Skills for a CV: What to List, With Examples by Job

The four kinds of skills recruiters look for

• Hard skills: what you can do and can be tested on — accounting, welding, Python, phlebotomy, forklift operation, contract law.
• Tools and digital skills: the software and systems you use — SAP, Excel (pivot tables, Power Query), Salesforce, AutoCAD, Figma, a hospital's patient system.
• Soft skills: how you work — negotiation, conflict resolution, teaching, planning. Only credible when your experience shows them.
• Languages: each with a level. In Europe, the CEFR scale (A1–C2, or “native”) is understood everywhere and is what Europass uses.

Certificates and licences (a driving licence category, a forklift licence, a nursing registration, an ACCA or PMP qualification) can go in the skills section or in their own section. Put them wherever the recruiter will look first for that job.

How to choose the right skills

1. Copy every skill, tool and qualification from the job ad into a list.
2. Mark the ones you really have and could talk about in an interview.
3. Put those first, in the job ad's wording: if it says “stakeholder management”, don't write “working with partners”.
4. Add the two or three strongest skills of yours that the ad doesn't mention but the job clearly uses.
5. Stop at 8–12. A list of 30 skills reads as padding and dilutes the ones that matter.

The most important skills should also appear in your work experience, as evidence: “Built the monthly sales report in Power BI for 12 regional managers” proves a skill that “Power BI” alone only claims.

Skills examples by job

• Customer service: complaint handling, CRM (Zendesk, Salesforce), phone and live-chat support, de-escalation, order and returns processing, languages.
• Sales: prospecting, negotiation, pipeline management (HubSpot, Salesforce), product demos, account management, forecasting.
• Software developer: languages and frameworks (TypeScript, React, Java, Python), SQL, Git, testing, cloud (AWS, Azure), code review.
• Nurse: patient assessment, medication administration, wound care, IV therapy, electronic health records, infection control, registration number.
• Accountant: month-end close, reconciliations, VAT returns, IFRS or local GAAP, ERP systems (SAP, Oracle), Excel modelling.
• Project manager: planning and scheduling, budgets, risk management, stakeholder management, Agile/Scrum or PRINCE2, Jira or MS Project.
• Marketing: SEO, paid social and search, content strategy, email marketing, Google Analytics, A/B testing, copywriting.
• Warehouse and logistics: picking and packing, inventory control, WMS systems, forklift licence, shipping documents, health and safety.
• Teacher: lesson planning, classroom management, differentiated teaching, assessment, digital learning tools, parent communication.
• Administrative assistant: diary management, minute-taking, document control, MS Office or Google Workspace, invoicing, travel booking.
• Chef or kitchen staff: food preparation, HACCP and food safety, menu costing, stock rotation, working to covers under pressure.
• Electrician or trades: installation and maintenance, reading technical drawings, fault finding, safety regulations, the relevant certification for your country.

How to show skill levels

Skip bars, dots and star ratings. An applicant tracking system can't read them, and recruiters don't know what “four out of five” means. Use words instead: group skills as “Advanced” and “Working knowledge”, or add context — “Excel (pivot tables, Power Query, VBA)”. For languages, always use the CEFR level, such as “German — C1”, or “native”.

Skills to leave out

• Generic traits without proof: hard-working, motivated, team player, fast learner.
• Skills everyone is assumed to have for the job: “email”, “internet”, “Microsoft Word” for an office role.
• Outdated tools, unless the job ad asks for them.
• Skills you couldn't demonstrate if asked in an interview.