Looking for a job but failing to get interviews? If so, your resume skills section might be holding you back.
In this day and age, recruiters are on the lookout for people with the right skill set. Relying on your previous work experience might not be enough to catch their eye. It’s no longer going to suffice to just list five things in your resume’s skills section — you need to pepper your whole application with job-relevant skills.
First off, you need to match the skill list from the job posting. If you possess that particular ability, you need to give it a plug in your resume. But that’s not enough. Go through similar job postings and take note of any additional skill requirements. Do you have what it takes? Perfect, add them to your list of skills.
Now, the next step is to be specific about what you can do. Don’t just mention MS Excel. Can you create pivot tables? Visualize data? Run and create macros? Put that in writing!
The final step is to choose a few highly relevant skills and mention them in all other resume sections, be it the resume objective or summary, the experience section, education, or other additional section like the licenses and certificates section. Don’t just copy-paste these skills, though. Work them in smoothly. You don’t want to come off as a spammer! Here’s an infographic to guide you through the process.
