good cover letter skills

In an increasingly digitized world, where customer-centric strategies are vital for business success, I am thrilled to apply for the [Job Title] position at HubSpot."

Unhelpful Cover Letter Introduction:

"To Whom it May Concern,

I am applying for the [Job Title] position at HubSpot. I have some experience in marketing and can help your clients grow their businesses."

Relevant Professional Experience

It can be tempting to use the same cover letter for every job. After all, it‘s about your experience, isn’t it? But it's not enough to rephrase the work history in your resume.

Recruiters and hiring managers are looking to fill a specific role, so you need to show how your experience translates to their unique needs.

So, the body of a great cover letter should showcase the specific professional experiences that are relevant to the job you're applying for. Emphasize your accomplishments and skills that directly relate to what the job needs.

To speed up this part of the cover letter writing process, start by creating a list of your transferable skills . Drafting this list can help you quickly focus on the skills to highlight in your cover letter.

Then, use AI tools to summarize job descriptions and narrow in on where your experience and the needs of the role you're applying for overlap. This post is full of useful AI assistant tools if you're new to AI.

Helpful Cover Letter Experience:

“At [Company Name], I had the opportunity to assist a global ecommerce retailer in enhancing their online customer experience. By conducting in-depth market research and customer journey mapping, I identified pain points and areas of improvement in their website navigation and user interface.”

Unhelpful Cover Letter Experience:

“I also worked with an ecommerce retailer to improve the customer experience. We did some surveys and training, and they were happy with the results.”

Useful Examples

To make your cover letter stand out, add specific examples that show how you've solved problems or gotten results in past roles.

Quantify your accomplishments whenever possible, using data to give the reader a clear understanding of your impact.

Helpful Cover Letter Example:

“I lead a team of five content writers while increasing website traffic by 18% year-over-year.”

Unhelpful Cover Letter Example:

“I have a great track record of leadership and achieving fantastic results.”

Research and Company Knowledge

Hiring teams aren‘t hiring anyone with the skills to do the job. They’re hiring a person they'll work alongside at their specific company.

So, to show that you‘re not just looking for any job anywhere, share your knowledge of the company’s industry, values, and culture in your cover letter.

Spend some time on the company website and take notes on what makes this business interesting to you and why you would want to work there.

Then, explain how your skills align with the company's mission and goals and explain how you could add to their chances of success. This will showcase your interest in the company and help them see if you are a good cultural fit.

Helpful Cover Letter Research:

“I was particularly drawn to HubSpot not only for its industry-leading solutions but also for its exceptional company culture. HubSpot's commitment to employee development and fostering a collaborative environment is evident in its recognition as a top workplace consistently. I strongly believe that my passion for continuous learning, self-motivation, and dedication to contributing to a team will make me a valuable asset to HubSpot.”

Unhelpful Cover Letter Research:

“I have been inspired by HubSpot's commitment to inbound marketing and its comprehensive suite of solutions. HubSpot's dedication to providing valuable content and fostering meaningful relationships aligns with my own values and aspirations.”

Clear Writing

Your cover letter needs to pack in a lot of important information. But it's also important that your cover letter is clear and concise.

To accomplish this, use professional but easy-to-understand language. Be sure to remove any grammar or spelling errors and avoid lengthy paragraphs and avoid jargon or overly technical language.

You may also want to use bullet points to make your letter easier to skim. Then, proofread your cover letter for clarity or ask a friend to proofread it for you.

• Guide to Becoming a Better Writer
• Tips for Simplifying Your Writing

Helpful Cover Letter Writing:

"In addition to my academic accomplishments, I gained valuable practical experience through internships at respected law firms.

Working alongside experienced attorneys, I assisted in providing legal support to clients. This hands-on experience helped me develop a deep understanding of client needs and enhanced my ability to effectively communicate complex legal concepts in a straightforward manner."

Unhelpful Cover Letter Writing:

"Furthermore, as a complement to my academic accomplishments, I have garnered invaluable practical experience through internships at esteemed law firms.

Throughout these placements, I actively collaborated with seasoned attorneys to conduct due diligence and furnish clients with comprehensive legal support. Notably, these experiences fostered a profound comprehension of client necessities, whilst honing my legal acumen to articulately convey intricate legal principles within a lucid and concise framework, adhering to applicable precedents and statutes of limitations."

Genuine Interest and Enthusiasm

Find ways to convey your passion for the role and how excited you are to contribute to the company you're applying to. At the same time, make sure your interest feels authentic and outline how it aligns with your career goals.

Your ultimate goal is an enthusiastic letter that feels honest and leaves a lasting positive impression.

Showing excitement in writing doesn't come naturally for everyone. A few tips that can help you boost the genuine enthusiasm in your letter:

• Record audio of yourself speaking about the role, then use voice-to-text technology to transcribe and add these sections to your letter.
• Choose your words carefully .
• Write in active voice.

Helpful Cover Letter Tone:

“I am genuinely enthusiastic about the prospect of joining [Company/Organization Name] as an accountant. My combination of technical proficiency, eagerness to learn, and strong attention to detail make me an ideal candidate for this role. I am confident that my dedication, reliability, and passion for accounting will contribute to the continued success of your organization.”

Unhelpful Cover Letter Tone:

“Honestly, I can hardly contain my excitement when it comes to reconciliations, financial statement analysis, and tax regulations! Engaging in spirited discussions with professors and classmates has allowed me to foster an unbreakable bond with the fascinating world of accounting, and I'm positively bursting with enthusiasm at the prospect of applying my skills in a professional setting.”

Memorable Conclusion

End your cover letter on a strong note. Summarize your top qualifications, restate your interest in the position, and express your interest in future communication.

Then, thank your reader for their time and consideration and include your contact information for easy follow-up.

To make your conclusion memorable, think about what parts of your letter you‘d most like the hiring manager to keep top of mind. Then, consider your word choice and phrasing. If you’re feeling stuck, this list of ways to close an email can help.

Helpful Cover Letter Conclusion:

"Thank you for considering my application. I am excited about the opportunity to further discuss how my qualifications align with the needs of Greenpeace. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience to arrange an interview.

Together, let's make a lasting impact on our planet.

[Your Name]"

Unhelpful Cover Letter Conclusion:

"Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to the possibility of discussing my qualifications further and how I can contribute to Greenpeace's mission. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience to arrange an interview.

I’d like to add another stage to the job search: experimentation.

In today’s competitive landscape, it’s so easy to feel defeated, less-than-good-enough, or like giving up your job search.

But don’t let the process become so monotonous. Have fun discovering the qualitative data I’ve discussed here — then, have even more by getting creative with your cover letter composition.

I certainly can’t guarantee that every prospective employer will respond positively — or at all — to even the most unique, compelling cover letter. But the one that’s right for you will.

So, get inspired by these examples and templates. Write an incredible cover letter that shows the hiring team at your dream job exactly who you are.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. This article was written by a human, but our team uses AI in our editorial process. Check out our full disclosure to learn more about how we use AI.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Writing an Effective Cover Letter: The Ultimate Guide

Picture this. You’ve just found an excellent job opening that meets all of your requirements— competitive salary, great benefits, and the ability to work on exciting projects. This has been your dream, and you know you have the qualifications. But, after reading further, you are asked to submit a resume and a cover letter. 

Many people skip over the idea of writing a cover letter because they can be difficult to write, especially if you’re applying for your first job. This is a mistake! In fact, your cover letter is one of the most important parts of the hiring process and should be written to the best of your ability.

Find your bootcamp match

In this guide, we’re going to explore how you can write an effective cover letter which you can use to apply for any position in tech.

Why Are Cover Letters Important?

Your cover letter is one of the first impressions you will make on a company. Even if you already have a recommendation from a current employee, there will be people in the company who will read your resume and cover letter before you proceed to the next stage of the hiring process. And to those people, these documents will be their first impression. You know what people say, “first impressions stick.”

When you reach out to a company, you want to tell them a story about yourself and how you’re going to help them meet their goals. Your resume will outline your skills and past experience, sure, but your cover letter will back up what you’ve said in your resume and give you the opportunity to explore your interest in a certain position with more depth. 

Most importantly, your cover letter, which can take many formats, can be highly personalized for each company. This is a chance for you to tell them your story. 

What Is the Purpose of a Cover Letter?

The cover letter is still an expected attachment to a resume and serves as the first impression a candidate will make on a potential employer. Your cover letter gives you the opportunity to talk about why you’re interested in the position and how you would uniquely contribute to the organization. Everyone may use the same format for their resume—listing their skills, qualifications, and more—but in the cover letter, you can get more creative. You can talk about why you’re excited about the company and craft a convincing pitch that will make them want to talk with you again.

Over the last few years, there has been a perception that cover letters are no longer relevant. If you have a Twitter profile and a presence on LinkedIn or AngelList, why should you have a cover letter? Well, the truth is that employers still value a cover letter. If you don’t include a cover letter, a potential employer may pass on you before they get the chance to read about your skills in greater depth.

Your cover letter tells employers that you’re applying for a certain position. You may be able to get away with using the same resume for multiple jobs, but the cover letter should be unique to each position and company. You want to convince the company why you are the best person for their team. And you want to tell them why you want to work with their company more than any other. The more detailed you are, the better the impression you can leave on hiring managers and recruiters.

How to Format a Cover Letter

Before we get started on the contents of a cover letter, it’s important to understand how you should format the document. Here are a few tips on how to format your cover letter:

• Use single line spacing for all text
• Use double-space between each section
• Include a one-inch margin on all sides
• Align everything to the left side
• Choose an easy-to-read font

How Long Should a Cover Letter Be?

Your cover letter—like a resume—should only be a single page long. The best cover letters are short, concise, and ideally under 300 words . You’ll only have the attention of a recruiter for a minute or two at best, and you want to impress them as soon as possible.

What to Say in a Cover Letter

Your cover letter should be all about the position you’re applying to and the company itself . Before you get started writing a cover letter, you should make sure you are aware of the needs of the company and their expectations for a candidate in the position. 

By doing some research in advance, you’ll find it easier to adapt your cover letter to the specific position you’re applying to. Recruiters will always value a personalized cover letter over one which includes generic text about why a candidate is “good.”

When doing research for your cover letter, consider the following questions:

• Why is the company hiring someone new?

Does the company have an always-open application so they can hire the best talent? Do they need more people to help them scale? When it comes time to writing your cover letter, make sure you keep these things in mind. If the company is scaling quickly, you may want to talk about how you have experience in fast-paced work environments, for example.

• What skills do they expect a new candidate to have?

What are they looking for in a new candidate? Do they need someone with skills in a particular technology? Do they need someone ambitious who can help them bring their ideas into reality? Answers to these questions are difficult to ascertain before actually talking with someone in the company, but you can’t write a cover letter without knowing what they expect.

Spend some time reading through the job description and take notes on what skills they expect applicants to have. Also, read over any materials on the company’s website such as their “about” page and their vision statement so you can learn more about their expectations and long-term goals. Doing this research will show companies you know what they’re all about, thereby indicating you’re passionate about a particular position.

How to Write a Cover Letter

Cover letters can be difficult to write because you need to write a new one for each position you’re applying to. However, there are a few tips you should keep in mind which will help optimize your cover letter writing process.

Expand on Your Resume

In your cover letter, you should go beyond your resume. It can be tempting to simply reiterate what you have said in your resume in more depth. But you shouldn’t repeat yourself in your cover letter. Instead, you should use your cover letter as an opportunity to discuss your experience in more depth . Write a sentence or two about how a past position helped you refine a specific skill that the employer is looking for. Customize the letter to show you have the requisite skills for the position. If you’re not sure where to start, you may want to ask yourself these questions:

• How did you tackle one of the responsibilities you had in a past position?
• How did you accomplish a specific milestone you mentioned on your resume?

Main Components of a Successful Cover Letter

Now, let’s get to the cover letter itself. There are three main parts in a cover letter:

• The Introduction

Let’s break these down and explore each component in more depth.

• Cover Letter Introduction

The first few sentences in your cover letter are key. If you include some generic and bold assertions about your skills, the recruiter may get bored and move on to the next candidate. But if you make your introduction impressive, they will want to read on further.

Your introduction should start with “Dear, [hiring manager name].” Make sure you include the name of the hiring manager or recruiter who is hiring for the position. If the company has a relaxed office culture, you only need to use their first name; if the employer is more traditional, use their first and last name.

The first paragraph should tell the company why you want to work with them . There are two things you could say in this paragraph—you believe in the company’s mission, and you want to work on the problems they are solving or, you want to work with their team. You should mention one of these facts and give a specific reason why. You’re interested in helping the company solve problems? Now you need to tell them why. 

Giving a specific reason shows the company you’ve tailored your cover letter to them and done some research about their company. Saying that you have applied because a friend told you about the company or because you saw a job opening sounds like you haven’t thought about the company in any depth—you just applied. When a company feels you are passionate about their vision or their team, they are more likely to reach out to you. They are always going to hire the person who wants to work for the company more than the person who would accept any job. Even subtle personal touches will go a long way in a cover letter.

• Cover Letter Body

You’ve written a great introduction, and you now have the attention of the recruiter. What’s next? You have to tell them your story. The main body will be what a recruiter uses to help them decide whether to schedule an interview or file your application away.

The main body should be around three sentences —even if you are applying for junior or senior positions in tech. The goal of telling this story is to convince the company you meet all of their specifications. Tell the company about your knowledge of the technologies they are using or your past experience with a certain process they mentioned in the job listing. Whatever it is, make sure you tell them how you can help solve their problems better than everyone else . And always provide specific examples .

"Career Karma entered my life when I needed it most and quickly helped me match with a bootcamp. Two months after graduating, I found my dream job that aligned with my values and goals in life!"

Venus, Software Engineer at Rockbot

Let’s say the company is looking for a front end web developer who can help them speed up their app. You could say, “In my one-year tenure as an intern at Google, I used React.js to improve the speed of an internal landing page by 50ms.” 

Specific, concise, and easy to understand.

In this section, you should be sure to make links between your qualifications and the specific requirements for a position . Mention how your skills meet the requirements of a company. You should also be sure to keep your paragraphs short. If you are writing three sentences, you may split those up into two paragraphs. This will make it easier for the recruiter to read your cover letter and understand the most important information. The more personalized your cover letter is, the more an employer will feel that you’re passionate about the company and its vision.

If you’re struggling to figure out how to talk about your past experience, there are a few questions you should keep in mind. These questions will ensure you know how to articulate your past experience and present it as effectively as possible to a future employer. Ask yourself:

• What projects did I work on?
• How many users did my project have?
• What big milestones did I achieve?
• What use cases did I have to take into account?
• What tools (i.e. GitHub, Confluence, CircleCI) and methodologies (i.e. Agile) did I use to work on this project?

You should end up with something like, “I was a core team member building X and leveraged tools such as CircleCI to create a new continuous integration process, which helped cut down our deployment time by 30%.” 

• Cover Letter Close

The hiring manager is reading your cover letter. They are getting more interested in reaching out to you for an interview. Now, you need to close your cover letter effectively.

