One of the most important sections of a resume is the strengths and talents section.
Many candidates make the mistake of merely discussing what they did during their job experience, with no mention of the skills they developed or displayed within their roles. Including these talents can make the difference between your application being shortlisted or not.
But how do you highlight your abilities and skills in your resume?
When determining what employment abilities to include in your resume and how to format and put them strategically, there are a few norms you should follow and remember:
1. Ensure Relevance.
There's no point in mentioning every skill you've ever learned since the beginning of your profession. You've probably developed dozens of skills—but that doesn't mean you have to include them all. To assist you decide which ones to leave out in order to make your resume succinct and simple, review the job advertisement's requirements and qualifications and modify your abilities section accordingly.
2. Create a Skills section.
Make a special section for your abilities and strengths. You might title it "Skills" or "Skills Highlights." While it is crucial to provide examples of your talents throughout your resume, this unique section is also necessary to make it stand out to recruiters. Place this part near the top of your resume, after the professional profile but before you go into your work experience.
3. Group by category.
For ease of reading and scannability, you may find it more effective to group your talents and skills under relevant topics, especially if you have a lot of them. For example, you could mention, "Technical skills: Adobe Photoshop, Figma, Canva, MS Office," and so on. If you are bilingual or multilingual, you can save space on your resume (depending on the style, of course) by categorizing your abilities and competency levels by language.
4. Balance Soft and Hard Skills.
If you work in a sector that places a high value on "hard," technical abilities, such as technology or manufacturing, it is easy to ignore soft skills, also known as power skills.
However, according to CompTIA, the professional certifying authority for IT certifications, soft skills like as communication, problem-solving, organization, and project management are more important than you think for—yes, you read that correctly—even largely technical occupations.
For example, communication is required to effectively liaise with project and product managers, as well as other non-technical stakeholders, therefore include examples of your communication skills in action on your CV.
5. Update. Periodically
We sometimes forget how magnificent we are as humans. The bustle and hurry of life can frequently overwhelm us, and we become so engrossed in our work that we fail to recognize our accomplishments. If you've been laid off unexpectedly and are scrambling to figure out what strengths, successes, and skills to include on your resume, you've most likely fallen victim to this tendency.
So, every now and then, go over your resume and give it a refresher. Perform this exercise every time you finish a certification or training course, learn a new skill at work, or achieve a significant career milestone. This keeps your CV up to date and prevents you from forgetting what assets and skills you have.
Finally, your talents section should compliment the rest of your resume—and if you don't have enough space, you can strategically include your skills into other parts. This will help to create a full picture of your suitability for the position.