Show Recruiters You’ve Got the Right CV Skills
Research shows that the average recruiter spends just 6 seconds looking at each CV. In those few moments they’ll be looking for two things: a professional looking document, and evidence that you’d be able to do the job. Make sure you stand out by showcasing your CV skills.
What are key skills for a job?
The key skills for a job can be divided up into what are known as hard skills, soft skills, and transferable skills. Recruiters are keen to point out that they like to see a combination of all three:
- Hard skills: Abilities that can be taught or trained, such as operating machinery or speaking a language. These sometimes come with qualifications, like a degree or certificate.
- Soft skills: Abilities such as good communication or time management, which you should mention with reference to how you’ve used them.
- Transferable skills: Abilities that apply across a range of industries and will enable you to work flexibly. Close study of the job advert should enable you to decide which transferable skills a recruiter might be looking for.
What are the most useful skills to have?
The most useful skills to have on your CV are those that relate directly to the job advert and description. In addition to these skills, soft skills can be transferred across a range of jobs. For example:
- Clear communication.
- Creative problem solving.
- Flexibility.
- Critical thinking.
- Self-motivation.
No matter which skills you have, our CV builder will help you highlight them in the strongest way.
Popular Examples of CV Skills
Chef CV skills
A chef will need to show skills that focus on practical kitchen matters. Can you fillet a fish? Do you understand pastry work? Have you been taught how to butcher meat? Make sure the recruiter understands what you can bring to the job.
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Professional CV skills
A CV template makes it easy to set out your professional skills using the right tone and CV format. Since different roles expect different qualifications, it’s important to tailor your CV and skills for the specific industry at hand.
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Project management CV skills
Project management requires a combination of hard and soft skills. The hard skills will be covered by professional qualifications, while the soft skills will include things like the ability to communicate and work as part of a team.
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Receptionist CV skills
When you apply for a job as a receptionist, your skills should include dealing with members of the public and handling administrative duties. When mentioning these skills, give the recruiter an example of how you’ve used them.
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Cleaner CV skills
When you set out your cleaning skills, you should include the techniques you’ve mastered, the kind of materials you know how to clean, and the equipment that you’ve worked with. These skills should be easy for the recruiter to find when they skim your CV.
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Analytical CV skills
An analytical skills CV will have to do more than simply show you know how to crunch numbers. It will have to set out concrete examples of how you’ve solved problems, what methods you’ve used, and the impact of these projects.
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Sales CV skills
A sales CV pays particularly strong attention to facts and figures. When you outline your sales CV skills, include details such as the percentage you managed to raise sales figures by, or how much revenue you’ve generated for your employers.
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IT CV skills
IT roles often require experience with specific software and hardware services. A truly effective CV will show off these qualifications in a dedicated Skills section where a recruiter can quickly spot your IT experience.
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Retail CV skills
What kind of products have you sold? How do you deal with difficult customers? Have the retailers you’ve worked for in the past experienced a growth in sales? These are the kind of questions that your retail CV should answer for a recruiter.
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Sales assistant CV skills
The soft skills you’ll be expected to highlight in a sales assistant CV will include the ability to negotiate, and empathy when it comes to customer relations. Highlight occasions when these skills have led to a positive impact.
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Transferable CV skills
While your CV will be filled with skills specific to a certain position, you’ll impress a recruiter if you can demonstrate a range of transferable skills. These include skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration—which all apply to a wide variety of jobs.
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Good skills for a CV
The good skills for a CV will vary from job to job. Make sure you study the job advert in detail to understand what the recruiter is looking for. Include these skills in a bullet-pointed Skills section so recruiters can spot them immediately.
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Waitress CV skills
Your waitress CV’s Skills section needs to show that you understand what the job entails. Highlight things like knowing how to enter orders into an Electronic Point of Sales (EPOS) system, and memorising menu details.
