Resume writing

Which Skills Actually Belong on a Resume

How to choose skills that match the job instead of listing everything you know: hard vs soft skills, how many to list, where to put them, and examples by role.

By CraftCVPro team8 min read
Illustration of a verified badge beside a resume and a list of skills
On this page
  1. Hard skills and soft skills: why the difference matters
  2. Start from the job description, not from memory
  3. What to leave off
  4. How many skills, and how to arrange them
  5. Prove the important ones in your experience
  6. Examples of resume skills by role
  7. Skills for a fresher’s resume
  8. Languages count more than you think
  9. Skills section checklist
  10. Frequently asked questions

The skills section is the most searched part of a resume, and the most abused. Recruiters search their applicant tracking systems by skill — “Excel”, “Salesforce”, “GST” — so it matters. Yet it is usually the laziest list on the page: thirty items, half of them generic, and a few the candidate could not discuss for two minutes in an interview.

A good skills section is short, specific, and chosen for the job in front of you. Here is how to build one.

The short answer

List 8–15 skills, most of them hard skills — tools, software, methods, certifications and languages — taken from the job description where they are true of you. Group them if there are many, put the most relevant first, and prove the important ones in your experience bullets. Leave off generic traits like “hardworking”, basics everyone is assumed to have, and any skill you could not talk about in an interview.

Hard skills and soft skills: why the difference matters

Hard skills are specific and teachable, and you can usually prove them: a programming language, accounting software, a machine you are certified to operate, a language you speak. Soft skills are ways of working: communication, leadership, problem-solving, time management.

Hard skillsSoft skills
What they areSpecific, teachable abilitiesWays of working with people and problems
ExamplesPython, TallyPrime, AutoCAD, Google Ads, GST filing, Tamil (fluent)Communication, leadership, negotiation, adaptability
How recruiters use themSearched for directly in the ATSJudged from your experience, and in the interview
Where they belongThe skills section, and your bullet pointsMostly your bullet points — shown, not claimed

That last row is the whole point. Recruiters search for hard skills, so they belong in the list. Anyone can type “excellent communication skills”, so soft skills are only believed when your experience demonstrates them.

Start from the job description, not from memory

The most common mistake is writing down everything you can do. The better approach takes about fifteen minutes:

  1. Write down every skill you have — tools, software, methods, languages, certifications. Don’t filter yet.
  2. Open three job ads for the role you want and highlight every skill they mention.
  3. Keep the overlap. Skills that appear in at least two of the ads and on your own list are the core of your section.
  4. Order them by importance to the job, not by how long you have known them.
  5. Use the employer’s wording. If the ads say “Google Analytics 4”, don’t write “web analytics”.

Three ads for a digital marketing executive might all mention SEO, Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, Google Analytics 4, content calendars, Canva and email marketing. If you have used six of those, those six lead your list — ahead of the Photoshop course you did in college.

What to leave off

  • Generic traits. “Hardworking”, “honest”, “punctual”, “quick learner”, “team player”. Every candidate claims them, so they carry no weight — and they take space from skills that do.
  • Assumed basics. “MS Word”, “internet browsing”, “email”. Leave them out unless the job asks. For a data-entry or back-office role, “typing speed 45 wpm” and “advanced Excel” are genuinely relevant.
  • Skill ratings. Bars, stars and percentages (“Java — 80%”) mean nothing: 80% of what? Screening software cannot read them either. If the level matters, use words: advanced, working knowledge, conversational.
  • Skills you can’t discuss. If a skill is on the page, expect an interview question about it. If you only watched a tutorial once, leave it off.
  • Irrelevant skills. An accountant’s video editing, a developer’s shorthand certificate — relevant to you, not to this job.
  • Outdated technology, unless the job asks for it.

How many skills, and how to arrange them

Eight to fifteen is right for most people. With fewer than eight you may not match enough searches — the ATS check on this site flags a skills section shorter than that. Much beyond fifteen, the list starts to look like padding, and the skills that matter get lost in it.

If you have more than about ten, group them so a recruiter can scan the list:

Hard to scan

Java, teamwork, Git, SQL, communication, Spring Boot, Docker, problem solving, REST APIs, AWS, leadership, Jira, MySQL, JUnit

Grouped

Languages and frameworks: Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, JUnit · Data: SQL, MySQL · Tools: Git, Docker, AWS, Jira

The soft skills did not disappear. They moved into the bullet points, where they can be shown.

As for where the section goes: near the top, under your summary, if you are a fresher or in a technical role where your tools are the first thing a recruiter checks. After your experience otherwise.

Prove the important ones in your experience

A skill that appears only in your skills section is a claim. The same skill inside an achievement is evidence. For the three or four skills that matter most to the job, make sure each one also shows up in a bullet point:

Claimed

Skills: Advanced Excel

Proved

Built an Excel model with Power Query and pivot tables that cut monthly stock reconciliation from three days to four hours.

Claimed

Skills: Leadership

Proved

Led a team of six through the festive-season peak, handling 40% more orders than the year before with no rise in returns.

Claimed

Skills: Communication

Proved

Presented weekly sales reports to regional heads in English and Hindi, and trained 15 new hires on the CRM.