The first thing you should mention in your closing lines is a call to action: a specific statement that tells employers how they can reach out to you . You may decide to say, “If you are interested in talking with me further about how I can help Microsoft boost the efficiency of their Azure platform, reach out to me at [email address].” Again, this is specific, concise, and actionable.

Then you want to close with “sincerely” or “kind regards” and sign the letter with your full name . Optionally, you can include a phone number or another contact information below your name. After you’ve done that, your cover letter will be complete. You do not need to make your close complicated—it should be simple and tell hiring managers how to reach out to you in only a few words.

Example of a Cover Letter

Here is an example of a cover letter that uses the above format. The letter states why a candidate wants to work for the company and gives them a specific example of how this candidate can help them achieve their goals. The letter is simple, concise, and actionable.

30 October 2019

Stephanie M. Anager

Hiring Manager

Career Karma

San Francisco, CA 94107

Dear James,

I used Career Karma to help choose a coding bootcamp when I was learning to code, and I recently learned about your new bootcamp directory. It got me thinking that I want to help others find the right educational opportunities for them, just like you did for me. I would like to apply for the position of junior full stack engineer at your company.

At my previous job, I started off as a junior web developer and I learned how to build efficient web applications using JavaScript and the React.js framework. I spent time working with the development team analyzing inefficiencies in our application, and made numerous changes to make our pages render quicker. If I were to join your team, I would be able to help you make your website more efficient, and help you scale the site as you gain more traffic.

If you would like to talk with me further about how I can help you improve your web application, reach out to me at [email protected].

Kind regards,

Candidate N. Ame

What Not to Include in a Cover Letter

The purpose of a cover letter is to tell your story to a prospective employer. You can tell them about yourself, your history, your knowledge, and more. Your cover letter gives you an opportunity to show an employer why you are a good candidate for a position and why they should hire you.

But many people feel compelled to include more information than they need to. Your cover letter should be short, to-the-point, and focused on how you can help a company achieve its goals. You don’t need to include every detail about your employment history. Keeping your cover letters short will make it easy if you apply for multiple positions and need to write many different letters.

Your cover letter should be formatted correctly and should be free of any spelling or grammar errors , as it will also implicitly showcase your writing and communication skills. If your cover letter includes obvious grammatical errors, an employer may question how much attention you pay to detail—a critical component of most jobs in tech.

Here are a few things you should avoid doing in a cover letter:

• Making assertions which are not true. Employers will check the facts of a cover letter if they proceed with the interview process. Make sure your cover letter is truthful and accurately represents your skills. There are many people who have exaggerated their skills in a cover letter but were unable to meet the requirements when it came time for the interview.
• Information not related to the job. Don’t include anything which is not directly related to the position for which you are applying. You only have a few hundred words to use when writing your cover letter—use them all effectively.
• What you want. Don’t mention what you want to get out of the company. You should be pitching how you can help the company, not how they can help you.
• Expressing too much interest in the job. Companies want to know you are interested in them. But talking too much about how you like the company may cause you to lose leverage when it comes time to negotiate a salary. You are pitching yourself and your abilities, not how much you like a company. Tell the company why you’re applying, but don’t go into too much depth about how you like X, Y, and Z about them.
• Discussing the skills you don’t have. If a company posts a position looking for writing experience, don’t say something like, “Although I have a short track record of writing experience… [insert other unrelated claims]…” Keep your cover letter focused on what you can do. You are not expected to meet every requirement listed in a job description.

Tips for Writing a Great Cover Letter

Here are a few tips on how you can write a wonderful cover letter:

1. Personalize, Personalize, Personalize.

The main thing you should remember about this guide is that your cover letter should be personalized. It should be tailored to one specific company and one position . It’s easy to tell if a cover letter has been reused multiple times—they include generic statements, and the author doesn’t talk about why they want to work for a specific company. 

If you want to save time, you should consider making a template cover letter. You can then make a few changes for each company before you send the cover letter out. For example, you can keep your close and some of your main body the same; the main thing you would change is why you want to work for each company. This saves time while still allowing you to maintain a professional tone.

2. Include Some Statistics

Hiring managers like to see stats. Numbers show that you’ve had a quantifiable impact on an organization you’ve worked for in the past. For example, if you’re a front end developer, you could talk about how you improved the render speed of pages. Similarly, if you’re a DevOps developer, you could talk about how many servers you maintained in a cluster. Statistics are not necessary, but they do help illustrate how much of an impact you have made in the past.

3. Show Personality

Your cover letter should be yours . The resume you wrote will include lists of facts about you and your history. But your cover letter should be more free-flowing and showcase your human side to hiring managers.

Spend time researching the company’s culture, and try to adopt a similar tone in your cover letter. And, before you send it, read your cover letter aloud and remove anything which doesn’t sound like how you would speak.

4. Keep It Short and Simple

Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule. But your cover letter should be as short as possible . In one survey, more than two-thirds of employers said they prefer a cover letter that is half a page or, “the shorter the better”. The more wordy your writing is, the more difficult it will be for the hiring manager to take away the key points.

5. Review and Edit

As we mentioned earlier, you should run a spell check of your cover letter before you submit it. But don’t mistake a spell check for editing . Spend some time after you’ve written your cover letter to read it over and evaluate whether any changes need to be made. After a few reviews, you’ll most likely notice a few things you want to change or improve.

You can also reach out to a friend or family member and ask them to review your cover letter and make any suggestions for how you can improve the letter. Consider asking them, “Does this letter accurately showcase my skills?” and “Does this letter get you excited about me?” to make sure you have covered all your bases.

If you need some additional assistance, you can use tools such as Hemingway to help improve the tone of your work. Hemingway will highlight sentences that are too wordy and difficult to read, use passive voice, or use complex vocabulary when a simpler term would suffice.

6. Highlight Your Technical Skills

If you’re applying for a software development position, you should make sure you highlight your technical skills explicitly. Prospective employers will look at a cover letter for only a few seconds, or they may even have it parsed through an Automated Tracking System. Thus, you should spend time talking about the specific technical skills you’ve acquired so a recruiter can easily find out whether you have the skills you need to be a good fit for the job.

Mention any specific technologies you know and one major goal you met using that technology. For example, you could say, “At my previous job, I used Ruby on Rails and GraphQL to move from a REST-based architecture to GraphQL, which we found to be more efficient based on our business needs.” 

In this example, the candidate has spoken about how they know Ruby on Rails (a programming language), GraphQL (a data architecture tool), and how they have a good knowledge of REST (an API structure). If an employer is hiring someone who has these skills, this statement will really make the candidate stand out ahead of everyone else. 

7. Use Action Words

When you’re writing a cover letter, you should avoid using “buzzwords” or talking about specific skills that are not fully relevant to the job. Instead, you should use action words that showcase your involvement with particular projects. If you are a software developer, you may feel tempted to use words like “coded” or “developed” a few times in your cover letter because you have created a lot of applications. But you should try to introduce some variety into your cover letter.

Here are a few examples of action words you can use in your cover letter:

• “I was a key collaborator on a tight-knit team…”
• “Helped our team meet the project goal…”
• “Created a new system to…”
• “I managed a team of…”
• “I helped create a new process…”

You should also try to include results-oriented words in your cover letter. These words help show that you have experience in yielding good outputs from your work and will show the extent of your responsibilities in your past experience.

A few words you may want to consider using include: redesigned, updated, implemented, produced, increased, streamlined, reduced .

Hopefully you now understand that writing a good cover letter is not too difficult and that cover letters are a great way for you to showcase your skills to employers. If you follow these guidelines on how to write a cover letter, you’ll be more likely to land a technical interview for your dream job.

In brief, here are our main rules on how to write a good cover letter:

• Research the company, their culture, and read the job description thoroughly
• Introduce yourself by talking about why you want to work for the company
• Show the company how your past experience will help you be an effective contributor
• End with a call to action and a professional close
• Review your cover letter to make sure you do not include anything unnecessary
• Do a final review of your cover letter and send it to some friends to get feedback

About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication .

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How to Write a Cover Letter That Sounds Like You (and Gets Noticed)

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100 Good Skills to Put on a Resume [Complete Guide]

Jeff Gillis 0 Comments

By Jeff Gillis

Updated 6/4/2022.

When you’re adding skills to a resume, you don’t just want to focus on what you’re good at. Instead, relevancy has to be part of the equation. After all, every job you’re trying to land requires a very specific skill set, one that you need to show that you have.

Choosing the skills to put on a resume when you’re applying to a role isn’t something you should do haphazardly. Instead, you want to use the job description, company mission, and company values as a guide, creating a sense of alignment.

Additionally, it never hurts to have a handy list of skills by your side, making it easier to explore your options. So, if you’re on the hunt for good skills to put on a resume, here’s what you need to know.

Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills

There are two basic types of skillsets that a job seeker can have and include on their resume: hard skills or soft skills.

Hard skills are the skills or abilities for a resume that are easily quantifiable…that can be learned through classroom work, apprenticeships, or other forms of learning. These include things like operating tools, computer programming, speaking foreign languages, or different kinds of technical prowess.

Soft skills are more subjective and harder to quantify and are often grouped together by what we know as “people skills.” Some examples of soft skills include communication, relationship building, self-awareness, and patience.

Which Skills Are More Important?

The debate rages on about which of these two types of skills is more important.

According to executive consultant and Forbes contributor Naz Beheshti , “…There is an ongoing debate about the relative importance of soft and hard skills that imply a competition between the two. However, they are both necessary and complementary to one another.”

On the one hand, job seekers with proficiency in a specific hard skill may get hired more quickly. Many employers want to hire people that can deliver value with fewer resources (ex., the need for training, etc.), making hard skills their priority.

However, we are also seeing that many hiring managers are choosing to hire candidates with highly developed soft skills.

In the end, as Indeed puts it, “soft skills are necessary to create a positive and functional work environment.” Plus, hiring managers feel that they can always train the candidate in the hard skill that is required to complete the job, but soft skills are often skills that cannot necessarily be taught.

So, what does this mean for you? Mainly that you can’t simply just pick one or the other and cross your fingers. Instead, the best strategy is to take a balanced approach and make sure that your resume contains both hard and soft skills.

How Do You Choose the Skills to List on a Resume?

Here’s the deal; there’s a good chance you know what you’re good at in a professional sense. Often, you can use your experience, duties, training, and education as a guide, giving you a strong foundation. Then, it’s about diving a bit deeper, looking at traits that could help you stand out, and comparing it all to the job description.

By using a simple process, you can make progress faster. Here’s a quick way to get started.

1. Make a List of the Skills You Know You Have

As mentioned above, the easiest way to get a grip on your current skills is to reflect on your academic and professional experiences. Consider the tasks you’ve taken on, the training you’ve completed, and the courses you had in school. In most cases, that’ll give you some solid ideas about your hard skills.

After that, it’s time for soft skills. Here, you want to think of traits or capabilities that help you engage with others and navigate professional relationships. Often, these are reflections of your personality, so use that as a jumping-off point.

2. “Mine” the Job Descriptions for Must-Have Skills

The next step is to take a look at the job description for the position you are applying for and make a list of the required skills it includes. Then, compare it to your capabilities. Are any of the skills on both of the lists you just created? If so, these are must-haves for your resume.

Now, notice if there are any skills on the job description that you don’t have. If there aren’t any, great!

But if there are…don’t panic. There are things you can do, which we’ll dig into shortly.

If you’re dealing with a vague job description, you aren’t stuck either. Here is a link to a ton of job descriptions that can give you an idea of the skills needed.

3. Tailor Your Skills to the Company/Position

As you may have read in our other blog articles, it is always very important to “tailor” your resume to the company and position you want to land. For an in-depth look into how to make that happen, check out our Tailoring Method article. 

If you want a quick overview, the idea is to focus on capabilities the company wants to find. Every job requires a unique skill set, and you want to show you have it. As a result, it is absolutely essential that skills from the job description make an appearance on your resume.

However, you also want to dig deeper. Spend some more time researching the company, including going through all of their various web properties, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages.

Why? Because they will leave clues about the types of people they hire. That gives you more ideas about the best skills to put on a resume to land a job there, particularly when it comes to soft skills you may not find in a job description.

100 Resume Skills Examples

If you’re struggling with coming up with a list of skills based on your past experience, it can be easier if you have existing resume skills lists to work with. You don’t have to think up every possible skill; you can simply review the list and find the matches.

Here is a list of resume skills examples, divided into hard skills and soft skills, that you can use when applying for a job.

Hard Skills for a Resume

• Advanced Bookkeeping
• Appointment Setting
• Automotive Repair
• Cold Calling
• Computer Programming
• Conversion Testing
• Copywriting
• Customer Engagement
• Customer Service
• Data Analysis
• Digital Marketing
• Electrical Engineering
• Environmental Cleanup
• Forklift Operating
• Graphic Design
• Heavy Machinery Operation
• Installation
• Landscaping
• Mathematics
• Medical Coding
• Paid Online Traffic
• Patient Care
• Photo Editing
• Picking and Packing
• Project Management
• Schedule Management
• Search Engine Optimization
• Server Maintenance
• Social Media
• Spanish Fluency
• Statistical Analysis
• Systems Analysis
• Technical Support
• Telecommunications Systems
• Travel Booking
• Video Editing
• Website Design
• Word Processing

Soft Skills for a Resume

• Accountability
• Active Listening
• Adaptability
• Brainstorming
• Business Etiquette
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Conflict Resolution
• Contextualizing
• Critical Thinking
• Decision Making
• Emotional Intelligence
• Flexibility
• Goal-Setting
• Handling Pressure
• Influencing
• Insightfulness
• Interpreting
• Negotiation
• Open-Mindedness
• Organization
• Prioritization
• Problem Solving
• Relationship Building
• Reliability
• Resource Management
• Responsibility
• Self-Confidence
• Strategical Thinking
• Strong Work Ethic
• Time Management

What If I Don’t Have the Required Skill?

Whether you need to possess a specific skill depends on the job and the skill in question. Usually, here’s where you have to be honest with yourself. If the skills required are part of the core competencies of doing the job, you may want to reconsider your application.

For example, if a golf course posts a job posting for a golf pro, you probably shouldn’t apply if you’ve never swung a golf club.

However, you will come across situations where what you bring to the table is close. In this case, moving forward might be okay.

You need to be able to demonstrate, using examples from your past, that you are capable of doing the required skill, even if you haven’t specially done it. So, go over your work history with a fine-tooth comb and try to come up with a few examples of you doing something in the right ballpark.

They are going to ask about it in your interview, so don’t think you can just wing it, and everything will be fine.

Also, many job descriptions have “nice-to-have” skills on the list. If you happen to possess them, great. But if not, don’t assume you shouldn’t apply if you have the must-have skills. In the end, those capabilities aren’t outright requirements, so don’t screen yourself out based on them.

How To List Skills on a Resume

There are a few different schools of thought when it comes to deciding where to put (or how to list) the skills on your resume.

