100+ Best Skills for a CV (Examples & How to Include)

You can’t write a CV without including skills. They’re proof that you have the necessary qualifications to do the job. Crafting an effective CV skills section involves more than a random list: it requires careful selection. It's a daunting task, you can find thousands of professional skills for a CV.

Rest assured: I’ll guide you through the process, offer insights into different skill types, and show you examples of over 100 in-demand CV skills for any job. Plus, I’ll teach you how to present them effectively on your CV.

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What are the 10 best skills to put on a CV and land a job?

The best skills to put on a CV are those that are in high demand. The top 10 skills examples employers seek the most right now are:

1. Customer service
2. Project management
3. Digital marketing
4. Data analysis
5. Technical skills
6. Reasoning & problem-solving
7. Critical thinking
8. Adaptability & resilience
9. Reliability & time management
10. Creativity & innovation

If you possess any of these highly coveted skills, it would be a great idea to include them on your CV—even if it’s not specifically mentioned in the job description.

This list is a mix of soft skills and hard skills. Including a blend of both can make your CV well-rounded and more attractive to employers. I’ll explain the difference between these categories of CV skills in the next chapter.

Hard CV skills versus soft CV skills

Hard skills encompass specific and measurable abilities or knowledge, often tied to technical expertise, such as programming languages, data analysis, or proficiency in various software applications. These quantifiable skills can be demonstrated through certificates, degrees, or assessments.

On the other hand, soft skills focus on non-technical attributes related to how individuals work and interact with others. Examples include communication, teamwork, adaptability, and problem-solving. Unlike hard skills, soft skills are more abstract and often developed through experiences.

When selecting the key skills to put on a CV, you need to consider both. Don’t underestimate soft CV skills, as they’re widely considered the most important skills you need for career success. They’re said to be of paramount importance for the 21st-century workforce, ranking above hard skills in terms of desirable qualities in an employee. 

Even a century ago, a study conducted by Harvard University concluded that 85% of job success is directly related to soft skills, so they’ve stood the test of time.

Key skills for a CV: examples

Here are some of the best CV skills examples separated into thematic groups:

Interpersonal & communication CV skills examples

These soft skills are essential for fostering positive workplace relationships. Effective communication ensures collaboration, conflict resolution, and a harmonious work environment.

• Effective communication skills
• Active listening
• Leadership skills
• Public speaking & presentation skills
• Written communication
• Persuasion
• Teamworking skills
• Customer service
• Verbal communication
• Interpersonal skills
• Giving & receiving feedback
• Storytelling
• Negotiation

Creative skills examples

Creative skills encourage innovative thinking and unique problem-solving approaches. They also drive adaptability, helping employees thrive in dynamic work settings.

• Creative thinking
• Originality
• Artistic abilities
• Design thinking
• Open-mindedness
• Imagination
• Visualization
• Idea generation

Critical thinking & analysis skills examples

These skills are crucial for informed decision-making. Critical thinking enables workers to analyse situations, solve complex problems, and make strategic choices that benefit the organization.

• Analytical thinking
• Logical reasoning
• Research skills
• Data analysis
• Problem analysis
• Attention to detail
• Evaluation
• Critical thinking
• Judgment

Problem-solving skills examples

Fundamental to overcoming challenges, problem-solving skills empower you to identify issues, develop solutions, and contribute to a more efficient and effective work process.

• Decision-making
• Troubleshooting
• Solution orientation
• Resourcefulness
• Crisis management
• Innovation
• Systems thinking
• Initiative

Resilience skills examples

Vital in navigating setbacks and uncertainties, resilience skills empower employees to bounce back from challenges, maintain motivation, and sustain a positive attitude in the face of adversity.

• Flexibility
• Adaptability skills
• Rapid learning
• Openness to change
• Agile decision-making
• Versatility
• Tolerance for ambiguity
• Agility

Importantly, these soft skills examples are transferable skills, too, meaning they can be carried with you from job to job, even if you make a career change. But as important as they are, they’re not the only skills to put on a CV. Hard skills are essential, too, and every CV should contain a good mix of the two.

A strong CV summary will convince the recruiter you’re the perfect candidate. Save time and choose a ready-made personal statement written by career experts and adjust it to your needs in the LiveCareer CV builder.

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IT skills examples to put on a CV

IT skills empower workers to navigate the digital landscape, fostering efficiency and innovation in a technology-driven workplace. They are also some of the most in-demand skills (and job skills, too).

