Article contents
"Rigorous, autonomous, team player, proficient in Microsoft Office": how many CVs contain these four phrases in the skills section? Far too many. They aren't false, but they don't differentiate anyone. The result: a section that gets skimmed, when it should serve as the dashboard of your application.
Technical skills and soft skills
There are two main families, and they are not presented the same way.
Technical skills (hard skills) can be taught and verified: a software tool, a language, a method, a certification, a trade skill. Examples: "Sage 100", "SQL", "TIG welding", "cash handling", "SEO writing".
Soft skills concern the way you work: communication, organisation, adaptability, negotiation, stress management. They matter a lot, but they are proven more than they are claimed.
The right approach: list technical skills in the dedicated section, and show your soft skills through your achievements. "Negotiation" in a list adds nothing; "Renegotiated 3 supplier contracts, saving 8%" demonstrates it.
How do you find out what employers want?
Don't guess: read the job postings. Take five to ten postings for the target role and note what keeps coming up:
- The tools named (software, languages, equipment).
- The methods (Agile, Lean, budget management, customer relations).
- The certifications or authorisations required.
- The verbs that repeat ("lead", "analyse", "train").
These elements form your grid. For each one, ask yourself a simple question: can I prove it in one sentence? If so, it goes on your CV. If not, leave it out.
The skills that come up most across job families
No statistics here: these are common-sense observations to check against postings in your field.
- Administration, accounting, management: industry software, advanced spreadsheets, accuracy in processing, meeting deadlines.
- Sales and retail: target tracking, negotiation, account management, CRM tools.
- IT: languages and frameworks, version control, testing, working in an Agile setting.
- Healthcare and social care: protocols, technical procedures, handling difficult situations, mandatory training up to date.
- Industry, construction, logistics: certifications, reading plans, safety, operating machinery with authorisation.
- Marketing and communications: channels mastered, analytics tools, content production, budget management.
How to present the skills section
Group by category
A flat list of twenty words is hard to read. A few groupings help immediately:
- Tools: Excel (pivot tables, simple macros), SAP, Sage, Google Analytics
- Technical: bank reconciliations, VAT, monthly closings
- Languages: English (native), French (C1), Spanish (B1)
State an honest level
Avoid stars, gauges and percentages ("Excel: 80%"): nobody knows what 80% means, and recruiting software doesn't read them. Prefer a simple scale:
- beginner, intermediate, advanced, or
- daily, regular, occasional use, or
- for languages, the Common European Framework of Reference (A1 to C2).
Add a hint of proof
The most convincing formula is "skill + proof":
- "Advanced Excel: monthly dashboards for 4 departments"
- "English C1: daily negotiations with UK suppliers"
- "Meeting facilitation: weekly check-ins with 12 people"
Soft skills: what to show and how
Rather than writing "organisational skills", look in your career for a fact that illustrates it:
| Skill | How to show it |
|---|---|
| Organisation | "Planned 4 parallel worksites with no delivery delays" |
| Adaptability | "Took over a portfolio of 40 clients at short notice after a departure" |
| Communication | "Wrote procedures used by the whole team" |
| Problem solving | "Identified the cause of a recurring defect, eliminated after a process change" |
| Leadership | "Managed 6 people, onboarded 3 new hires" |
Example: from job posting to skills section
Here is an excerpt from a fictional posting for a payroll specialist: "proficiency in Sage Payroll or equivalent, knowledge of employment regulations, monthly statutory filings, accuracy, confidentiality."
A candidate who held a similar role could draw this section from it:
- Tools: Sage Payroll (daily use), Excel (pivot tables)
- Technical: payslips for 120 employees, monthly statutory filings, final pay calculations
- Regulation: applicable collective agreements, tracking changes in employment law
- Languages: English (native), French (B2)
"Accuracy" and "confidentiality" don't appear as isolated words: they can be inferred from the volume handled (120 payslips a month) and the nature of the data involved. The recruiter gets it without your having claimed it.
The most common mistakes
- Listing everything. Eight solid skills beat thirty approximate ones. Every word may be tested in an interview.
- Overrating your levels. "Fluent English" should be backed by a ten-minute conversation.
- Stating the obvious. "Internet use" or "Microsoft Office" alone adds nothing in 2026; specify what you do with it.
- Neglecting the posting's vocabulary. If the posting says "CRM" and you write "customer management software", also use the common term.
- Forgetting to update. A skill acquired last year should appear on your CV.
Which skills should come first?
Rank by relevance to the target job, not alphabetically. The first three to five should be enough to convince a reader in a hurry. Secondary skills follow, grouped together.
If your CV has to go through screening software, repeat the key skills in the dedicated section and in your experience: this double anchoring reassures both the human recruiter and the software. To understand what an ATS really reads, see ATS-friendly CVs: myths, facts and tips.
Special case: beginners and career changers
Without much experience, your skills can come from internships, study projects, volunteering, summer jobs or online courses. Present them as mini-experiences: "Managed a £3,000 budget for a student society". When changing careers, highlight transferable skills (team management, customer relations, analysis) and add the new skills gained through training. Our article on the career change CV covers the approach in detail.
Final checklist
- The key skills match those in the posting.
- Every skill can be illustrated in an interview.
- Levels are stated simply and without gauges.
- Soft skills are proven in your experience, not just listed.
- The list fits in five to ten lines at most.
An effective skills section looks less like a shopping list than a summary of your toolbox. Choose what serves the job, prove it, and leave the rest out.