According to our friends over at online resume-builder Zety.com , “…skills are so very, very important that they should show up all over your resume. Not just in the resume skills section.” In other words, it is imperative that there are elements of your skills throughout your resume, including your resume objective/summary and experience sections.

In addition, there isn’t one right answer for where to include your skill section because that depends on the industry, company, and position you’re trying to land. For example, for a job where technical competencies are of the utmost importance, it is often beneficial to list the skills closer to the top of the resume, right underneath the resume objective or resume summary statement.

However, if through your research you determine that the hiring manager will put more weight into your experience, you may want to lead with your experience. Then, put the skills section further down your resume.

At the end of the day, the selection of the skills themselves is the most important thing. After all, most hiring managers will easily find your skill section regardless of where it is on your resume.

What About Skills for My Job Application?

When you’re looking for skills to put on a job application, you do have to treat it a little differently than skills for a resume. Usually, you’re working with a finite amount of space on an application, not just in an overall sense but in each applicable section.

Since that’s the case, you need to lean heavily on the job description. Look for any capabilities that are listed as must-haves or that are repeated through the job ad. Then, make sure those skills are featured prominently in several areas, including in work history descriptions and skills areas.

If you have to answer essay questions, discuss those skills there, too, whenever possible. Use any other relevant capability as a supplement, treating it as supporting information instead of the primary point you’re sharing.

However, if an essay question asks about a skill that’s not in the job description, feel free to dig in a bit. It’s a capability that’s clearly on the hiring manager’s mind, so touch on it occasionally to show you shine in that area.

Putting It All Together

If you were wondering, “What are some good skills to put on a resume?” you should now have a solid answer. The most important thing to remember is to select skills that are relevant to the position you are interviewing for and, more important than that, skills that your company puts a tremendous amount of value in.

Once you get your skills straightened out, you should make sure that the rest of your resume is congruent with the skills you just selected, namely, that your experience shows that you both used those skills in a work environment and developed the skill with on-the-job tasks.

Co-founder and CTO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Jeff is a featured contributor delivering advice on job search, job interviews and career advancement, having published more than 50 pieces of unique content on the site , with his work being featured in top publications such as INC , ZDnet , MSN and more.

Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

About The Author

Jeff gillis.

Co-founder and CTO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Jeff is a featured contributor delivering advice on job search, job interviews and career advancement, having published more than 50 pieces of unique content on the site , with his work being featured in top publications such as INC , ZDnet , MSN and more. Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

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• Cover Letters

10+ Cover Letter Examples (+ Different Types & Formatting Guide)

Whether you’re looking to land your first job, changing careers, or simply exploring new job opportunities, writing a great cover letter might seem daunting at first. However, once you read this comprehensive guide and check out our superb cover letter examples, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an expert cover letter crafter.

Cover Letter Examples (By Career Situation and Seniority)

Our resume cover letter examples are just what you need if you’re going to learn how to write one for yourself. Keep in mind that all cover letters have a similar structure that you should follow:

• Contact Info –  Add your name, address, phone number, and email address.
• Greeting – Always start with a professional greeting that addresses the hiring manager by name.
• Introduction – Grab your reader’s attention with a first paragraph in which you introduce yourself and state your intention to apply for the open role.
• Body paragraphs – Write one or two paragraphs that highlight your professional experience, achievements, skills, and education.
• Closing paragraph – Insert your call to action and ask the hiring manager to invite you for an interview. Don’t forget to sign your name at the end.

With this information in mind, let’s check out some of the best cover letter examples!

Cover Letter Example 1: Returning to Work after a Job Gap/Relocation

Dear Mr. Hennessy,  My name is John Young, and I’m applying for a software engineering position at your company. I’m excited about your organization’s mission to change the world, and I’m passionate about your tech stack that includes Scala, Java, React, and Python, all languages I’ve used in the past. 

Recently, I took a year-long hiatus to aid my friend who launched a startup accelerator. During that time, I learned quite a bit about business strategy and going from zero to one hundred while working on a very limited budget. I’m confident that I can turn those skills into new products for your company. 

I’m prepared to get back into the game and restart my career as a software engineer in your beautiful city. I’m positive that I’m the perfect person to lead your middle-out engineering team. I would love to schedule a meeting and discuss this further. 

Our Take: The candidate starts by expressing his excitement about the company’s goals and then seamlessly proceeds to highlight the programming languages that he excels in. This way, he showcased that he is the right person for the job. He then explains that the job gap that appears in his resume was due to working on a personal project that has taught him some valuable new skills.

Cover Letter Example 2: Changing Careers

Dear Ms. Garcia,

Blending a formal background in marketing with proven success in retail sales and customer service roles, I am looking to transition into public relations and believe I would make a great fit for the advertised position of Public Relations Specialist at your company.

Having both used and sold your products, I am already well versed in your brand and both present and past years’ offerings. I have followed with excitement as you launched in European and Asian markets and incorporated an international feel into your product line. I would bring both passion and expertise to championing your company with the press and public.

I am already trained in creating buzz and awareness through social media channels including Twitter and Facebook. When my sales team decided to participate in Walk for a Cure three years ago, we used social media to heighten our sponsorship support and raised more than $20K for the event.

Confident my transferable skills make me a solid candidate for this opening, I respectfully submit my resume for your review and request a meeting to discuss the opportunity further. I will make myself available at your convenience and look forward to your call to arrange a time. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Our Take: This candidate leads off with a strong statement about her career change goal and her fit for the specific position at hand. She uses the rest of the letter to discuss her interest in the company and some of her key transferable skills/experience.

Cover Letter Example 3: New Graduate/Entry Level

Dear Ms. Morris:

I am writing in response to your listing in the Memphis Gazette for a nurse’s aide. Please accept my enclosed resume for consideration.

As a CPR-certified lifeguard and an LPN student at Memphis Community College, I have the formal training necessary for this position. Additionally, with two years of experience in retail sales, I have excellent customer service skills that can translate well to patient relations.

After you have reviewed my resume, I hope to meet with you to discuss how I can be beneficial to your team. I look forward to hearing from you to schedule an interview at your earliest convenience.

Our Take: Nice concise approach for an entry-level candidate. She doesn’t have years of nursing experience to point to, so she highlights her training and how her non-nursing work experience has also helped to prepare her.

Cover Letter Example 4: Professional

Dear Mr. Carter,

As an Accounts Payable & Receivable Specialist , I offer a proven ability to accurately process invoices, payments, reimbursements, and tax reports. I quickly learn and adapt to software changes and updates and help team members resolve issues and problems they are having with data input and processing.

Examples of my accomplishments include:

• Handled biweekly accounts payable processing of checks and ACH payments; reconciled payments made to accounts payable software and addressed any discrepancies that arose.
• Created a spreadsheet that listed bank and routing numbers to expedite the processing of expense reports.
• Uploaded and reconciled monthly phone bills for approximately 200 branches and 4 operational centers; total billing amounts were coded for various departments and branches as required.
• Confident I will prove valuable to your company, I respectfully submit my resume for your review. I would also like to request a personal meeting to discuss your upcoming goals and how I can help you achieve them. I will make myself available at your convenience and look forward to your call. Thank you for your consideration.

Our Take: For an experienced candidate, a bit more detail is expected. This candidate customized the bullet points to specifically communicate his experience with the position responsibilities listed in the job description.

Cover Letter Example 5: Manager

Dear Ms. Nguyen,

As a Human Resources Manager with a strong customer service background, I offer expertise in employee relations, benefits administration, and generalist duties. I have made significant contributions to succession planning and workforce engagement as well as ensuring compliance with employment and labor requirements.

I am also known for my ability to help identify and implement key technology and process improvements. I am well-versed in Six Sigma methods and have led projects which produced significant and sustainable savings. Other examples of my work include:

• Creates positive employee engagement for 2,000+ personnel at Company XYZ via proactive communications, prompt issue resolution, and fair/equitable treatment.
• Led Six Sigma project related to FMLA administration and online orientation programs for Lean Belt training.
• Proved instrumental in the deployment of an E-recruitment system that serviced a Fortune 200 company; defined policies, procedures, and communication planning for the project.

Confident I will make a positive impact on your organization, I respectfully submit my résumé for your review. I would also like to request a personal meeting to discuss your goals for this position and my potential contributions. I will be available at your convenience and look forward to your call to arrange a time. Thank you for your consideration.

Our Take: This cover letter highlights the applicant’s relevant accomplishments as a leader and manager. It goes beyond stating familiarity with the required job duties and emphasizes results in key projects. Remember that you don’t want to copy and paste your whole resume into the cover letter. Think about the key selling points that you want to feature prominently. The goal is to make them excited to learn more about you.

Cover Letter Example 6: Senior-Level Executive

Dear Mr. Jones,

As a Senior-Level Finance & Operations Executive , I offer proven success in maximizing productivity and improving profit margins. My work spans companies and business units at various stages of growth, including start-up, established, and turnaround settings.

Believing profitability requires strong revenue generation and cost controls, I monitor budgets and sales performance closely to identify areas for improvement. I am known for enhancing overall performance through technology upgrades, advanced employee training, and implementation of best practices.

Examples of my work include:

• Drove successful launch of start-up company by hiring a talent team, defining product development plans, and leading go-to-market strategies to achieve $35M+ revenue and 50% margins within two years.
• Managed daily operations of a $150M subsidiary that provided a complete suite of manufacturing solutions in the US and Canada; improved profit margins on overall product line by 10%.
• Proved vital to reorganization leadership that cumulated in a 10% productivity improvement in the sales and service organization and a 20% improvement in support organizations.

As CPA and MBA, I am confident I will prove valuable to your company and respectfully submit my resume for your review. I would also like to request a personal meeting to discuss your upcoming goals and how I can help you achieve them. I will make myself available at your convenience and look forward to your call. Thank you for your consideration.

Our Take: This cover letter nicely distills years of experience into a concise overview that really “sells” achievements most relevant to the specific advertised role. Each bullet presents a compelling high-level overview of a specific position, complete with impressive data points. It’s hard to be this concise when talking about a long career! However, a concise letter is always more effective — make the most exciting information jump out of the letter and grab the recruiter’s attention.

Cover Letter Examples (By Industry)

Teacher cover letter example.

Dear Principal Townson,

With five years of experience in teaching high school and a master’s degree in Chemistry, I believe I am an ideal candidate to fill the science teaching position you have open with the retirement of Stacy Jones. My teaching experience was at John Smith High School in Smallville where I taught all levels of Chemistry and helped host the science fair each year.

I keep up with all developments in teaching and chemistry by reading literature and attending conferences hosted by the American Association of High School Science Instructors. I have also volunteered my time at the community center, tutoring all levels of students in general sciences.

I look forward to working in this community and teaching at Rosewood High School. Please review my attached resume. I will be contacting you next week to schedule an interview. Thank you for your consideration.

Our Take: We love how this cover letter emphasizes the applicant’s relevant qualifications in the first line. This puts emphasis on her ability to do the job. Later, she briefly explains how she has kept current with industry developments and shows passion for her career by mentioning her volunteer work.

Nursing Cover Letter Example

Dear Dr. Manning,

Five years ago, I worked my first shift as an emergency room nurse and have never before left the workplace more fatigued and fulfilled. Today, I am proud to declare that I am still an ER nurse. I love this work partly because I flourish in a fast-paced environment. I also take great pleasure in the opportunity to care for patients every day and be there for their loved ones. This is not easy work, but I can’t see myself doing anything else which is why I am applying for the position of Emergency Room Nursing Lead. I believe that I can be a great asset to your team and that I have a proven track record when it comes to patient care as further shown in my attached resume. 

I have reviewed the qualifications required for this position. I am confident to say that I possess all the skills and experience needed. I have a BSN in nursing and have held a nursing license in good standing for over five years. I have experience working in emergency rooms at several large hospitals, and I fully understand all of the regulations that are in place. I also have the kind of team leadership that you need to ensure that even the busiest nights in the emergency room go as smoothly as possible. 

I would love to sit down with you and discuss my qualifications along with your needs when you are free. Meanwhile, please review the rest of my application package. There you will find all the information you need. 

Our Take: The candidate starts by stating her experience and expresses how difficult a nursing job can be. However, she then turns it around by stating that the rewards are worth the effort. We like her storytelling approach and how she highlights her passion for working with patients and transitions into why her abilities qualify her for the job.

Business Analyst Cover Letter Example

Dear Ms. Sousa,

I am applying for the advertised business analyst job at your company that was posted on your website. I am a data-driven critical thinker with excellent interpersonal skills who holds teamwork in high esteem but can also function independently. I am always searching for fresh ideas and solutions that I can bring to the table to increase the company’s efficiency. 

During my time at XYZ Group, Ltd., my previous employer, I developed and implemented a new program designed to drop needless business expenses. In just one year, the costs were reduced by 15%. Apart from project management, I spearheaded the collection and analytics of business processes and data toward creating more efficient business models. Thanks to my achievements, I was ranked as one of the best employees in the company and received recognition from top stakeholders.

I would be delighted to join your team because I believe that the experience, skills, and vast knowledge that I bring to the table could improve the company’s operational performance. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to speaking to you soon. 

Our Take: Adopting a confident tone in your cover letter is a good way of showing the hiring manager that you have the necessary skills and experience to shine at the job you’re applying to. It’s also great when candidates state their accomplishments and showcase the contributions they can make to a company if hired.

Cover Letters: Basic Rules to Follow

What is a cover letter and how do you write one? It can feel like a chore but it’s actually one of the surefire ways to get an actual job interview.

There are five simple rules to follow if you want to write cover letters that make hiring managers giddy with excitement before meeting you:

1. Your cover letter should be grammatically correct and error-free

Avoid making grammar and formatting mistakes to give your cover letter a professional appearance (regardless of the job you’re applying for). If you’re not a particularly good writer, use a tool such as Grammarly to clean up your text, or kindly ask someone to read and edit your document.

Hiring managers get turned off when noticing mistakes in your cover letter. It sends them the wrong message about your professionalism and attention to detail.

2. The maximum length of your printed cover letter should be one page

If an employer asks for a physical cover letter, make sure it’s only one page long. You’ll want to add essential information highlighting your professional experience and best personality traits. The letter should also be printed on high-quality paper just like your resume.

If you send your cover letter digitally, cut and paste it into the email and attach your resume. Make sure that the letter is easy to read with minimal scrolling. Get to the point and be succinct. 

3. The letter should include examples of your qualifications

You can write a cover letter in paragraph or bulleted formats, but either way, you should include examples of your achievements and credentials. While you want to be brief, you also want to encourage the reader to review your resume for greater detail. The best way to do that is to call out two or three things you have done professionally to catch their attention and make them want to know more about you.

4. Your letter should address a specific person

Whenever possible, do some research and learn a few things about the person who will be reading your cover letter. This is a minor detail and some hiring managers won’t care, but it can distinguish you from your competition all the same. More importantly, don’t send an obviously-generic letter that has not been customized for the company/position.

