What soft skills should you include in your resume? (2024)

We need to stop calling them "Soft Skills." They are essential leadership skills that can have an enormous impact on our teams and on our organizations.

I have found it more appropriate to use transferrable skills or transferable abilities. By using soft/hard skills, there is an appearance that the knowledge gained cannot be used at other employers or in different industries. Given the changes in how jobs look specifically in the last few years, showing agility is way more valuable than a skill that is inaccurately defined.

Being a big fan of soft skills, I always emphasised adding these to the resume. Hard skills can be learnt in a short time but if you don’t know how to lead or collaborate your hard skills don’t matter. Moreover, hard skills don’t need a long time to acquire while soft skills need more time to develop and nurture.

Your soft skills reflects your ways of working. Using the right power verb will convince employers that you have the right behavior to complete any given tasks at work. Avoid repetitive words such as managed, assisted, and responsibled. Choose impactful power verbs such as created, achieved, improved, resolved and trained.

If you're struggling to come up with the specific soft skills you might possess, you can try brainstorming with ChatGPT or Google Bard. Just use this prompt (or something similar): "What soft skills would I have likely used in [specific task related to your current or former role]?"You'll then be presented with a pretty comprehensive list of skills, which can be a good starting point for your self-reflection. It's also worth considering if/how you have used some of the most in-demand soft skills, like communication, teamwork, problem-solving, adaptability, and emotional intelligence. These types of skills are often highly sought-after by employers.

I think self reflection is quite essential while reviewing your experiences and achievements to identify soft skills. Also, external feedback is a great way to identify those skills by seeking input from colleagues, managers, friends on your strengths and areas for improvement. 💡Last but not least, seeking guidance from a professional coach/ mentor for supporting you in identifying and enhancing your soft skills is always a great idea!

In my experience, the most effective way to include soft skills in a resume is to focus on which soft skills are important to the role for which you are applying to (this can be found directly in the job description under required skills) and will resonate with the employer. Then give examples of how you've successfully demonstrated those skills in a past role. For example, if effective communication is a skill the employer is looking for in a position, say something like: Achieved on-time and on-budget project completion by bringing the team together through communicating goals and deadlines promptly.

Each job is different and so are it’s requirements if soft skills (let me call them behaviours/habits) for better understanding.Now identify which one would be more appropriate for the job but don’t just list them in your CV but highlight them in your past actions. Instead of writing that you have a good communication explain your past experience in a way that communication get highlighted.Reviewer must get a feel.

Yes, your resume must always have a summary of keywords for technical skills to make sure it is ATS friendly. However, your soft skills may not need a summary or keywords. Your soft skills must be reflected in your job accomplishments, projects experience, or educational achievements before it is being validated during the job interview.

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Employers look for a balance of hard (technical) and soft (interpersonal) skills. When listing your skills, include both types to present yourself as a well-rounded candidate. For example, alongside technical skills like "proficient in Java programming," you might add "effective team collaboration."

There are no “soft” skills, only skills. Often, we think about skills like teamwork, communication, and time management as “soft skills.” This is an inaccurate phrase that de-emphasizes the importance of these skills to the well-being of the employee and business. The assumed “traditional” skills like writing, presenting, and creating spreadsheets don’t mean anything if you are unhealthy. We need to refer to all these activities as skills and weigh them as crucial as any other skill.

Technically speaking soft skills are intangible. You can’t really claim anything on the resume without a proof. So instead of saying I have leadership abilities, highlight a position of responsibility.