Step 2: Build your materials · topic 2 of 5

Build a skills list that gets searched

Skills are what recruiters and software search for. On LinkedIn, the Recruiter search tool has a skills filter alongside keywords, job titles and location ^[1]. On a resume, applicant tracking software relies on standard headings such as "Skills" to read the page correctly ^[2].

Those systems read the whole resume, not only the list. So the skills that matter most should also appear in your bullets, where they show when and how you used them. In my experience a skill that appears only in the list counts for less with both the software and the person reading.

Hard skills go in the list

Hard skills are things you could be tested on or show on a screen: tools, systems, methods, languages, certifications. For example: Salesforce, SQL, budget forecasting, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Spanish (fluent), contract negotiation.

Soft skills, such as leadership, communication and teamwork, matter a great deal. In NACE's Job Outlook 2025 survey of employers who hire new college graduates, nearly 90% said they look for evidence of problem-solving on a resume, and nearly 80% for teamwork ^[3]. That survey is about graduates, but in my experience the same is true for experienced hires.

The key word is evidence. Writing "excellent communicator" in a list proves nothing. A bullet like "Promoted to team lead within 14 months" or "Presented the quarterly forecast to the board 6 times" proves it for you. So I suggest leaving soft skills out of the list and letting your bullets carry them. Your summary can name one or two soft skills that matter for the role, with proof next to them.

Only list what you could talk about for two minutes

A good test for every item: could you talk about it for two minutes in an interview, with an example? If not, take it off. An interviewer will often pick the skill you're least sure of.

Tailor the list to each posting

1. Keep a master list of about 20 hard skills somewhere private.
2. For each application, pull the 10 to 15 that match the posting.
3. Use the posting's wording where it's true for you. MIT's career office recommends using the job description's keywords throughout your resume ^[4]. Newer search tools are better at recognizing synonyms; LinkedIn, for example, has added plain-language search for recruiters ^[5]. But people still skim for the posting's words, and a match costs you nothing.
4. Where a term has an acronym, write both once, such as "search engine optimization (SEO)".

A list of 40 to 60 skills tends to read as "a bit of everything" and buries the ones that matter. That's my observation from reviewing resumes. I don't know of a study on it, and I haven't yet seen a long list help.

Group the list into two or three lines

One long paragraph of skills is hard to scan. Group them under short labels instead:

Operations: vendor management, capacity planning, process mapping, budget forecasting

Technical: SQL, Excel (Power Query, pivot tables), Tableau

Tools: Salesforce, Jira, NetSuite

Pick labels that fit the role. A marketing resume might use "Channels", "Analytics" and "Tools". Keep the labels plain so software and people both recognize them.

On LinkedIn, list more

Your LinkedIn profile works differently from a resume. It's one profile for every search, and LinkedIn lets you add up to 100 skills ^[6]. Add your full master list there, link each skill to the job where you used it, and put the three or four that matter most for your next role at the top. The two-minute test still applies.