Your unique skills and achievements are what sets you apart from the competition.
Here are a few suggestions and guidelines on how to revamp your CV.
What are the skills on a cv?
Skills are divided into hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are skills that you have gained through education or experience, including financial management, budgeting and forecasting.
Soft skills are skills that come naturally to you – communication, problem-solving and leadership.
Skills on a CV are a combination of your knowledge and abilities.
Type of skills to include in a cv
CVs focus on hard skills, those that you’ve learned through experience and education.
They illustrate how your capabilities align with a potential employer’s requirements.
How to identify your skills for a resume and list them
To determine your skills, you can ask yourself the following questions:
- What do I do in my current job?
- What do I need to know or do to be good at my job?
- What skills have I learnt through life experiences?
To list your skills on your resume, create a header for “Skills” or “Areas of Expertise” and add them underneath. Do not list them one under the other as this would be a waste of valuable space, list them across the page, separated with a symbol in between.
If you are not sure which skills to list, read through a few job descriptions you are interested in and select the most appropriate ‘desirable skills’ to include on your CV.
Best skills to have on cv
Adding a combination of personal, knowledge-based, and technical skills will give the reader a complete overview of who you are and what your capabilities are.
Example of skills in a cv
- Leadership
- Conflict Resolution
- Problem-Solving
- Adaptability
- Creativity
- Emotional Intelligence
- Relationship Building
- Project Management
- Public Speaking
- Complaint Resolution
- Reporting
- Process Improvement
- Administration
- Training
- Communication
- Stakeholder Management
- Teamwork
- Training & Mentoring
What to write under achievements
It can often be difficult to distinguish between an achievement and a duty.
A duty is an everyday responsibility.
An achievement is something that goes above and beyond what is required.
Duties tend to lead to achievements.
To help identify your achievements you can ask yourself the following questions:
- What actions did YOU take to reach this result? If it was a team effort, what did you contribute directly? Or did you lead the team?
- Was anyone else significantly involved? If so, who and why? (ie. external partners/contractors)
- Why was the result so significant for the business/department?
- Was there anything special about this at the time? Example: great result despite a downturn in the market/low staffing levels/period of significant change etc.
How to list achievements on a cv
You should add your achievements in the job description of each role, including them in a separate section can make it difficult to decipher which achievements relate to which role.
You can do this by separating them from your duties with a space, or adding a list.
What are transferable skills and why are they important
Transferable skills are those you can apply to multiple job types. They can demonstrate how you’re fit for a job even if you lack the appropriate experience or qualifications.
They are very important when changing sectors or starting your career.
You may want to go from being a Sales Manager to a Software Developer without any experience in the field but communication, teamwork and attention to detail will be a transferrable across both roles.
Three examples of transferable skills
Leadership
Customer Service
Organisation
Conclusion
By following the above-mentioned tips, you will show potential employers that you not only have the right knowledge and qualifications, but also the interpersonal and practical skills to excel within the