5. Your letter should end with a call to action

When you close your letter, be sure to ask for a meeting. It is obvious that you want an interview when you submit a cover letter and resume, but job hunting is usually helped along with a proactive approach. Therefore, at every point in the application process, you should seek to move along to the next stage of consideration.

Don’t miss the opportunity to encourage a meeting with the hiring manager when ending your letter. Also, be sure to thank them for their time and consideration.

Do You Need a Cover Letter?

Second chances to make good first impressions in the job search are scarce. Adding a great cover letter at the beginning of your resume gives you the opportunity to “wow” the hiring manager. It also helps you influence their opinion prior to meeting you. Remember that your resume cover letter will be reviewed by a real live person who will be deciding whether or not you are worth their time to interview. It makes the difference between your resume going to the “yes” pile rather than the “file for future opening” (or the real or digital garbage can).

Even though there are times when a recruiter or hiring manager will skip right over your cover letter and focus on the resume, other screeners won’t even look at your resume if the cover letter doesn’t get their attention. Why take a chance? Write a strong cover letter and you’ll know that you’re doing everything possible to get past the gatekeepers and score an interview.

There are plenty of resources on the internet that you can learn from. A simple Google search might take you a long way when looking for a job. But once you find one you really want, you start thinking that you’re not ready to go get it.

A strong cover letter can give you confidence in your application. Send one along with your resume and you’ll know that you might have already stirred a potential employer’s curiosity.

If you’re struggling with writing your cover letter, the samples that you’ve seen so far will supplement Big Interview ’s Resume Curriculum. Everything you need to know about writing persuasive resumes and cover letters can be found there including structure formatting, writing great summary statements, and meaningful ‘Thank You’ notes.

It’s really easy to use. Just log in to your Big Interview account, select ‘My Resume’, and press the ‘Watch Lessons’ button under Resume Curriculum.

You’ll then be taken to the lessons page where you’ll have access to some great advice like how to add high-value details to your letter, how to follow a job application’s requirements, and how to turn them into advantages.

Three Situations When a Good Resume Cover Letter is Critical

1. when you need to include information that should not go into the resume.

A resume is a formal business document with strict rules that must be followed. These rules include not writing in the first person or including personal information like your desire to relocate.

However, there are times when you need to communicate this type of information in order to make the case for your fit for the position.

​​ Example: Your cover letter can be used to communicate your intention to make a transition in your career or move to another city/state. Recruiters receive thousands of unqualified resumes for every position. They will look at your resume and cover letter and immediately trash them if they don’t see a fit — assuming that you are another one of those annoying applicants who applies for every job posted. This is always a challenge for career changers and individuals looking to relocate and a good cover letter can make a big difference.

Example: Your cover letter can also explain away other aspects of your particular career situation that might not be appropriate to include on your resume. For example, if you took some time away from the workforce, but have kept your skills and knowledge up-to-date.

In some job ads, the company will ask for specific information to be included in your cover letter. This technique is used to make screening easier – if someone can’t follow simple application directions, why waste time on an interview? Pay careful attention to the information they request and be sure to address it.

One problematic area is if they ask for salary requirements to be included in your cover letter. Companies make this request to help them rule out individuals with higher salary requirements than they have budgeted for the position, but it can also lock you into a lower pay range than they might offer you otherwise.

However, ignoring the request could disqualify you as well. Ergo, I suggest you research the average salary for the position you are applying to in the state of the opening and include a range slightly above and below that number .

2. When you want to reference a network connection

There is no right way to include in your resume, “Our mutual associate John Smith referred me to this role and says he thinks I will make a great fit for the job opening.” That is a reference line reserved solely for the opening paragraph of a cover letter. There are multiple ways you can mention a network connection or mutual friend in a cover letter, but such a statement has no place in a resume whatsoever.

Note: In professional resume writing, it has become passé to include a list of references on your resume or even the line “references available upon request.” Such information takes up valuable real estate on your resume (which should be 1-2 pages max) and it is best to focus on your achievements and qualifications instead. Besides, the hiring managers know you will give them references when they request them.

Rather than waste space on your resume, prepare a reference sheet with the same header as your resume and give it to the interviewer at the end of your meeting.

This sheet should include the first and last names of your references, their titles and company names, city and state, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses if possible.

You can even be proactive and have letters of recommendation ready to hand to the hiring manager at the end of your meeting, but don’t send them prior to that initial interview.

3. When you want to emphasize why you’re interested in the company

One way to distinguish yourself as a job candidate is to research the company you are interviewing with and talk about things you like or ask questions about the work they have coming up. This demonstrates your interest in their particular organization as opposed to them being just another job ad you responded to in your desperate attempt to find employment.

You can use your cover letter to show that you’ve done your homework and see a strong fit with the organization. Within the second or closing paragraphs of your cover letter, you can mention being interested in the specific work the company does, recent grants they have been awarded, a product they recently released, etc.

Again, this is not appropriate for inclusion on your resume, but adding it to your cover letter can help you stand out from the stack of applications the hiring manager is sorting through on the day your resume passes by him/her.

Cover Letter Format Examples

When choosing a cover letter format, consider what stage your job search is in and how you want hiring managers to perceive you. Cover letters are used for many different reasons and the proper format for each one varies.

The three main types of cover letters are the application cover letter, the prospecting cover letter, and the networking cover letter. You may also send cover letter emails which are an effective and increasingly common way to introduce your resume.

Let’s take an in-depth look at each type of cover letter and see exactly what sets them apart.

Application Cover Letter

This is the most common cover letter used alongside a resume during a job application. It’s geared toward a specific job, and it is designed to highlight the skills and specifications listed in the job posting.

The application cover letter is a vital instrument that gives you the ability to sell yourself as a job candidate. It rounds off your resume and expands on relevant parts of your work history and qualifications.

Application Cover Letter Example

Dear Ms. Osbourne,

I am writing this letter to express my interest in the graphic designer opening as advertised on your website. 

If hired, I believe I can begin making valuable contributions to the design team of your company from day one. I possess a wide range of abilities that combine fresh art and design principles. Furthermore, my knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite, HTML, and CSS will allow me to play a pivotal role in the implementation of your design initiatives. 

During my previous job, I led a team of six designers to develop and implement the graphic, layout, and production of communication materials while helping clients cut their costs by an average of 17%. I also oversaw the efficient use of production budgets running from $3,000 – $20,000 and developed a myriad of marketing programs including advertisements, presentations, infographics, newsletters, brochures, and logos that have improved client transactions by an average of 35%.

I look forward to discussing face to face how my skills and strengths can best serve your company. In the meantime, please review the enclosed resume and portfolio. Thank you for your time and consideration. 

Our Take: In the first paragraph , the candidate is quick to mention all the tools they employ to bring value to the company. They use the second paragraph as a canvas on which to paint all of their accomplishments and relevant experiences.

Prospecting Cover Letter

Prospecting cover letters are also known as letters of inquiry or cold call letters. They are useful if you’re looking to apply to a company that isn’t actively hiring or isn’t widely advertising. A prospecting cover letter shows your interest in learning about available positions while at the same time demonstrating eagerness and initiative.

If the company decides to expand its talent pool, sending a prospecting cover letter could put you at the top of the list of desirable candidates.

Prospecting Cover Letter Example

Dear Mr. Patel,

Your company recently came to my attention while reading a very interesting LinkedIn article about how you’re becoming innovators in the industry. I’d very much like to embark on this journey with you. I haven’t seen any open positions on your website, but I’d like to be considered for open positions in the future. I’m interested in pursuing a career in software engineering. The hybrid work model that your company employs couples well with my extensive remote experience. 

I have a bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering, and in the following months, I will obtain a certification from the Institute of Certification of Computing Professionals. In addition to my two years as a freelance software engineer, I also have four years of software engineering experience at a publicly traded corporation. 

Please review the resume I’ve attached which contains additional information on my skills and experience relevant to your company. I’d love to discuss any openings you may have coming in the near future. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.  

Our Take: This candidate took the bull by the horns and went straight to knocking on the company’s door. Even if there is no open position, their chances will grow when a job becomes available.

Networking Cover Letter

Networking is a highly effective method of finding a job. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 70% of all jobs are found through networking. It can help you discover job opportunities that might not be advertised yet or it can provide you with a job opportunity that was previously non-existent.

Sending a networking cover letter during your job search is a good idea if you need help from a contact in your industry or career field to introduce you to a potential employer.

Networking Cover Letter Example

I hope this letter finds you well. I’m reaching out about possibly meeting to get some information from you as a top professional in our field. 

As you might remember from our time as co-workers at our previous company, I have always thrived when working in client-facing positions. I’m looking for a new career opportunity in that direction and I wanted to ask for your advice. 

As I’m aware of your experience and your vast area of expertise in working with job seekers on a more personal level, I feel confident that you are the right person to discuss this matter with. 

I know that it’s a busy period for you right now, but I’d appreciate it if you’d let me buy you a drink and pick your brain. I’d also value your thoughts on the matter via reply if we can’t meet. 

Our Take: This candidate knows that a networking cover letter has a casual tone. He uses an informal greeting but still sounds professional throughout. He makes sure to emphasize his former co-worker’s skills and success before asking for a casual meeting and some friendly advice.

Email Cover Letter

This simple, short, and professional cover letter is sent over email when a formal cover letter is not requested in a job posting. It does not follow a specific format but usually includes a greeting and a simple body of text explaining your experience and interest in the company. You should also include a closing with references to any attachments such as your resume, portfolio, samples, or any other necessary documents.

An email cover letter should be a maximum of two paragraphs long and the writing style should be casual but still professional. Remember to create a subject line that includes the position you’re applying for.

Email Cover Letter Example

Subject line: Following Up on Your Content Writer Job Posting on LinkedIn

Dear Mr. McClane, 

This letter is being submitted as an introduction. I am applying for the position of Content Writer with your company. I believe my verbal skills and writing style would be of great value to your team and I can guarantee that if hired I would offer original content with a quick turnaround time. 

I’ve been writing content for over six years and have contributed to several notable blogs in the IT, Finance, and Cryptocurrency industries which I’ve mentioned in my resume. I would like to continue my passionate journey toward advancing my writing career within your company. I am adept at writing SEO (search engine optimization) articles that convert efficiently which would suit your article marketing business model well. I also write highly engaging copy for social media campaigns as seen in my portfolio. 

I read in your job posting that you’d like a candidate who possesses in-depth knowledge of working with keyword research tools. I’m happy to say that I’ve been using Semrush successfully for the last four years. 

Please review my attached resume and portfolio. I’m looking forward to meeting you and discussing my writing skills and history in more detail. 

Our Take: The candidate keeps it short and sweet. They shed light on their relevant skills and then guide the hiring manager towards the resume and portfolio.

Cover Letter Examples – Bottom Line

Adding a cover letter to your resume is the best way to connect with a potential employer from the get-go. Hiring managers get a glimpse of your accomplishments and experience as soon as they open your email or letter.

By analyzing good resume cover letter examples, and understanding their purpose, it will become simpler for you to write one yourself.

Make sure to stick to the structure and include only the best things about your career. Also, remember that your cover letter should only include valuable information that does not repeat itself in your resume.

Stay fresh, always.

___________________________

Need a hand? There are 2 ways we can help you:

1. Learn how to turn more job interviews into job offers here . (Rated with 4.9/5 by 1,000,000 users) 2. Learn how to successfully negotiate a better salary. (Take a sneak peek of one lesson for free here )

Pamela Skillings

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101 Essential Skills to Put on a Resume in 2024 [For Most Jobs]

Skills make a huge chunk of a potential employer’s decision to hire you. 

You might think this section of your resume is easy - you just list your skills and you’re good to go.

But listing your skills the right way is a bit trickier.

How do you know if you’re mentioning the necessary skills for the job or if you’re just giving the hiring manager irrelevant information? 

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

In this guide, we’re going to walk you through the process of putting skills on your resume from start to finish.

You’re going to learn:

What Are the Different Types of Skills?

• Why Should You List Your Skills on Your Resume?
• How to List Skills on a Resume
• 12 Best Skills to Put on Any Resume 
• 400+ Skills to Put on a Resume for Different Professions

Let’s dive in!

Skills are the various abilities and attributes that you bring to the table when you’re applying for a job.

Your skills can be your ability to do a specific task or solve a problem with some level of proficiency, and they’re typically divided into hard skills and soft skills.

If you want to create an effective resume that catches the hiring manager’s attention, you need to mention both hard and soft skills.

Let’s break down what each means:

Hard Skills

Hard skills involve the technical knowledge or know-how one can gain through experience, training, or education. 

While hard skills are essential for completing tasks in just about any job, they’re also teachable and easily measurable. 

For example: 

• Machinery skills. Some fields require operating specialized machinery or equipment. (E.g., operating a road roller, pallet-stalker, forklift, or others.)
• Software skills. Depending on the field, you need to know how to use different software, such as the Adobe Creative Suite for designers or the Ableton Live Suite if you’re a DJ.
• Tools. If you’re a digital marketer , you’ll need to know how to use tools like Stethoscope, Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Ahrefs, and SEMrush.
• Languages. Being able to communicate in more than one language is an extremely useful skill. The more customers or teams you can communicate with, the more valuable you are as an employee. Some of the most sought-after languages today include German, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic.
• Computer skills. Most jobs will require that you have at least some basic computer knowledge in MS Office and G-Suite, emailing, and presentations. If you’re a web developer , your hard skills will likely include more specialized software knowledge or proficiency in coding languages such as Python, C++, or PHP.
• Techniques. Different specialized techniques you’ve learned can be listed as individual skills. (E.g.: frequency analysis, crystallization, gamification, or even CPR and first aid.)
• Mathematics. A lot of professions, such as accounting and finance, require mathematical skills. If you’re applying for a position in a field that uses advanced mathematics, such as a research assistant , you should be more specific with the types of mathematical skills you have. (E.g.: statistics, trigonometry, calculus, algebra, etc.)
• Data analysis. Businesses are always looking for professionals who can gather and analyze data for various stakeholders and help make strategic decisions, making different types of data analysis a very in-demand hard skill.

…so, just about any field-specific skill is a hard skill you can list on your resume.

Soft Skills

The attributes and habits that describe how you work individually or with others are known as soft skills .

Generally speaking, soft skills aren’t job-specific, so they’re transferable skills that indirectly help you adapt to the work environment and company culture. 

Some examples of the most in-demand soft skills include: 

• Time management
• Communication
• Adaptability
• Problem-solving
• Interpersonal skills
• Attention to detail
• Emotional intelligence
• Conflict resolution
• Stress management
• Critical thinking
• Organization

Soft skills are essential for just about any job out there.

While some soft skills can be critical to doing your job well, such as communication with a customer support representative , others ensure that you get along with your coworkers and foster a positive work environment.

Like hard skills, you can also learn how to develop soft skills, but it’s significantly harder. 

While you can acquire computer skills through a technical course, you’ll need to put in a lot more effort to develop your communication skills. 

