Do Your Skills Stand Out on Your Resume?

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It doesn’t matter if you have freshly graduated high school or college or it you have years of experience under your belt, the skills portion of your resume is the section that a hiring manager is likely most interested in. The strength of your skills section on your resume is a sure fire way to make a lasting impression on the decision makers, whether good or bad. If you are in the middle of forming your resume, you should evaluate your skills section with the following qualifiers:

• Does it list all of your technical skills or only the ones that will help you stand out?

• Does it highlight your soft skills too?

• Does it mention all of the ‘right’ skills for the job?

• Does it connect the dots between your background and the job requirements for the position you are applying for?

How Can I Make Sure My Skills Are Noticed on My Resume?

Every individual has a unique skill set that they alone possess. This may be certain abilities they are born with and posses from birth, or others that they have picked up on and practiced throughout the course of their life. In either case, those skill sets are important attributes that need to be communicated to the hiring manager or recruiter. Bringing those individualized skills front and center is imperative, and matching them with the unique requirements for the advertised job description is just as essential. This combination of identifying your skill sets and tying them into the job role are the best ways in which to promote your own abilities on your resume. 

It is important not to simply make a list of your skills on your resume. While handy and straightforward communication tools in some respects, a list does nothing to personalize your own unique abilities to the job. Take the next step by hand selecting certain skills called out in the job description and then correlating them to your candidacy for the role. For example, let’s say your skill sets include Communication, Interpersonal Interaction, Leading, Managing, Planning, Organizing, Customer Service and Technical Skills. The job you are applying for is a customer service role involved in customer retention. The job description includes job duties in a customer facing role, most often in situations where a client is upset with a situation requiring resolution, and that detailed internal notes are required. With that knowledge, you’d want to select the skills that most relate to the job. In this case, they would be Communication, Interpersonal Interaction, Organizing, and Customer Service. Leadership and management wouldn’t apply to the job, so although they are valuable skills, they should be left out.

What if I Can’t Figure Out Which Skills to Highlight?

Writing your own resume can be a complicated endeavor. There are so many minutiae to consider regarding formatting, length, tense, and what to include for each section. That mentions nothing of the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) which automatically scans and determines the fate of resumes for major companies. 

 The Applicant Tracking System is a computer software that the majority of large companies utilize to scan incoming resumes. These companies receive so many applications for job openings that it would be an inappropriate use of manpower to have each resume manually reviewed. With the ATS, the recruiter or hiring manager sets certain parameters for the ATS and let it go to work scanning incoming resumes and determining which meet the standards and which don’t.

In short, the job application process is nothing like it used to be. The days of going into the front office of the company you wanted to apply for and dropping off a resume are no longer a reality. A concrete and effective resume are essential for job hunting success in this day and age. 

For this reason, resume writing services offer their professional expertise to help prospective employees create an effective resume that is sure to pass the ATS and contain proper formatting and strong skills sections as we discussed above.

USA Resume, a professional resume writing service in Houston, TX is one of the leaders in the industry, writing professional resumes for thousands of successful job applicants. Our clients have gone on to hold executive and C-level employment at Fortune 500 companies around the world. 

If you are embarking on the job hunting process, you need to make sure your efforts aren’t in vain. Contact USA Resume today to have your individual resume writer craft a perfect resume for you. Your certified resume writer will have industry experience in your field and will be able to properly articulate every portion of your resume, including your skills section, to the hiring managers in industry standard terminology. Don’t wait, contact our professional resume writing service in Houston, Texas today!

www.USAResume.net