• UI/UX design
• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Coding languages
• Operating systems
• Machine learning
• Networking and wireless technologies
• Software development
• Virtual reality
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Mobile development
• Cybersecurity
• Cloud computing
• Programming
• Blockchain technology

Project management CV skills examples

Project management is simply the process of guiding a team to achieve goals and succeed during a specified time. As such, it’s applicable across all industries and an essential skill to have in your professional arsenal. Here are some of the top project management skills for a CV.

• Scrum
• Kanban
• Agile practices
• Budgeting
• Project planning
• Project scoping
• Scheduling
• Forecasting
• Reporting
• Budgeting
• Procurement
• Risk management
• Project management software
• Project management methodologies
• Task management
• Procurement

Analytical skills examples for a CV

Workplaces are increasingly data-driven, and that data needs to be effectively analysed to drive business performance. So, analytical skills are another essential subset of hard skills to put on a CV.

• Data entry
• Budget management
• Mathematical skills
• Software skills
• Statistics
• Troubleshooting and problem identification
• Reporting
• Documentation
• Research
• Diagnostics
• SWOT analysis
• Benchmarking
• ROI analysis
• Data analysis
• Comparative analysis
• Comparison e.g. A/B testing
• Forecasting

Marketing CV skills examples

These are hard skills related to the promotion of products and services. They’re particularly important for jobs in the media, advertising, and sales. However, any job that involves an element of promoting a product or service requires the knowledge of marketing skills.

• SEO & SEM
• PPC
• Funnel management
• Email marketing and automation
• Technological Proficiency
• Social media marketing
• Mobile advertising
• Content creation
• Content editing
• CRM tools
• CMS tools
• Design
• Data analysis
• A/B testing
• Digital marketing
• Video marketing
• Market analysis
• Layout and design
• UX analysis and reporting
• Project management
• Website management

Operations & logistics skills for a CV

Essential for smooth business operations, these skills optimize processes, enhance productivity, and ensure seamless resource management.

• Supply chain management
• Inventory management
• Logistics planning
• Warehouse management
• Transportation management
• Procurement and sourcing
• Quality control
• Risk management
• Process improvement
• Project management
• Lean Six Sigma
• International trade regulations
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Technology integration

That was just a brief selection of the most popular soft and hard skills to put on a CV. But it barely scratches the surface. There are many more skills specific to different roles in different industries. So how are you supposed to choose which are the key skills for your CV, and what’s the best way to include them? That’s what I’ll cover next.

How to pick out good skills for a CV

Identifying the best skills to put on a CV is about understanding both what you naturally excel at and what you've worked hard to master. This involves self-reflection, external feedback, and real-world insights. Here are a few more strategies to help you identify and showcase your standout skills:

1. Reflect on your passions and interests

When you’re wondering what skills to put on a CV, consider the skills you’ve developed through hobbies and interests. These activities often require discipline, creativity, and transferable abilities like teamwork and time management. Reflect on what you enjoy—whether solving problems or organising events; passion often indicates areas where your skills naturally thrive.

2. Analyse your problem-solving moments

Think about challenging situations you've managed effectively, whether at work, school, or in your personal life. Ask yourself what specific steps you took to overcome those obstacles. Did you use strategic thinking, creativity, persistence, or communication to achieve results? These moments can reveal good skills for a CV that may be more powerful than you realise.

3. Review your learning journey

Examine your academic background, training, and self-directed learning history. Skills often emerge through subjects or courses you pursued voluntarily or excelled in, as well as through certifications or training sessions requiring specific expertise. By analysing your educational journey, you can pinpoint skills that are both officially recognised and genuinely developed.

4. Ask for comprehensive feedback

Instead of focusing only on strengths, seek a balanced assessment from those who’ve observed you in various settings. Feedback from managers, mentors, or friends can reveal not only your skills but also the unique ways you apply them. Sometimes, you may uncover hidden talents or approaches that others see as standout qualities.

5. Pay attention to tasks others seek your help with

You may have noticed people regularly come to you for advice or assistance on certain tasks. This can be a strong indicator of the skills others see in you. If friends seek your guidance on creative projects or rely on you for technical troubleshooting, it’s a sign you’re skilled in that area—even if you haven’t formally recognised it yourself.

Now that you’ve identified your key skills for a CV, it’s time to showcase them.