For example, you would need to practice active listening in the workplace, learn how to notice nonverbal cues and practice your oral communication skills as much as possible to improve.

What’s the Difference Between Hard Skills and Soft Skills?

There are three main differences between hard skills and soft skills.

• How you obtain them. You can obtain hard skills through work experience , education, training, and certifications. Soft skills, on the other hand, can be gained through life experience, both in and out of work.
• How you use them. While you apply hard skills directly to the job, soft skills usually come into play indirectly and may often complement your hard skills. For example, you may be a communicative marketer or an office manager with great leadership qualities.
• How you list them. Hard skills and soft skills should be listed separately on your resume, but unlike soft skills, hard skills can include your level of proficiency. You can say you’re an advanced user of Adobe Photoshop, but you can’t measure how creative you are in the same way.

When it comes to your employability, both sets of skills are crucial for your resume.

If a hiring manager is on the fence about two candidates with the same hard skills, it’s the soft skills that are going to tip the scales in someone’s favor.

Why Should You List Skills on Your Resume?

The skills section is one of the two most important resume sections , with the other being your work experience.

In fact, 41% of hiring managers notice skills on your resume first.

Let’s look at an example of a well-written skill section:

At first glance, listing some skills on your resume looks easy.

In reality, though, putting skills on your resume the right way is a bit more nuanced than that, and here’s why:

Most companies nowadays use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to help them go through the hundreds and thousands of resumes they receive every day.

This software scans your resume for keywords relevant to the job you’re applying for, and if it doesn’t find them, the ATS automatically rejects your resume.

For example, let’s say you’re applying for a job as a software engineer , and the job requires an expert level of proficiency in Javascript.

If you focus on other programming languages and don’t mention Java as a skill on your resume, the ATS will probably discard it immediately.

Resume statistics show that nearly 75% of resumes are rejected at this first screening stage, and they never make it to a hiring manager .

But let’s assume the company doesn’t use an ATS, and your resume ends up on a hiring manager’s desk.

There’s a good chance the hiring manager is only going to skim through your resume in less than six seconds , looking for the right set of skills.

So, regardless of whether you’ll need to breeze past the ATS or the hiring manager, you have to mention the right skills.

How to List Skills on a Resume (And Stand Out)

Now that you have a clear understanding of how important skills are, let’s talk about how you should list them on your resume.

We’ve divided the process into a step-by-step guide you can follow, starting with:

#1. Tailor Your Skills to the Job

The key to an effective skills section is making sure the skills you list are relevant to the job.

For example, if you’re applying for a job as a backend developer, the customer service skills you gained working as a server during college don’t belong on your resume.

So, only list skills that are useful for the job you are applying for.

Start by thoroughly reading the job advertisement to find out what skills to include on your resume.

Job ads usually list a set of requirements or skills they expect from candidates. Take note of which skills and experiences you have, and remember to write them down on your resume.

Let’s look at an example of a job ad for a line cook position in a restaurant:

At Restaurant X, we are dedicated to delivering an exceptional dining experience that reflects the heart of French cuisine. We are currently seeking a skilled Line Cook to join our team for the summer season. This is an exciting opportunity to work in a fast-paced, prestigious environment under the mentorship of our acclaimed chef.

Key Responsibilities:

• Efficiently prep ingredients for service, ensuring high standards of quality and freshness.
• Execute recipes to exact standards, contributing to the creation of signature dishes that delight our guests.
• Maintain meticulous attention to detail in the plating and presentation of each dish.
• Uphold the highest standards of cleanliness and sanitation in the kitchen before, during, and after service.

Requirements:

• Proven experience as a line cook in a fast-paced kitchen environment.
• A passion for French cuisine and a strong desire to learn and grow within the culinary field.
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills, with the ability to work effectively under pressure.
• Knowledge of best practices for food handling, safety, and sanitation.

From this job description, we can see that the restaurant is looking for someone who:

• Is committed to excellence and is highly professional
• Works well under supervision and as part of a team
• Has experience working in a fast-paced kitchen environment
• Pays great attention to detail when it comes to cooking and presentation

Based on this, some of the skills you should definitely mention in your resume include:

• Culinary Expertise
• Food Preparation
• Knife Skills
• Plating Techniques
• Time Management
• Attention to Detail
• Safety and Sanitation
• Stress Management

Don’t mention skills that aren’t directly related to the job. For example, a line cook doesn’t need to list computer skills on their resume, even if those skills are relevant for most other jobs.

#2. Create a Skills Section

Once you’ve identified all the right skills to add to your resume, create a dedicated “Skills” section to list them under.

A dedicated section will help you pass the ATS, and it makes it easier for hiring managers to find the skills they’re looking for.

Here’s an example of what a skills section can look like on a resume:

We recommend keeping your resume skills section somewhere near the top of the page so that the hiring manager can see it quickly. Usually, they should go either next to or after the work experience section, depending on your resume layout .

Next, here are a few tips you should keep in mind when listing your skills:

• Be specific. “Verbal and written communication” sounds significantly better than just “communication.” 
• Sort your skills by relevance. Order your skills based on how crucial they are for the role. The more important skills should go at the top, and the nice-to-have ones should go after them.
• Format skills accordingly. Not everyone has dozens of skills they can show off on their resume, and that’s okay. If you don’t have a lot of skills, you can list both your hard and soft skills in a single section, just like the example we used above.
• Don’t lie or exaggerate. If you don’t have one of the required skills for the role or you’re not very experienced, just be honest. It goes without saying that you should never lie about what you can do. The employer will find out you lied eventually, your professional reputation will bear the consequences, and you could even lose your job.

#3. Match Each Skill With Your Proficiency Level

While some skills are hard to measure, others can be put on a proficiency scale .

We recommend only using a proficiency scale for some hard skills, such as specific tools or software programs. Soft skills are difficult to measure objectively, so there’s no point in putting them on a scale.

Here’s how to show your proficiency level:

• Beginner. You are just starting to learn this skill, or you haven’t practiced the skill through experience. This usually applies to students with no experience who only understand concepts through theories or classroom experience.
• Intermediate. You have applied this skill in practice, and you rarely need help with it, but you still have room to grow.
• Advanced. At this level, you know your stuff. You don’t need help with this skill anymore, and you can teach beginners how to use it.
• Expert. You’re a recognized authority when it comes to this skill, and you’re the go-to person if anyone has any questions.

#4. Back-Up Your Skills in Other Resume Sections

Only listing your skills in their dedicated section will get you so far. After all, everyone else is doing the exact same thing. 

If you want to take your resume from good to great, you need your most critical skills to make an impression from the get-go.

This is where the resume headline and work experience sections come in.

Resume Headline

Your resume headline can be either a resume summary or a resume objective.

The resume summary is a short, two to four-sentence-long paragraph that summarizes your resume. When done right, it shows the hiring manager your strongest selling points as a candidate right from the start.

Here’s an example in action:

But if you don’t have a lot of experience, you can use a resume objective instead.

The resume objective is a two to three-sentence statement of your career intent that goes at the top of your resume. It can include a snapshot of your professional experience, skills, achievements, and professional goals.

Here’s what it looks like:

Both the resume summary and resume objective go at the top of your resume, either before or after your contact information section .

Regardless of which resume headline you go for, the goal of this section is to pique the hiring manager’s curiosity and make them want to read your whole resume. You should always add one or two of the most necessary skills from the job description here.

Work Experience

Once you’ve mentioned some of your top skills in your resume headline, you have to prove you actually have them.

The best way to do that is by listing some impressive achievements in your work experience section and explaining how your skills helped you.

Let’s look at what the work experience section could look like for the data entry specialist from our resume summary example:

• Achieve a 99% accuracy rate, surpassing departmental accuracy goals by 15%.
• Leveraged advanced organizational abilities to streamline data entry processes, reducing task completion times by 20%.
• Employed superior communication and interpersonal skills to resolve 95% of customer inquiries on the first contact, earning an Employee of the Month award.
• Managed and maintained a complex database of over 10,000 records, ensuring data integrity and accuracy through effective office management practices.

Hobbies and Interests

Another section where you can back up your skills is your hobbies and interests section .

If you have leftover space on your resume, you can use this optional section to list a couple of hobbies or areas of interest that relate to your skills.

For example, let’s say you’re applying for a job as a writer, and the ad says you need to be creative, collaborative, and familiar with pop culture.

In that case, if one of your hobbies is playing a popular tabletop role-playing game with your friends, like Dungeons and Dragons, make sure to list it.

A hobby like that shows that you are genuinely creative, like writing for fun, and are capable of organizing with multiple people for a mutual goal.

#5. Put Transferable Skills to Use 

If you’re looking for your first job or if you’re making a career change , transferable skills are something you should make use of.

Transferable skills are skills that aren’t directly related to the job you are applying for, but they’re still useful and likely relevant for most jobs.

For example, if you're writing a career change resume and you’re going from a role as a sales associate to a copywriter, there are several transferable skills you can list on your resume.

Some of them include:

• Written communication. Both roles involve communicating through text. A salesperson needs to send cold outreach emails, while a copywriter has to write newsletter emails.
• Persuasion. A copywriter needs to create copy that drives sales, while a salesperson needs to be persuasive in person.
• Computer skills. Both jobs require some degree of computer literacy. For a salesperson, that might mean using Customer Management Software, while for a copywriter, that’s publishing content online.

12 Best Skills to Put on Any Resume

Now that you know how to put skills on your resume, it’s time to talk about which skills you should add.

Every profession requires some role-specific hard skills. For example, a photographer needs to know how to use photo editing software like Photoshop. 

But when it comes to soft skills, a lot of them are universal across different industries.

Soft skills are the skills that define your approach to work, how well you cooperate with others, and if you can fit into a company’s culture.

And while the right soft skills for a job may be harder to point out, they’re just as essential in today’s job market. In fact, 93% of employers say that soft skills play a critical role in the hiring decision.

There are very few, if any, jobs out there that don’t require at least some level of communication skills .

So, let’s look at some of the most highly valued skills for any resume:

#1. Communication skills

Whether you’re a writer who needs to communicate a message to your readers, a marketing specialist who needs to communicate an advertising campaign to your client, or an employee who needs to communicate with a coworker to complete a task, communication skills are vital. 

Communication is a multi-faceted skill that includes several skills, such as: 

• Oral and written communication
• Non-verbal communication
• Active Listening
• Presentation
• Public-speaking
• Negotiation

#2. Problem-Solving

Problem-solving means you’re able to identify problems, find the root cause behind them, and come up with creative solutions.

Considering there isn’t a single job where you won’t face problems in one way or another, problem-solving skills are a great asset to have.

Throughout your career, you might have to troubleshoot technical glitches, resolve customer complaints, streamline processes, or drive strategic initiatives. In any of these cases, strong problem-solving skills will be crucial to your success. 

But problem-solving is a broad set of skills that can include:

• Analytical thinking
• Root cause analysis
• Data gathering and evaluation
• Creative thinking
• Decision making
• Strategic planning
• Risk assessment and management

Whether you’re an IT professional debugging code or a manager implementing operational improvements, problem-solving skills let you tackle challenges head-on.

#3. Conflict Resolution

When working with diverse groups, disagreements are bound to happen. So, having the skills to resolve conflicts in a constructive manner is extremely valuable in any organization.

Conflict resolution skills are essential for managers addressing performance issues, HR professionals mediating workplace disputes, sales teams negotiating contracts, or coworkers with clashing personalities.

This multifaceted skill involves:

• Impartiality and objectivity
• Assertive communication
• Creative problem-solving
• Persuasion and influence
• Patience and composure

#4. Computer Literacy

Over 70% of jobs require medium-to-high-level digital skills.  

This means that computer and technical skills are priceless assets, even if your job isn’t centered around technology. So, computer skills are almost always a great addition to any resume.

Here are some valuable computer skills for every professional: 

• Office suites (MS Office, iWork)
• Social media
• Database management
• Web (Internet savviness, basic HTML, CMS)
• Troubleshooting
• Equipment installation and configuration
• Fast Typing

#5. Research

Effective research abilities are essential for making informed decisions and driving successful outcomes across any industry.

Whether you’re conducting market research to identify consumer needs, gathering data to explore a scientific hypothesis, or investigating to build a legal case, strong research skills are invaluable.

Some research skills include:

• Finding credible sources
• Evaluating information objectively
• Organizing data
• Identifying patterns
• Documenting and reporting findings

#6. Teamwork

Teamwork skills enable you to work effectively with others towards a common goal.

Since teams tend to drive most major projects and workplace initiatives, learning how to work well with others is essential to most jobs. You might be part of a project team, a committee, or just coordinate across departments someday.

What you need for strong teamwork skills is:

• Active listening
• Reliability
• Flexibility
• Motivating others

#7. Project Management

Project management skills are usually associated with dedicated project manager roles, but in reality, that's not usually the case. Any type of professional can benefit from strong project management skills.

In a nutshell, project management skills involve being able to effectively handle resources, timelines, deliverables, and processes for driving projects to successful completion.

Here are some of the most in-demand project management skills:

• Resource allocation and management
• Project planning and scheduling
• Risk identification and mitigation
• Logistics and coordination
• Action planning
• Task planning and prioritization
• Stakeholder management

#8. Leadership

Leadership includes both the ability to manage and inspire others. Managers are not always great leaders, but leaders almost always make good managers. 

People who are good at leading are emotionally intelligent, good communicators, and natural-born influencers. They can motivate others to reach their full potential and work together towards common goals. This makes leadership another great skill to have for many professions out there. 

Some important soft skills related to leadership include:

• Relationship-building
• Strategic thinking

#9. Organization

Organizational skills are a set of soft skills that help you keep track of information, materials, and even your time in such a way that you can tackle short and long-term tasks efficiently.

Organizational skills are among the top skills recruiters are looking for in 2022, primarily because they help employees be more productive, save companies time and money, and facilitate a more positive work environment. 

Here is what organizational skills consist of: 

• Physical organization
• Prioritization
• Goal setting

#10. Time Management

Time management is the ability to effectively prioritize and organize your tasks and responsibilities.

Needless to say, it’s a crucial skill in nearly every job, since being able to manage your time well allows you to increase productivity, meet deadlines, and maintain a healthy work-life balance .

Time management includes:

• Task prioritization and planning
• Task delegation
• Avoiding and Ignoring distractions
• Adapting to changing priorities

#11. Customer Service

A lot of the jobs out there involve dealing with customers. 

From customer support representatives to cashiers, customer service skills are a great asset to have in 2024. Particularly, that’s because it encompasses a number of other valuable skills, such as:

• Persuasion skills
• Product knowledge

#12. Networking

Networking skills refer to how well you can build professional relationships and connections.

It goes without saying that they're extremely useful for roles like sales, business development, or entrepreneurship, as a lot of the work involves meeting and engaging new people.

However, these skills are also useful for roles where you don't expect to rely on professional networking as much.

Take, for example, project managers. To be really effective, they need to:

• Understand the needs of stakeholders
• Collaborate with various teams across the organization
• Build rapport with people at all levels

Just like most other skills on our list, networking skills are multi-faceted. They include:

400 Must-Have Skills for Different Professions

Still not sure which skills to mention in your resume? We’ve got you covered.