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Laboratory CV skills
Make sure that your laboratory CV captures your ability to work in a range of laboratory scenarios. Highlight the skills mentioned in the job advert and specification, and refer to how you’ve used them as you describe past roles.
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Admin CV skills
Your admin CV must convince a recruiter that you have the skills to carry out the duties of the role. These might include the ability to file documents, enter data into spreadsheets, and deal with other members of a team.
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Chef CV skills
A chef will need to show skills that focus on practical kitchen matters. Can you fillet a fish? Do you understand pastry work? Have you been taught how to butcher meat? Make sure the recruiter understands what you can bring to the job.
Professional CV skills
A CV template makes it easy to set out your professional skills using the right tone and CV format. Since different roles expect different qualifications, it’s important to tailor your CV and skills for the specific industry at hand.
Project management CV skills
Project management requires a combination of hard and soft skills. The hard skills will be covered by professional qualifications, while the soft skills will include things like the ability to communicate and work as part of a team.
Receptionist CV skills
When you apply for a job as a receptionist, your skills should include dealing with members of the public and handling administrative duties. When mentioning these skills, give the recruiter an example of how you’ve used them.
Cleaner CV skills
When you set out your cleaning skills, you should include the techniques you’ve mastered, the kind of materials you know how to clean, and the equipment that you’ve worked with. These skills should be easy for the recruiter to find when they skim your CV.
Analytical CV skills
An analytical skills CV will have to do more than simply show you know how to crunch numbers. It will have to set out concrete examples of how you’ve solved problems, what methods you’ve used, and the impact of these projects.
Sales CV skills
A sales CV pays particularly strong attention to facts and figures. When you outline your sales CV skills, include details such as the percentage you managed to raise sales figures by, or how much revenue you’ve generated for your employers.
IT CV skills
IT roles often require experience with specific software and hardware services. A truly effective CV will show off these qualifications in a dedicated Skills section where a recruiter can quickly spot your IT experience.
Retail CV skills
What kind of products have you sold? How do you deal with difficult customers? Have the retailers you’ve worked for in the past experienced a growth in sales? These are the kind of questions that your retail CV should answer for a recruiter.
Sales assistant CV skills
The soft skills you’ll be expected to highlight in a sales assistant CV will include the ability to negotiate, and empathy when it comes to customer relations. Highlight occasions when these skills have led to a positive impact.
Transferable CV skills
While your CV will be filled with skills specific to a certain position, you’ll impress a recruiter if you can demonstrate a range of transferable skills. These include skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration—which all apply to a wide variety of jobs.
Good skills for a CV
The good skills for a CV will vary from job to job. Make sure you study the job advert in detail to understand what the recruiter is looking for. Include these skills in a bullet-pointed Skills section so recruiters can spot them immediately.
Waitress CV skills
Your waitress CV’s Skills section needs to show that you understand what the job entails. Highlight things like knowing how to enter orders into an Electronic Point of Sales (EPOS) system, and memorising menu details.
Laboratory CV skills
Make sure that your laboratory CV captures your ability to work in a range of laboratory scenarios. Highlight the skills mentioned in the job advert and specification, and refer to how you’ve used them as you describe past roles.
Admin CV skills
Your admin CV must convince a recruiter that you have the skills to carry out the duties of the role. These might include the ability to file documents, enter data into spreadsheets, and deal with other members of a team.
Must-Have Skills for UK Jobseekers
The skills needed for each job will differ, but there are some transferable skills that virtually every recruiter looks for. These are the kind of skills that aren’t taught formally, such as problem solving and adaptability. Research shows that recruiters in the UK look for evidence of these skills when vetting applications.
Hard skills, on the other hand, are usually taught, such as speaking a foreign language, or knowing how to operate specific machinery. One easy way to spot a hard skill is if you can pass an exam or gain a qualification in it. These are the 10 most popular skills UK employers are looking for:
Soft skills
- Creativity
Automation may be taking over the application of many existing skills, but employers still value applicants who can brainstorm new ideas and approaches. Show your creative thinking through examples for maximum impact.