This helps with screening software too: a keyword that appears in the context of a job reads as experience, not just a claim in a list.

Examples of resume skills by role

These are starting points, not lists to copy. Keep only the skills that are true of you and that appear in the jobs you are applying for.

RoleHard skills to considerSoft skills to show in bullets
Software developerJavaScript or TypeScript, React, Node.js, Java or Python, SQL, REST APIs, Git, Docker, a cloud platform (AWS, Azure or GCP), unit testingCode review, mentoring, working with product and design
Data analystSQL, Excel (Power Query, pivot tables), Power BI or Tableau, Python (pandas), statistics, A/B testing, data cleaningExplaining findings to non-technical teams
AccountantTallyPrime, GST returns (GSTR-1, GSTR-3B), TDS, bank reconciliation, accounts payable and receivable, Excel, Zoho Books or SAP FICOAccuracy under deadlines, working with auditors
Sales and business developmentCRM (Salesforce, Zoho CRM, HubSpot), lead generation, pipeline management, key account management, B2B sales, regional languagesNegotiation, building relationships
Digital marketingSEO, Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, Google Analytics 4, Search Console, email marketing, content writing, CanvaCreativity backed by data, managing stakeholders
Customer supportTicketing tools (Freshdesk, Zendesk), chat and email support, CRM, typing speed, English plus a regional languageCalming upset customers, working to SLAs
TeacherSubject expertise, CBSE, ICSE or state-board curriculum, lesson planning, assessment design, Google Classroom, smart-class toolsClassroom management, communicating with parents
HR executiveRecruitment and sourcing (Naukri, LinkedIn Recruiter), onboarding, payroll processing, PF and ESI compliance, an HRMS such as Keka, Darwinbox or Zoho PeopleConfidentiality, resolving conflicts
Mechanical engineerAutoCAD, SolidWorks, GD&T, CNC programming, lean manufacturing, 5S and Kaizen, FMEA, root-cause analysisWorking with shop-floor teams, safety leadership
Graphic designerAdobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, Figma, typography, branding, print production, basic motion designTaking and applying feedback, meeting deadlines

Skills for a fresher’s resume

With no full-time experience, your skills section carries more weight, and the proof has to come from somewhere other than jobs:

  • Coursework you actually used in a project, not the whole syllabus. “Data structures” is a subject; “built a route-planning app using Dijkstra’s algorithm” is a skill.
  • Internships and projects, each naming the tools you used.
  • Certifications employers in your field recognise — NPTEL, Google, Microsoft, AWS, or a professional body’s exams.
  • Languages, with a level for each.
  • Positions of responsibility — organising a college fest, running a club — which is where your soft skills get their evidence.

Languages count more than you think

For sales, customer support, field, hospitality and healthcare roles in India, the languages you speak can be worth as much as any software skill. List them with an honest level — native, fluent, professional or conversational — rather than a rating. “English (fluent), Hindi (native), Marathi (conversational)” tells a recruiter exactly what they need to know.

Skills section checklist

  • Between 8 and 15 skills, most of them hard skills.
  • Each one appears in the job description, or is clearly relevant to it.
  • The employer’s wording is used, where it is true of you.
  • Grouped into categories if there are more than about ten.
  • No bars, stars or percentages.
  • No generic traits or assumed basics.
  • The three or four most important skills are also proved in your bullet points.
  • You could talk for two minutes about every skill listed.

Want to see how yours scores? The free ATS check counts your skills and shows which terms from a job description are missing. For the rest of the page, see how to write a resume that gets read.

Frequently asked questions

How many skills should I put on my resume?

Between 8 and 15 for most people. Fewer than eight may not match enough recruiter searches; more than fifteen starts to look like padding and buries the skills that matter. Group them into categories if you have more than about ten.

Should I include soft skills on my resume?

Name a soft skill only if the job description asks for it, and then prove it in a bullet point — leading a team, say, or presenting to clients. A list of soft skills on its own carries little weight, because every candidate claims the same ones.

Where should the skills section go on a resume?

Near the top, under your summary, if you are a fresher or in a technical role where your tools are the first thing a recruiter checks. Otherwise it can come after your work experience.

Should I rate my skills with stars or percentages?

No. A rating like “Python — 80%” has no agreed meaning, and screening software cannot read bars or stars. If the level matters, use words such as advanced, working knowledge or conversational.

What skills should a fresher put on a resume?

The tools and methods you have actually used in projects, internships and coursework, recognised certifications, and the languages you speak. Back each important skill with a project or a result, since you do not yet have job experience to prove it.

Should I list skills I am still learning?

Only if you can talk about what you have done with them, and only if you label them honestly — for example, a separate line reading “Currently learning: Kubernetes”.

Put it into practice

Write a few lines about yourself the way you would to a friend, and get a finished, editable resume to apply this advice to. Free, no sign-up.

Start my resume

Written by the team that builds CraftCVPro’s resume engine and ATS check. We don’t quote statistics we can’t source, and we update these guides when hiring practice changes. Last reviewed .

Keep reading

All guides →