We compiled a list of some of the most relevant skills on the market in 2024, for all sorts of different fields!

If you happen to possess some of these skills, make sure to mention them in your resume. If not, it’s never too late to learn something new!

#1. Retail and Sales Skills

Retail and sales are at the heart of successful business interactions.

Despite the rise of technology, the essence of sales hasn’t changed much . People still need contact with each other, and even with channels of communication becoming digital, communication skills and empathy still take top priority in this industry.

So, here’s a list of must-have skills for salespeople and retail workers :

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Cold-calling
• Merchandising
• Product demonstration
• Public speaking
• Inventory management
• Lead generation
• Buyer-Responsive selling
• Buyer engagement
• Point of Sale (POS) proficiency
• Effective communication and sociability
• Social media and digital communication
• Listening skills
• Personalized selling
• Service-based selling
• Follow-up techniques
• Up-selling and cross-selling
• Knowledge of return and exchange policies
• Organizational skills
• Multitasking capabilities

#2. Customer Service Skills

Customer service requires a specialized skill set centered around excellent communication and problem-solving. Success in this field relies on effectively managing various communication platforms and maintaining customer satisfaction through attentive service.

Some skills crucial for any customer service representative include:

• Telephone etiquette
• Data entry proficiency
• Customer needs assessment
• Crisis management
• Multitasking
• Ticket tracking systems
• Scripted responses
• Technical troubleshooting
• Complaint resolution
• Record-keeping
• Team collaboration
• Understanding of privacy and confidentiality
• Customer education techniques
• Feedback collection
• Call center operations
• Email Etiquette
• Live chat management
• Help desk support
• Client retention strategies
• Cultural sensitivity

#3. Hospitality Skills

Hospitality is all about making guests feel welcome and appreciated, no matter the setting - whether it’s a bustling hotel, a serene resort, or a cruise ship. Professionals in this field need to create memorable experiences for guests by providing impeccable service and making sure their every need is met with a smile.

Some of the most sought-after hospitality skills are:

• Customer service excellence
• Effective communication
• Foreign languages
• Reservation management
• Event planning
• Specialized software proficiency
• Front desk operations
• Tour and activity coordination
• Guest Relations
• Guest information management
• Concierge services
• Personalized guest experiences
• Safety and security protocols
• Marketing and upselling
• Health and hygiene standards
• Loyalty programs management
• Quality control
• Emergency response handling
• Environmental sustainability practices
• Check-in and check-out procedures

#4. Food and Beverage Skills

The food and beverage industry is one of the most dynamic and fast-paced environments you can work in. Here, professionals have to continually adapt to customers’ changing preferences, stay updated on culinary trends, and provide exceptional service.

Here are some skills that would look great on any food and beverage worker's resume:

• Menu planning and design
• Recipe development
• Food safety and hygiene
• Culinary arts
• Plate presentation
• Portion control
• Cost control and budgeting
• Wine pairing
• Beverage service
• Detailed menu knowledge
• Order taking and processing
• Table setting and arrangement
• Food preparation techniques
• Dietary restrictions and allergen awareness
• Staff training
• Quality assurance
• Health and safety regulations compliance
• Event catering management
• Customer feedback management
• Upselling techniques
• Point of sale (POS) system operation
• Kitchen equipment operation and maintenance
• Communication skills

Looking for more skills? Check out our server resume example here.

#5. Marketing and Advertising Skills

With new technologies developing faster than ever, it’s essential to move beyond the basics of traditional marketing and advertising to succeed in the industry. New skills keep popping up, and even the biggest marketing executives out there need to stay up to date on the latest developments.

So, here are some  of the most important marketing and advertising skills for any level:

• Data analysis
• Web analytics 
• Email marketing
• Web scraping
• CRO and A/B testing
• Data visualization
• Pattern-finding through critical thinking
• Project/campaign management
• Social media and mobile marketing 
• Paid social media advertisements
• B2B Marketing
• The four P-s of Marketing
• Consumer Behavior Drivers
• Brand management
• Copywriting
• Storytelling
• Digital advertising
• Multichannel marketing
• Public relations
• Content strategy
• Market research
• Budget management
• Compliance and legal considerations
• Affiliate marketing

#6. Administrative Skills

If you work in an office setting, there are some skills you should know, regardless of your job. Whether you’re a secretary, office manager, or executive assistant , you can put these skills on your resume.

Some basic administrative skills include:

• Microsoft Office
• Google Suite
• Filing and paper management
• Bookkeeping
• Research and data analysis
• Office management
• Technical writing
• Cloud networking and file sharing
• Prioritization and task management
• Customer service skills
• Meeting planning and coordination
• Event management
• Travel management
• Document preparation
• Confidentiality and data protection
• Minute taking
• Report generation
• Problem-solving skills
• Calendar management
• Expense reports
• Reception duties
• Correspondence handling
• Presentation skills
• Project management skills

#7. Human Resources Skills

Human Resources is a field that needs a strategic blend of soft and hard skills.

HR specialists are essential for managing diverse workforce needs and enhancing employee and company productivity in the long run.

Here are some examples of HR skills that always come in handy:

• Emotional Intelligence
• Motivation techniques
• Technological savviness
• People management
• Business development
• Strategic management
• Negotiation skills
• Recruitment and selection
• Training and development
• Performance management
• Knowledge of compensation and benefits
• Employee relations
• Labor law compliance
• Succession planning
• HR analytics
• Diversity and inclusion initiatives
• Change management
• Employee engagement strategies
• Workplace safety
• Talent acquisition strategies
• Policy formulation and implementation
• Employee counseling and support
• HR information systems (HRIS)
• Cross-cultural communication

#8. Business Skills

Business professionals are increasingly vital to organizations since they offer operational support and strategic insights that can drive growth.

Experts in the business industry need a broad set of skills to analyze trends , optimize processes, and predict future outcomes so their companies remain competitive and responsive to changes in the market.

Here are some examples of skills any business professional could add to their resume:

• Financial forecasting
• Profit and loss management
• Market analysis
• Trend identification
• Competitive analysis
• Risk management
• Project management
• Operations management
• Leadership and team building
• Stakeholder engagement
• Supply chain management
• CRM software proficiency
• ERP systems
• Business reporting
• Compliance and ethics
• Sales and marketing strategies
• Customer service
• Business writing
• Analytical reasoning
• Cloud computing
• E-commerce management
• Social media strategy
• Digital marketing
• Innovation management

#9. Finance and Accounting Skills

The days of filing financial data and taxes by hand are long behind us, and now there are countless digital platforms and apps you can use instead.

So, it goes without saying that anyone working in finance or accounting should be familiar with the most popular skills and tools in the industry.

Some examples include:

• Microsoft Excel
• Enterprise Resource Planning 
• Big Data Analysis
• Know Your Customers (KYC)
• Cognos Analytics (IBM)
• Visual Basic
• Accounting Software
• Revenue recognition
• Anti-money laundering
• Clear communication
• General business knowledge
• Numerical competence
• Financial reporting
• Cost accounting
• Tax preparation and planning
• Financial modeling
• Investment analysis
• Credit analysis
• Cash flow management
• Portfolio management
• Compliance and regulatory management
• Audit coordination
• Project financing
• Mergers and acquisitions

#10. IT Skills

New technology is popping up every other day, and that’s a great reason for anyone working in IT to keep their skills updated.

That said, if you are proficient in a programming language or two, you pretty much have a leg up on the competition.

Here’s a list of some of the most useful skills for any IT professional out there:

• Programming languages (Python, Java, C#)
• Web development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)
• Frameworks (React, Angular, Vue.js)
• Mobile app development (iOS, Android)
• Database management (SQL, NoSQL)
• Cloud computing services (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
• DevOps practices (CI/CD, automation)
• Containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Network security protocols
• Cybersecurity best practices
• Data analysis and visualization
• Machine learning and AI algorithms
• Version control systems (Git, SVN)
• Agile and Scrum methodologies
• Software testing and debugging
• System architecture design
• API design and development
• Performance optimization
• IT project management
• IT support and troubleshooting
• Operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• Scripting (Bash, PowerShell)
• IT infrastructure management
• Virtualization technologies
• IT compliance and governance
• UX/UI design principles
• SEO and web analytics
• Blockchain technology

#11. Nursing and Healthcare Skills

More than any other profession, healthcare professionals need to stay updated on the latest technologies, medicines, and techniques.

While the skills a registered nurse or other healthcare professional needs are countless and can be extremely specific to their specialization, the most basic skills boil down to:

• Mathematics
• Paperwork/record-keeping abilities
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
• Physical endurance 
• Infection control
• Surgery preparation
• Medication administration
• Emergency room care
• Psychiatric support
• Geriatric health
• Pediatric nursing
• Oncology knowledge
• Patient education
• Medical software proficiency
• Phlebotomy skills
• Vital signs monitoring
• Palliative care
• Obstetric and neonatal care
• Medical terminology
• Ethical decision-making
• Team coordination
• Cultural competency

#12. Art and Design Skills

Today, knowing the basics of art and design isn’t enough. To get hired as part of a creative team, be it as a designer or illustrator , you need to know how to create content with different tools and for different channels, like the web and social media.

Some of the most important art and design skills for your resume include:

• Graphic design
• Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop)
• Dreamweaver
• Infographics
• Web and app development (HTML, CSS, UX/UI)
• Photo Editing 
• Typography (spacing, line height, layout, choosing fonts)
• Storyboarding
• Targeting and marketing through visual communications
• Logo creation
• Digital printing
• Integration of visual communication in social media platforms
• Attention to detail and aesthetics
• Interactive media design
• Color sense and theory
• 3D modeling and animation (Blender, Autodesk Maya)
• Video editing (Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro)
• Motion graphics (Adobe After Effects)
• Print design
• Packaging design
• Branding and identity design
• Environmental graphic design
• Exhibition design
• Illustration
• Sketching and conceptual visualization
• User interface design
• User experience design
• Prototyping (digital and physical)
• Content management systems (WordPress)
• Accessibility standards for design
• Composition
• Crafting and use of traditional media
• Client relations and communication
• Augmented reality (AR) design
• Virtual reality (VR) design

#13. Education Skills

You might have three PhDs and still struggle to get the latest educational programs to work in front of your classroom. You’re likely missing some crucial skills for your field.

Teaching methods have evolved, and so have the skills you need to be a teacher or professor at the top of your game. So, here are some essential skills if you want to work in education:

• Updated curriculum knowledge
• Educational platforms (Elearn)
• Technological and digital literacy
• Lesson planning
• Classroom management
• Student assessments
• Differentiated instruction
• Educational theory and practice
• Parent and community engagement
• Child psychology
• Educational policy knowledge
• Student safety and welfare
• Career counseling
• Technology integration in the classroom
• Remote learning management
• Curriculum adaptation
• Educational software proficiency

Looking for a job in academia? Learn how to write an academic CV to get started.

Bonus Infographic: Skills to Put on a Resume

FAQs About Putting Skills on Your Resume

Do you still have some questions about what skills you should put on your resume and how? Check out the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions here:

#1. What kind of skills should I include in my resume?

Your resume should include a combination of two types of skills: hard skills and soft skills.

Hard skills involve job-specific skills that are acquired through education, training, or work experience, while soft skills involve personality traits that can be indirectly useful at the workplace and help you adapt to the company culture better.

Depending on your industry, some examples of hard skills you can list on your resume include copywriting, database management, graphic design, foreign languages, public speaking, and more.

Examples of soft skills include communication, creativity, leadership, teamwork, time management, and conflict resolution.

#2. What top skills do employers look for?

Currently, some of the top hard skills hiring managers are on the lookout for include blockchain development, SEO, virtual reality development, data analysis, artificial intelligence, business analysis, Java development, affiliate marketing, UX design, machine learning, project management, video production and editing, sales, and business development .

The top soft skills hiring managers are looking for include creativity, collaboration, persuasion, adaptability, and emotional intelligence.

#3. How can I identify my skills?

If you want to identify your skills, start by considering your greatest accomplishments . Have you been recognized for a specific achievement? What skills helped you do it? You’re probably still skilled in those areas.

Next, consider asking friends and coworkers. Sometimes, it’s easier for others to recognize your strengths . If you’re new to the job market, you can ask former professors and classmates to give you some insight, too.

#4. Where do skills go on a resume?

Your skills should go under a separate ‘Skills’ section on your resume, typically placed right below or next to your work experience section.

That said, you should further prove that you have the skills you list in this section. Weave the most relevant skills for the job in other resume sections, such as the resume summary and your work experience sections, to show the hiring manager how those skills are put to use.

#5. How many skills should I include in my resume?

The number of skills to add to your resume depends on the job you’re applying for, as well as your level of expertise and work history.

If you’re a seasoned professional with plenty of job-related skills, you should definitely include them in your resume.

As a rule of thumb, listing up to ten skills on your resume is typically a safe choice, as long as they don’t make your resume spill over to page two .

#6. What are the best skills for a candidate with no experience?

If you’re a student with no experience and few job-specific skills, you can benefit from adding transferable skills to your resume. These are skills that can be applied to many jobs across several industries.

Some examples of good skills for a no-experience resume include communication, organization, problem-solving, teamwork, adaptability, and computer skills.

#7. What are the top 12 skills to put on your resume?

There are several skills that could go on just about any resume, regardless of your targeted job. These include both hard skills and soft skills that can be used in any industry.

We recommend including skills like communication, problem-solving, conflict resolution, computer literacy, research, teamwork, project management, leadership, organization, time management, customer service, and networking.

#9. Does a CV need skills?

There are a few differences between a CV and a resume . But for the most part, if you’re writing a CV for a job application, the structure should be similar to a resume.

So, you should add a skills section to your CV and list skills relevant to the job you’re applying for. The only exception to this rule is when you’re writing an academic CV, in which case skills are optional or even discouraged.

#10. What’s the best way to list skills on a resume in 2024?

To really impress with your skills in 2024, don’t just list some random skills under a separate section and call it a day!

Instead, make them more credible by finding out more about the company culture, tailoring your skills to the job description, mentioning the most critical skills in your resume summary or resume objective, and using your achievements to explain exactly how you used your skills to your advantage.

Key Takeaways

And that’s all there is to putting skills on a resume!

By now, we’re sure you’re a pro and ready to impress the hiring manager with the skills on your resume.

But before you go, let’s sum up the most important things we mentioned in this article:

• One of the most important sections on your resume is the skill section, and over 41% of hiring managers check it first.
• The skill section is crucial for making it past the ATS because some of the most important resume keywords are skills you should list on your resume.
• Skills are divided into hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are technical skills you can gain through experience, training, or education, while soft skills can be attributes or habits related to how you work.
• Your resume should only list skills that are relevant to the job. Find out which skills these are by scanning through the job ad picking out the required skills that you have, and adding them to your resume.
• Some skills are universally useful across different professions, like adaptability, communication, and teamwork.

