Skill Assessments

When you begin to prepare your resume, listing your skill set is the most important piece of information that you will articulate.  It will define your abilities, promote your competencies and list your transferable skills.  It is important that you itemize each skill with relevance to the job opportunity you are applying for, so that your matching skills are highlighted throughout the resume.

Recruiters sort through many resumes daily, and staying top of mind is not always easy to do.  That is why it is key that when you apply for a job, your skills that make you qualified for the job need to stand out so that you can rise to the top of the stack on the recruiter’s desk.

There are some things that have become outdated when listing skills, such as how many words per minute you can type, or that you know how to fax or copy documents.  Now that we are in the 21^st century, most of the working population have these skills and you can save these lines for a more valuable list of your abilities.  If there are programs that you specialized in, or that you took training classes for, list those skills before listing skills that are more common now that technology has evolved.

Not sure exactly what to write in place of these transferable skills?  Try listing your problem solving skills and cite an example of how your skills positively impacted the organization.  Perhaps you have exceptional writing skills or speaking skills.  These are qualities that all organizations are searching for when hiring talented individuals. Be sure to include how these transferable skills positively impact business and by listing these qualities, it will help you land the job you are qualified for.