite frankly, de-escalation techniques.

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Leadership Skills

While some folks seem to be born leaders, most effective leaders are molded through observation, trial, and error. Your best leaders have suffered terrible managers. As a result, they took their experiences to ensure that their employees would never endure bad leadership. Leadership is an umbrella skill, with a ton of skills to be 

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Leadership Skills

mastered within its protection. Great leaders are expert communicators who delegate tasks so that every team member works to their own strengths.

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