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Cover Letters Are Hard to Write—But These Templates Make It a Breeze

So you’ve found a job posting that feels like it was made for you. You feel like you’d enjoy and excel at the role, and the company seems like a great place to work. You know it’s important to tailor your resume , so you’ve spent time customizing it to show off everything that qualifies you for this position.

What’s the worst thing you could do next? Just swap the position title and company name on the cover letter you used for your last job application and hit submit.

OK, well maybe that’s not the worst thing, but it would negate all the time you just spent on your resume. When it comes to cover letters, you want to provide a super concise highlight reel that shows why your background and experiences make you an ideal fit for the position in question . So using the same cover letter each time and just swapping in company names and job titles (at the bare minimum don’t forget to do that!) robs you of a golden opportunity.

But that doesn’t mean you have to start from scratch every time—each cover letter you submit can follow the same basic structure and formulas. That’s why we’ve come up with two cover letter templates that will save you some of the time (and possibly agony) that comes with writing a new cover letter for each application. We’ve also included tips for using these templates and a list of elements to include in every cover letter whether you use a template or not (and we’ve also got a few full-fledged cover letter examples for inspiration).

Cover letter template #1: Highlight your past positions

Our first template is position-based. In other words, it’s arranged so that each of your body paragraphs focuses on one of your past jobs or experiences. If you’ve followed a fairly linear career trajectory and it’s easy to highlight how each of your past experiences has fed into the job you’re applying for, you might choose this template.

[Hello/Hi/Dear] [Hiring Manager’s Name],

When I saw the posting for the [job title] position at [Company Name], I was immediately drawn to [something that immediately excited you about the job/company]. [Company] is [unique feature of company that makes you want to apply]. I’d love to bring my [experience/quality/knowledge that qualifies you for the job] to help [Company Name] [way you would help the company in this position].

For [time period], I worked as a [job title for current or past position that gives you the most relevant experience for this role] for [Company], where I [description of key responsibilities and impact emphasizing what’s most relevant to the job you’re applying for]. Through these experiences, I learned [describe a relevant insight or skill you gained]. As your [position title], I’d apply this knowledge to [how you would help the company].

I also spent [time period] as a [other relevant past position title] for [Company]. In this role, I worked on several projects, including [mention two or three relevant projects]. When I worked on [most relevant project] I was able to [something significant you achieved] by [method you used]. I believe that this past experience would allow me to [something else you’d do for the company].

Again [Company/job]’s [quality that drew you to the position] has [how it’s affected you]. I’d love to bring my [one or two most relevant experiences or skills] to your team. [Optional closing line that further highlights why you’d be a great hire.]

[Your Name]

Download this template!

Cover letter template #2: Emphasize your skills

For many of us, tying together three tangentially related experiences, a side gig, and some outside-of-work interests or volunteer work to explain why we could do a job will be more useful than a straightforward career history. That’s why our skills-based template is laid out so each body paragraph highlights one of your transferable skills . This template is ideal if your career  hasn’t followed that perfectly trodden path but you still want to thoughtfully showcase why you’re the right one for the position .

Dear [Name],

With the utmost enthusiasm, I would like to express my interest in the [position title] position at [Company]. My interest in [field, industry, or other theme] has taken me from [experience] to [experience]. I believe that my passion for [aspect of your field or background], strong commitment to [aspect of your field or background], and interest in [aspect of your field or background] make me an ideal candidate to join the [department] staff at [Company].

There are several skills I’d immediately bring to the table, as I am:

An effective [descriptor that reflects transferable skill #1]: In my role as a [previous job] at [Company], I [action or accomplishment]. I was also able to showcase my [skill] abilities as a [role] in [project name] project by [what you did].

A disciplined [descriptor that reflects transferable skill #2]: I have always displayed my careful approach to [job duty] by [action]. At [Previous Company], I frequently [action]. In addition, I had the opportunity to [action or accomplishment], which further shows my dedication to [aspect of your field].

A passionate [descriptor that reflects transferable skill #3]: Everything I have engaged in so far has been driven by my keen interest in [aspect of your field]. Even as a [previous role], I made sure to dedicate some part of my day to [action]. It is this passion that has motivated every one of my career decisions thus far.

I look forward to contributing my skills and experiences to the [position title] position at [Company] and hope to have the opportunity to speak with you further about how I can be an asset to your team.

Pro-tip: You can tailor these templates however you want!

These templates aren’t set in stone: They’re made to be customized so they work as well as possible for each individual job seeker.

For example, in the experience-based template, each of the body paragraphs is a bit different. Maybe you want to swap their order or use one of them twice and not use the other. Perhaps you have three experiences you want to highlight—go ahead and use one of the paragraphs twice or pull the sentences that help you most to frame your third paragraph. Same goes for the paragraphs in the second template.

You may even choose to pull from both templates. For example, maybe you’re applying for a management position and want a paragraph that shows off your leadership skills and another paragraph that focuses on your current job.

Feel free to mix and match and adjust according to you and your specific situation!

But here’s what goes in a cover letter no matter what:

Whichever template you pick (or even if you decide to go without a template), these are the components you should include in every cover letter:

• A salutation: Always try to address your cover letter to a specific person. It shows you’re willing to do your research. If the job posting doesn’t include a name, search for the person in charge of the department you’d be joining. If you’re still striking out, try these advanced techniques to avoid the always-cringey “ To Whom It May Concern .”
• A strong opener: Start off strong by telling the hiring manager you understand what makes this organization and job special. If you’re having trouble, look at the company’s site, social media, and Muse profile (if they have one), as well as employee LinkedIn accounts and so on. Home in on the main reasons you want this job at this organization. Oh, and make sure you’re describing how you can help the company, rather than just how the company can help you! For ideas and inspiration, check out these examples of cover letter opening lines that really grab your attention.
• A few body paragraphs : Here’s where you back up your claims that you’d be great at this job. Spend several paragraphs highlighting your accomplishments and qualifications that are most relevant to this job by telling short anecdotes, giving specific examples, incorporating numbers wherever you can , and connecting all of it to how well you’d do in this role.
• A thoughtful ending: Don’t waste valuable real estate with some version of, “ Thanks for reading, looking forward to hearing back .” This is a great place to proactively answer potential concerns. For example, let’s say you’re currently living in Atlanta, but you want to move to Portland. To ensure the reader knows location won’t be an issue, you might end with: “ I am relocating to Portland in May and look forward to working in the city .” Or perhaps you’re not quite qualified for the position or are making a pivot. Try something like: “ My background in [industry or profession], combined with my passion for your company and this role, would make me uniquely qualified to tackle [specific responsibility ].” (You should never say anything like, “ I know I’m not as qualified as other candidates, but… ”)
• A signoff: Wrap it all up with a professional sign off and your full name. If you’re pasting your cover letter in the body of an email , you may also choose to include your pronouns, job title, contact information, or LinkedIn profile after your name. If you’re sending the cover letter in its own doc, this info should be placed at the top of the page before the salutation.

Aja Frost , Lily Zhang , and Regina Borsellino contributed writing, reporting, and/or advice to this article.

Senior Accountant Resume Examples (Template & 20+ Tips)

Create a standout senior accountant resume with our online platform. browse professional templates for all levels and specialties. land your dream role today.

Are you a senior accountant looking for a new job or wanting to update your resume? Our Senior Accountant Resume Example article provides a comprehensive guide to help you create a standout resume. From highlighting your experience and skills to including relevant certifications and achievements, this article will help you impress potential employers and land your next senior accountant position.

We will cover:

• How to write a resume , no matter your industry or job title.
• What to put on a resume to stand out.
• The top skills employers from every industry want to see.
• How to build a resume fast with our professional Resume Builder .
• Why you should use a resume template

What does a Senior Accountant do?

• Prepare and examine financial records, statements, and reports.
• Ensure accuracy of financial information and compliance with laws and regulations.
• Analyze financial data and provide insights to management.
• Develop and implement accounting procedures and systems.
• Oversee accounting staff and guide them in performing their duties.
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What are some responsibilities of a Senior Accountant?

• Preparing financial statements and reports
• Managing and overseeing the financial operations of the company
• Analyzing financial data and preparing budgets
• Ensuring compliance with accounting and auditing standards
• Supervising and mentoring junior accounting staff
• Assisting with financial planning and forecasting
• Conducting internal audits and reconciling accounts
• Participating in financial analysis and decision-making processes
• Developing and implementing accounting policies and procedures
• Communicating financial information to senior management

Sample Senior Accountant Resume for Inspiration

Personal Details:

• Name: John Smith
• Address: 123 Main Street, Anytown, USA
• Phone: 123-456-7890
• Email: [email protected]

John Smith is an experienced Senior Accountant with a proven track record in financial analysis, budgeting, and financial reporting. He is highly organized, detail-oriented, and possesses strong analytical skills. John is adept at handling complex financial data and is a strong team player with excellent communication skills.

Work Experience:

• Senior Accountant - XYZ Company, Anytown, USA (2015-present) - Prepared monthly financial statements and variance analyses - Managed a team of junior accountants and provided training and supervision - Conducted internal audits and made recommendations to improve financial processes
• Accountant - ABC Corporation, Somewhere, USA (2010-2015) - Assisted in the preparation of annual budgets and forecasts - Compiled and analyzed financial information to prepare financial reports - Collaborated with external auditors to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements
• Bachelor of Science in Accounting - University of Anytown, Anytown, USA (2006-2010)
• Financial analysis
• Financial reporting
• MS Excel proficiency
• Team management
• Communication skills

Certifications:

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
• English - Native proficiency
• Spanish - Basic proficiency

Resume tips for Senior Accountant

Creating a perfect, career-launching resume is no easy task. Following general writing rules can help, but it is also smart to get advice tailored to your specific job search. When you’re new to the employment world, you need Senior Accountant resume tips. We collected the best tips from seasoned Senior Accountant - Check out their advice to not only make your writing process easier but also increase your chances of creating a resume that piques the interest of prospective employers.

• Highlight your experience in preparing financial statements and reports
• Showcase your expertise in maintaining accurate financial records and ensuring compliance with regulations
• Include your proficiency in using accounting software and other financial tools
• Demonstrate your leadership and team management skills
• Emphasize your ability to analyze financial data and provide strategic recommendations

Senior Accountant Resume Summary Examples

Using a senior accountant resume summary or objective can help to highlight your skills, experience, and career goals to potential employers. A summary is a brief statement that summarizes your key qualifications and career achievements, while an objective is a statement of your career goals and what you hope to achieve in your next role. Both can help to grab the attention of hiring managers and showcase your value as a senior accountant. For Example:

• Dedicated Senior Accountant with 10 years of experience in corporate finance and accounting.
• Proven track record of managing financial reporting and budget analysis for large organizations.
• Expertise in tax preparation, audit support, and compliance with GAAP and IFRS standards.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to mentor and train junior accounting staff.
• Effective communicator with a focus on building strong relationships with stakeholders at all levels.

Build a Strong Experience Section for Your Senior Accountant Resume

The experience section is crucial for a senior accountant resume as it showcases a candidate's relevant work history and accomplishments in the field. A strong experience section highlights the candidate's expertise, skills, and abilities, giving employers confidence in their potential to excel in the role. It also provides evidence of the candidate's effectiveness in managing financial processes, analyzing data, and ensuring accuracy in financial reporting, making them a highly desirable candidate for senior accounting positions. For Example:

• Managed monthly financial close process for a multi-million dollar organization
• Prepared and analyzed financial statements and reports for management
• Performed budget analysis and forecasting to support strategic financial decisions
• Led a team of junior accountants to ensure accurate and timely completion of tasks
• Developed and implemented internal controls to ensure compliance with accounting standards
• Collaborated with external auditors to facilitate annual audits and address issues
• Managed accounts payable and accounts receivable processes, including vendor payments and collections
• Prepared and filed tax returns, including income tax and sales tax filings
• Conducted financial analysis to identify cost-saving opportunities and improve profitability
• Provided financial expertise and support to other departments within the organization

Senior Accountant resume education example

A senior accountant typically needs a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or a related field. Many employers also prefer candidates to have a master's degree in accounting or a related field. Additionally, senior accountants often need to obtain a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license or other professional certification such as a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) or Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). Continuing education and professional development are also important for senior accountants to stay updated on industry standards and regulations. Here is an example of an experience listing suitable for a Senior Accountant resume:

• Bachelor of Science in Accounting, University of XYZ, 2010
• CPA certification, 2012
• MBA in Finance, ABC University, 2015

Senior Accountant Skills for a Resume

Adding skills to a Senior Accountant resume is important because it helps demonstrate the candidate's abilities and qualifications for the position. Including relevant skills such as financial analysis, auditing, and advanced knowledge of accounting software can show potential employers that the candidate has the necessary expertise to excel in the role. This can increase the chances of being considered for the position. Soft Skills:

• Team leadership
• Critical thinking
• Attention to detail
• Adaptability
• Problem-solving
• Time management
• Negotiation skills
• Emotional intelligence
• Conflict resolution
• Financial Analysis
• CPA Certification
• GAAP Compliance
• Budget Forecasting
• Financial Reporting
• Cost Accounting
• Audit Preparation
• Tax Planning
• Risk Management
• ERP Software Management

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Senior Accountant Resume

In this competitive job market, employers receive an average of 180 applications for each open position. To process these resumes, companies often rely on automated applicant tracking systems, which can sift through resumes and eliminate the least qualified applicants. If your resume is among the few that make it past these bots, it must still impress the recruiter or hiring manager. With so many applications coming in, recruiters typically give each resume only 5 seconds of their attention before deciding whether to discard it. Considering this, it's best to avoid including any distracting information on your application that could cause it to be thrown away. To help make sure your resume stands out, review the list below of what you should not include on your job application.

• Not including a cover letter. A cover letter is a great way to explain why you are the best candidate for the job and why you want the position.
• Using too much jargon. Hiring managers do not want to read a resume full of technical terms that they do not understand.
• Omitting important details. Make sure to include your contact information, educational background, job history, and any relevant skills and experiences.
• Using a generic template. Take the time to customize your resume to the job you are applying for. This will show the employer that you are serious about the position.
• Spelling and grammar errors. Always double-check your resume for typos, spelling mistakes, and grammar errors.
• Focusing too much on duties. Make sure to include accomplishments and successes to show the employer that you are a great candidate.
• Including personal information. Avoid including any personal information such as age, marital status, or religious beliefs.

Key takeaways for a Senior Accountant resume

• Extensive experience in financial reporting and analysis
• Proven track record of managing large-scale accounting processes
• Strong knowledge of GAAP and other accounting principles
• Ability to prepare and interpret complex financial statements
• Proficient in various accounting software and ERP systems
• Excellent communication and leadership skills
• Ability to analyze and solve complex financial problems
• Detail oriented and highly organized
• CPA certification or advanced degree in accounting preferred
• Experience in supervising and mentoring junior staff

8 Creative Project Manager Resume Examples for 2024

A good resume is key for project managers in creative industries. This article provides strong examples and strategic advice for building yours. Learn how to list your skills, present your experience, and highlight your achievements. Each section breaks down specific tips to make your resume clear and effective. Whether you’re new to the field or seeking a new role, this guide will help you create a resume that stands out to hiring managers.