- Persuasion
No matter how good a product or process is, people still need to be convinced to use it. Being able to persuade customers or co-workers to take a particular approach is a key skill.
- Collaboration
Since today’s jobs now involve many different technologies and geographically-separated teams, it’s important to show how well you collaborate both face-to-face and online. Give examples of how proactive, clear communication has helped you in past roles.
- Adaptability
The rate of technological advancement is now so rapid that employers actively look for applicants who show that they can handle change. This key skill will make you an appealing long term employment prospect.
- Relationship-building
The ability to develop a rapport with other people and build strong working relationships will positively impact every aspect of your working life. Employers consistently rate this as a top skill because it shows you know how to work as part of a team.
Hard skills
- Project management
Whether you’re a sales assistant or a software developer, it’s crucial to show that you know how to project plan in order to reach goals. It’s helpful to show how you managed to get from point A to point B by outlining a timeline or achieving specific milestones, or if you’ve use project management software in the past.
- Coding ability
The ability to write code is one which is shifting from being a small niche to becoming more mainstream. Whether it’s HTML or a more advanced coding language, you can be sure that it’s the kind of skill that will be helpful in a variety of different roles.
- Data analysis
The amount of data that companies gather continues to grow at a rapid pace. People who can demonstrate the skill to analyse that data and make the best use of it are therefore in huge demand.
- Hard communication skills
Effective communication can be seen as a soft skill, but showing that you have the ability to convey ideas through words is highly transferable between a range of industries. Hard communication skills, like copywriting or a foreign language, are highly sought-after assets in today’s market.
- Certifications and licenses
While certifications and licenses aren’t hard skills themselves, they represent a body of knowledge you worked hard to achieve. Include systems you’ve previously worked with or industry-recognised credentials.
Make Sure Your Skills Stand Out in Your CV
When a recruiter picks up your CV they’re looking for firm evidence that you could perform the job at hand. These tips will help you to make sure that you select and present the key skills for a job-winning CV.
Find the right skills
You may think it’s obvious what key skills a recruiter is looking for, but it’s always worth doing a bit more research to be certain. Study the job advert in-depth and highlight the keywords that stand out. This will not only help with any automated tracking system (ATS) being used, but it will also signal to the recruiter that you’re a well-prepared and fitting candidate.
Complete the skills section fully
Although you should work to make your CV as concise as possible, don’t be tempted to cut the skills section short. This is where the recruiter will look for evidence that you’re equipped to do the job, and if you don’t provide that evidence, including concrete facts and figures to support your skills, they’ll assume you’re not up to it.
Spread the word
Don’t confine your skills to just the Skills section - spread them through the rest of your CV. When you know what keywords and skills the recruiter will be looking for, mention them in other sections such as your personal statement and work experience. 70% of CVs don’t even get seen by recruiters because of a lack of keywords, so this approach gives you an extra edge.
Include soft skills
People mistakenly think of skills purely in terms of having a qualification, such as word processing or driving. However, employers are increasingly searching CVs for soft skills as well. To get an idea of which soft skills to include, look at the job advert and see if the description includes something like, ‘We’re looking for a passionate, self-motivated individual…’ so you’ll have a better idea of what to include.
Get specific
Our online CV builder contains templates for every kind of sector, making it fast and simple to build a CV no matter what kind of job you’re applying for. Some jobs may call for a specific ‘hard skills’ section, in which you list details of technical skills, such as the software you’ve worked with or the equipment you can use. For each skill, give a brief example of how you’ve used it.
Use Your Skills to Get the Job You Want
Your CV is the first chance you get to persuade an employer that you’re the right person for a job. Highlight your skills and make them relevant to the position for your best shot.
Get the recruiter’s attention by presenting the right skills in the right format. Our CV builder makes it quick and easy to deliver a job-winning result.