Where and how to list skills on a CV

Every time you apply for a job, you should adjust your CV to tailor it to the specific job requirements. Using the same generic CV for every application won’t do you any favours. Luckily, ensuring you choose the right skills to add to a CV is easy.

All you need to do is refer to the job advert and note all the skills it mentions. Then, consider your own skills and see what matches the job requirements. Make sure you also consider transferable skills and any other industry-specific skills the job advert doesn’t mention.

So, how many skills to choose for a CV? The ideal number is 5–10. Pick skills from your own list that are relevant to the job and include them in the skills section of your CV. Here’s an example of how it should look:

Good skills for a CV: skills section example

Note how there’s a short sentence explaining how you demonstrate that skill. A powerful way of adding proof to your claims. But when you’re considering skills for a CV, it doesn’t stop with the skills section. You can also include them throughout your entire CV.

How to add skills to your CV summary

You can put skills on your CV right from the start in your CV profile, also known as your CV summary or CV objective, depending on your experience level. Including a couple of relevant skills in the introduction to your CV is a great way to hook the hiring manager and convince them to keep reading. Here’s an example of how to incorporate computer skills into your CV summary:

This candidate demonstrates leadership and management abilities, having managed teams of software and games developers. Meanwhile, the emphasis on budget control underscores financial management skills, crucial for completing projects efficiently. He also shows proficiency in Agile methodology.

How to put skills in the CV work experience section

As the most important section of your CV, it’s essential that you use your work history to include more evidence of your skills. It’s the perfect place to show how your skills have yielded quantifiable results (especially if this is your first CV and you want to make a strong impact). Here are two bullet points from a CV work experience section that do exactly that:

These measured work achievements showcase a blend of project management, Agile methodologies, stakeholder engagement, and effective communication skills.

How to include skills in your education section

If you’re writing a student CV or a graduate CV, you can use your CV education section as an additional place to put skills on your job application. Without a professional work history, it’s an ideal way to show off your abilities. Simply add one or two bullet points highlighting relevant coursework or extracurricular activities demonstrating your hard or soft skills. Here’s how your CV could look:

With just one bullet point, this candidate shows he’s educated in these three important financial skills.

How to include skills in additional CV sections

When it comes to bonus sections, the world is your oyster. They are a great way of including more skills when writing your CV.

A languages section is an obvious one, that’s a highly desirable hard skill nailed. But you can also show evidence of your skills with a hobbies and interests section. You may have a hobby that demonstrates a specific hard skill or one that indicates soft skills. A well-known example is team sports, which demonstrates teamwork and leadership skills.

You could also include projects or certificates on your CV. There are many ways

to demonstrate your skills in additional CV sections. Here’s an example:

These certifications show expertise in project management, while publications demonstrate a commitment to Agile methodologies and innovative project planning, showcasing an adaptive project management approach.

And that’s all there is to it. Here’s a brief summary of what we’ve covered:

• Select a blend of the best soft and hard CV skills tailored to the job you're targeting. Don’t list too many, as it could clutter your CV format and make it less readable. We recommend that you stick to a one-page CV.
• Include both role-specific and general transferable skills that highlight your value proposition.
• Integrate key skills for a CV throughout your CV layout, emphasizing their application and impact, especially in the work experience section.
• Demonstrate how your CV skills contributed to measurable achievements to reinforce their practical relevance.

You don’t have to be a CV writing expert. In the LiveCareer CV builder you’ll find ready-made content for every industry and position, which you can then add with a single click.

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Looking to elevate your CV to new heights? See these articles:

• Action Verbs Your CV Needs
• Adding a CV to Your LinkedIn Profile
• Best CV Fonts You Should Use
• Best Extracurricular Activities for a CV
• How Long Should Your CV Be?
• How to List Education on a CV?
• How to Start a CV?
• How to Write CV References
• The Best Way to Structure a CV
• Writing a CV With No Experience

Thanks for reading this article about the top skills for a CV. If you have any questions about the best skills to put on a CV, please ask in the comments section, and we’ll be happy to help.

How we review the content at LiveCareer

Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.

Sources

• Dean S. A., East J. I., Soft Skills Needed for the 21st-Century Workforce, International Journal of Applied Management & Technology
• Mann Ch. R., A Study of Engineering Education, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
• 2023 Global Talent Shortage, ManpowerGroup