• 22 Sep 2024 - 5 new sections, including 'Positioning your education', added
• 22 Sep 2024 - 6 new resume templates, including Future Creative Project Manager, added
• 20 Sep 2024 - Article published

  Next update scheduled for 30 Sep 2024

Here's what we see in the best resumes for creative project manager roles:

Show Impact Using Numbers : Strong resumes show impact by using numbers. They often mention metrics such as project completion rates , increase in productivity , budget savings , and time management improvements .

Include Relevant Skills : Include skills on your resume that you have and are mentioned on the job description. Some popular ones are JIRA , Agile methodology , budget management , Adobe Creative Suite , and Gantt charts . But don't include all of them, choose the ones you have and are mentioned in the JD.

Highlight Cross-functional Teamwork : Resumes should talk about working across teams. Use phrases like collaborated with designers or coordinated with stakeholders to show this.

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Creative Project Manager Resume Sample

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Want to know if your resume stands out for creative project management roles? Our resume scoring tool gives you instant feedback on how well your resume matches what hiring managers look for. You'll get a clear picture of your resume's strengths and areas for improvement.

Upload your resume now to get an unbiased assessment. You'll receive a score based on key criteria used by recruiters in the creative industry, along with specific tips to make your resume more effective.

Positioning your education

Place your education section near the top of your resume if you are new to the work world or if you have just finished a significant form of higher learning, like an MBA or a specialized bootcamp. This shows why you might have a gap in your work history and highlights your recent commitment to growing skills relevant to managing creative projects.

If you have been working in the field for a while and have accumulated good experience, list your education after your professional experience. For positions such as a creative project manager, prioritize showing practical work where you have used project management and creativity. Mention any specific educational credentials that directly relate to managing creative projects, such as degrees in project management or certifications in relevant software or methodologies.

Highlight creative tools

For creative project managers, proficiency in industry-standard tools can set you apart. Highlight your expertise in tools like Adobe Creative Suite, project management software like Trello or Asana, and any sector-specific software. Demonstrate how you've utilized these tools to manage and complete projects efficiently.

Creative Project Lead Resume Sample

Resume length for creative roles.

As a creative project manager, you should aim to present a resume that is concise yet comprehensive. If you have less than 10 years of relevant experience, strive for a one-page resume. This helps you prioritize the most relevant and recent experiences and achievements. Use clear headings and keep your layout tidy to make a strong impression.

For those with over a decade of experience, two pages can be appropriate, provided that the information included demonstrates your career progression and project management successes. Highlight key projects and the creative problem-solving skills used to steer them from conception to completion. Remember, the ability to communicate effectively is as vital in your resume as it is in your role.

Creative Project Strategist Resume Sample

Showcase your portfolio.

In the creative project management field, showcasing your portfolio can significantly boost your resume. Include a link to a digital portfolio within your contact information. Clearly describe your role in each project featured in your portfolio, emphasizing your project management skills, teamwork, and creativity.

Junior Creative Project Manager Resume Sample

Creative project manager with digital marketing specialization resume sample, future creative project manager resume sample.

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Chemical Engineer Resume Examples

• Sep 19, 2024

A well-crafted resume can be your ticket to landing a dream job. With the increasing demand for skilled professionals in the science field, it’s essential to stand out from the crowd.

In this article, we’ll delve into the key components of an effective chemical engineer resume , offering a range of examples to guide you in showcasing your qualifications.

Whether you're a recent graduate eager to make your mark or a seasoned engineer looking to advance your career, we will show you how to present your skills and experience in the best light.

Chemical engineer resume examples

• Chemical plant engineer resume
• Nanotechnology chemical engineer resume
• Chemical catalyst engineer resume

Chemical plant engineer resume template

Chemical plant engineer resume sample | plain text.

Resume Summary Results-driven Chemical Plant Engineer with over 7 years of experience in optimizing processes and enhancing operations. Proven track record in leading successful process improvements and infrastructure upgrades. Expertise in implementing safety protocols, managing large-scale projects, and conducting in-depth data analysis to boost production efficiency and reduce costs. Experience Chemical Plant Engineer Dow Chemical, St. Louis, MO , June 2020 – Present Spearhead a team in the redesign and optimization of a critical chemical production process. Develop and enforce new safety protocols that led to a 20% decrease in workplace incidents, ensuring stringent compliance with OSHA regulations. Manage a $2 million plant infrastructure upgrade project, including equipment procurement, installation, and testing. Conduct comprehensive audits and troubleshooting of plant systems, proactively addressing issues to minimize downtime. Junior Chemical Plant Engineer BASF, Jefferson City, MO , August 2017 – May 2020 Contributed to the development and implementation of process improvements, achieving a 12% increase in production output. Collaborated with cross-functional teams to design and integrate process control systems, improving the accuracy and reliability of chemical processes. Conducted data analysis and prepared reports to monitor plant performance, identifying key areas for improvement and recommending effective solutions. Assisted senior engineers in managing daily plant operations, including overseeing maintenance activities and ensuring adherence to quality standards. Education Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering University of Missouri, Columbia, MO Graduated: May 2017 Certifications Certified Chemical Engineer – National Association of Chemical Engineers, Issued: July 2020 OSHA 30-Hour Safety Certification – U.S. Department of Labor, Issued: January 2019 Skills Process Optimization Project Management Safety Compliance Data Analysis and Reporting Equipment Maintenance Process Control Systems Team Leadership

Reasons why this chemistry resume example will attract recruiters:

• The document starts with a concise and impactful summary that immediately highlights Norma's extensive experience.
• The inclusion of well-known companies lends credibility and demonstrates that the applicant has experience in leading organizations within the chemical industry.
• The chemical engineer resume is organized in a clear, logical format with distinct sections .

Resume objective

An objective focuses on your career goals and what you aim to achieve in your next role. It’s typically more about what you want rather than what you have accomplished.

• Entry-level candidates
• Career changers

Seeking a chemical engineering position at KoPy Ltd. where I can utilize my background in process optimization and material science to contribute to innovative solutions and process improvements.

Resume summary

A summary provides a snapshot of your qualifications, skills, and accomplishments. It focuses on what you bring to the table and highlights your most significant achievements and experiences.

• Experienced professionals

Experienced chemical engineer with over 10 years in catalyst development and process optimization. Proven track record of increasing production efficiency by 20% and reducing costs by 15%. Skilled in process simulation, material science, and project management. Adept at leading cross-functional teams and delivering innovative solutions.

For most experienced chemical engineers, a resume summary is often the better choice as it emphasizes your background. However, if you’re new to the field or transitioning from another industry, a resume objective can help frame your aspirations and convey your direction.

• Use consistent fonts and spacing to make the resume visually appealing and easy to read.
• Utilize subtle colors to highlight section headings or key achievements.
• Use standard fonts and avoid excessive formatting to verify your chemical engineer resume can be easily parsed by ATS software.
• Apply bold or slightly larger fonts for titles to clearly delineate different parts of the document.
• Incorporate relevant keywords from the job description to improve ATS compatibility.
• Aim for a resume length of one to two pages .
• Choose a professional template with a clean design that avoids clutter.

Our resume builder provides a variety of customizable templates that ensure your chemical engineer resume looks polished and well-organized without needing to design it from scratch.

Create your professional Resume in 10 minutes for FREE

Nanotechnology chemical engineer resume example

Resume Summary Accomplished Nanotechnology Chemical Engineer with over 12 years of experience specializing in the development and application of nanomaterials for industrial and technological advancements. Currently seeking to leverage extensive expertise and return to the industry after a dedicated period as a stay-at-home parent. Professional Experience Stay-at-Home Parent Charlotte, NC , January 2022 – August 2024 Took a career hiatus to focus on family responsibilities and personal development. Managed household operations and developed strong organizational and multitasking skills. Continued professional development through online courses and industry webinars to stay current with advancements in nanotechnology. Senior Nanotechnology Chemical Engineer NanoTech Innovations, Raleigh, NC , June 2018 – December 2021 Led a team in the development and commercialization of advanced nanomaterials, resulting in a 20% increase in product efficiency and a 15% reduction in manufacturing costs. Managed multiple high-impact projects, including the creation of nanoscale coatings for electronic devices, which enhanced device performance and durability. Conducted advanced research on nanomaterial synthesis and characterization, contributing to several high-profile publications in peer-reviewed journals. Nanotechnology Process Engineer Advanced Nano, Charlotte, NC , August 2014 – May 2018 Designed and optimized nanofabrication processes for the production of nanoparticles used in pharmaceuticals and electronics, improving yield and quality control. Developed and implemented new techniques for nanomaterial functionalization, resulting in enhanced product features and performance. Oversaw pilot-scale production and scaled-up processes, ensuring smooth transition from laboratory to commercial manufacturing. Chemical Engineer Mat Corp, Greensboro, NC , July 2010 – July 2014 Conducted experiments and analyses to evaluate the properties and performance of nanomaterials, contributing to process improvements and product innovations. Coordinated with external partners and suppliers to ensure the successful integration of nanotechnology into new and existing product lines. Prepared detailed technical reports and presented findings to stakeholders, supporting informed decision-making and strategic planning. Education Master of Science in Nanotechnology North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC Graduated: May 2010 Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC Graduated: May 2008 Skills Nanomaterial Development and Characterization Process Optimization and Scaling Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration Research and Data Analysis Advanced Fabrication Techniques Technical Reporting and Documentation

Why this resume for a chemical engineer is good?

• Each role is described with specific accomplishments and quantifiable results .
• The responsibilities listed are highly relevant to the field of nanotechnology, showcasing the candidate's expertise in research, process optimization, and project management.
• The chemical engineer resume addresses the employment gap transparently, framing it as a period of personal development and family focus.
• Put your most recent job first and work backward.
• Clearly state your job title to reflect your role and level of responsibility.
• Mention the full name of the company and its location (city and country).
• Include the start and end dates of your employment, using month and year.
• Where possible, use numbers and metrics to underline your achievements.
• Add key projects you worked on and the outcomes.
• Start bullet points with action verbs to convey your accomplishments dynamically.
• Use active voice to make your contributions clear and impactful.

If applicable, offer a brief, honest explanation for the career gap. Highlight any positive outcomes or skills gained during it.

Chemical catalyst engineer resume template

Chemical catalyst engineer resume sample | plain text.

Resume Summary Experienced Chemical Catalyst Engineer with over 10 years in developing and optimizing catalytic processes for industrial applications. Adept at designing, testing, and scaling catalytic systems to improve reaction efficiency and product yields. Proven expertise in materials science, process engineering, and project management. Professional Experience Senior Chemical Catalyst Engineer Catalysis Inc., Albany, NY , October 2021 – Present Develop and optimize catalysts for hydrocracking and hydrogenation processes. Lead the design and implementation of pilot-scale testing for new catalytic processes, facilitating a smooth transition to commercial production. Manage a cross-functional team of engineers and scientists, overseeing project milestones and ensuring alignment with strategic goals. Chemical Catalyst Engineer InnovActive Ltd., Troy, NY , May 2019 – August 2021 Developed new catalytic materials and methods for the production of fine chemicals, enhancing product yields and reducing production costs. Performed technical analysis and troubleshooting for catalyst-related issues, providing solutions to improve process stability and performance. Collaborated with clients and stakeholders to understand requirements and deliver customized catalytic solutions. Process Engineer GreenTech Chemical Co., Schenectady, NY , July 2014 – April 2019 Designed and scaled up chemical processes, focusing on optimizing reaction conditions and improving overall process efficiency. Conducted research on new materials and technologies for catalytic applications, contributing to several successful product innovations. Implemented safety and regulatory compliance measures, ensuring adherence to industry standards and best practices. Core Skills Expertise in developing and refining catalysts. Proficient in using techniques such as BET analysis, XRD, and SEM. Experience with scaling up laboratory processes to pilot and full-scale production. Knowledgeable in material selection and performance evaluation for specific catalytic applications. Proficient in analyzing experimental data and troubleshooting issues related to catalyst performance and process stability. Familiar with OSHA and EPA guidelines. Skilled in using MATLAB, Aspen Plus, and ChemDraw. Education Master of Science in Chemical Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY Graduated: May 2014 Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering University of Rochester, Rochester, NY Graduated: May 2012 Professional Affiliations Member , American Institute of Chemical Engineers, from 2020 Member , Society of Chemical Engineers, from 2015

What makes this chemical engineer resume stand out?

• The application places a strong emphasis on core chemical engineer skills .
• Cheryl’s expertise in optimizing catalytic processes is backed by real-world results .
• Her analytical skills are evident from her ability to interpret complex data, troubleshoot performance issues, and provide data-driven solutions.

Hard skills are technical abilities and knowledge specific to the engineering field. These skills are often gained through education, training, and hands-on experience. They can be tested or demonstrated.

Soft skills are personal attributes that enable you to work effectively with others and manage yourself in various situations. These abilities are often more challenging to quantify but are equally important.

Hard skills:

• Process Design and Optimization
• Chemical Reaction Engineering
• Catalysis and Catalyst Development
• Material Science and Engineering
• Thermodynamics
• Fluid Dynamics
• Separation Processes (e.g., distillation, filtration)
• Process Simulation and Modeling (e.g., Aspen Plus, MATLAB)
• Laboratory Techniques and Safety
• Analytical Instrumentation (e.g., GC, HPLC, FTIR)
• Data Analysis and Statistical Methods
• Technical Documentation and Reporting
• Regulatory Compliance (e.g., OSHA, EPA)
• Project Management Software (e.g., Microsoft Project)
• Equipment Operation and Maintenance

Soft skills:

• Communication (Verbal and Written)
• Teamwork and Collaboration
• Problem-Solving
• Critical Thinking
• Adaptability
• Time Management
• Attention to Detail
• Leadership and Team Management
• Conflict Resolution
• Client and Stakeholder Interaction
• Organizational Skills
• Creativity and Innovation
• Customer Service Orientation
• Decision-Making

In conclusion, writing a standout resume is a crucial step in advancing your career as a chemistry engineer.

By leveraging the chemical engineer resume examples provided in this article, you can tailor your document to highlight your unique skills, experiences, and accomplishments.

As you refine your application, keep in mind the importance of clarity, precision, and relevance, ensuring that your resume aligns with industry standards and captures the attention of potential employers.

Trevor Richfield

Career Coach & Professional Resume Writer

Trevor is a professional resume writer, career coach, and Nationally Certified Online Profile Expert (NCOPE) with well over 1,000 resumes under his belt. He emphasizes the importance of building an authentic professional brand you are proud to display to potential collaborators and employers. From recent graduates to executive leaders, Trevor has helped professionals land jobs at Fortune 500 companies and expand their own independent ventures.It's not only about results with Trevor, but about a continuous journey of professional and personal empowerment.

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