How to Choose Relevant Resume Skills

A mistake found in most student resumes: A skills section packed with soft skills — but no proof you've actually used them. Here are some of the usual suspects: • Teamwork • Leadership • Communication All good skills, and many roles ask for them. But here’s the problem: anyone can claim them. Without clear evidence of how you’ve applied them (and the impact they had) they won’t help you stand out. Generally speaking, your skills section should focus on hard, verifiable skills: • Technical tools (e.g., Python, Adobe Illustrator) • Certifications (e.g., Excel Certification) • Languages (e.g., Spanish Fluency) And even then, those skills should appear in your bullet points — with context and outcomes. If the skills section is the only place where they’re mentioned, you’re expecting the recruiter to blindly believe you actually have them. Don’t do that. Give them proof. Here’s how: • Choose the skill(s) you want to highlight • Identify the experience(s) where you've used them • Show how you used the skill to create positive results Let's give you a couple of examples: Instead of simply listing "Teamwork" in your skills section, craft a bullet that showcases how you've used that skill: • Revised the chapter’s student engagement plan in partnership with the chapter president, faculty advisor, and events chair, resulting in... Instead of simply listing "Excel" in your skills section, craft a bullet that showcases how you've used that skill: • Conducted investment analysis using Excel by compiling data on historical returns and risk metrics, creating charts and pivot tables to compare asset performance to... And so on. Bottom line: If these skills only appear in your skills section, you leave the recruiter guessing if you actually have the skills or if you've simply included them for keyword alignment. You don't want to leave them guessing. You want to show exactly how and where you've used your skills and to what end. Skills without context create doubt. Skills with context build credibility.

When I hired L6/L7 Program Managers at Amazon, I didn't look at titles. I looked at responsibility, scope, ownership, and these 5 skills ↓ Program Management is a lucrative skill set. How one company defines a PM job, might not be how another defines it. Therefore, a PM title doesn't qualify external talent. Their skills, experiences, and accomplishments do. What skills was I looking for? Beyond generic PM buzzwords, here’s what truly matters (and how to show it on your resume) ↓ 1. Executive-Level Communication Hiring managers want PMs who can distill complex information for senior leaders. ↳Resume example: “Developed and presented quarterly business reviews to VP-level audiences, influencing $10M in resource allocation.” 2. Cross-Functional Influence Senior PMs must drive alignment across teams with competing priorities, with lots of stakeholders. ↳Resume example: “Led consensus-building workshops across engineering, finance, and operations, aligning 5 roadmaps into a unified delivery plan.” 3. Risk Management & Problem Solving It’s not enough to manage the happy path. Senior PMs must proactively identify risks and design mitigation strategies. ↳Resume example: “Created risk mitigation plan, reducing timeline slips by 30% for a $50M product launch.” 4. Data-Driven Decision Making Great PMs rely on metrics, not gut feelings, to drive decisions, and they know how to get data. ↳Resume example: “Designed KPIs to track feature adoption, resulting in a 15% increase in customer retention.” 5. Ownership of Outcomes At the senior level, it’s about owning results, not just tasks - can you control the lifecycle of delivery? ↳Resume example: “Owned end-to-end program delivery for global rollout, achieving a 95% on-time launch across 12 countries.” If you’re targeting senior PM roles, your resume should DEMONSTRATE specific, job-relevant skills. Don't rely on past titles. Don't rely on buzzwords in a skills list. ♻️ Share with others seeking Sr-level PM jobs!

As a recruiter, I love a 'Skills' section on a resume. It catches my attention BUT that doesn't always mean it leads to me scheduling an interview. This mistake is common across resumes including a 'Skills' section but not landing interviews. The mistake is overlying on your 'Skills" section without fleshing it out in your 'Work Experience' section. Here’s an example of what I mean. Let’s say I was applying to a recruiter job with a requirement of sourcing passive talent using LinkedIn Recruiter. Based on the job requirements, I'd highlight relevant experience in both my 'Skills' and 'Work Experience' section.   Within my ‘Skills’ section I’d have “LinkedIn Recruiter, Passive Sourcing Strategies, Boolean Search Strings”. (because of the relevance to the job requirements) I’d call this out in my 'Skills' section to catch attention. To convert that attention to interest I would continue to build upon it in my ‘Work Experience’ section. This is how I'd flesh out my ‘Skills’ section in my “Work Experience” section. “Developed passive sourcing strategies using Boolean strings in LinkedIn Recruiter to hire technical talent resulting in a 37% reduction in time to fill” This shows WHAT I know relative to the job requirements in the 'Skills" section. That catches attention. Then I showed HOW my skills were used in the 'Work Experience' section. Showing how actually gives context on the impact I had using the skills the job needs. The 'Skills' section can be great in showing WHAT you know. But that isn't enough. Recruiters are looking for HOW you used what you know. A 'Skills' section should be used in tandem with your 'Work Experience' section, not as a substitute. (PS: When I say 'Skills', do not include soft skills. I'm begging you.)

More than 90% of résumés have a skills section, but it’s useless unless you do this. Listing skills isn’t enough. Your résumé needs to prove them. Too many résumés have a generic skills section that looks like this: ➣ Teamwork ➣ Communication ➣ Leadership ➣ Data analysis Sound familiar? The problem? Anyone can list these skills. What sets you apart is showing how you applied them. ********************** 🔹 Turn skills into achievements → Hiring managers don’t care about what you claim to be good at → They care about results. ✖︎ weak: Project management ✔︎ strong: led a team of 5 to deliver a $500k project 2 months ahead of schedule ✖︎ Weak: Data analysis ✔︎ Strong: Analyzed customer data, reducing churn by 30% through predictive modeling ✖︎ : Public speaking ✔︎ Strong: Delivered keynote at APH conference, engaging 200+ industry professionals 📌 If a skill isn’t backed by a result, it’s just a keyword. ********************* 🔹 How to fix your résumé today → Integrate skills into work experience ↳ Show how you applied them in real situations → Use metrics and results ↳ Numbers add credibility and impact → Customize for the job ↳ Match your skills to what the company actually needs Your skills don’t get you hired! Your impact does. ✅ Don’t just list skills; prove them ✅ Hiring managers don’t want buzzwords, they want evidence what’s the most overused skill you see on résumés? ♻️Repost for others #careerprogress #résumétips #jobsearch #skills #hiring