What Are Soft Skills? Resume Tips and Examples

When it comes to writing your resume, you already know how important it is to list accomplishments instead of duties. However, sometimes our work doesn’t always lend itself to hard numbers or reflect hard skills. In this case, how do you demonstrate your other attributes to a potential employer?

Over on CBS News, HR expert Suzanne Lucas (also known as Evil HR Lady) argues that job seekers shouldn’t overlook their soft skills when working on their resumes, sharing an excerpt from fellow HR leader Alison Green’s book “How to Get a Job: Secrets of a Hiring Manager” on how to include soft skills in your resume. Here are a few examples:

• Built reputation for working successfully with previously unhappy clients (effective communicator)
• Became go-to staff member for relaying complicated medical information to patients of diverse backgrounds (team-oriented, flexible)
• Bought out by doctor and practice manager to write and edit client correspondence, exam notes and web content (can manage multiple priorities)

A challenge of showcasing soft skills is that it can seem subjective on a resume, whereas hard skills seem more objective. Additionally it can be hard to determine which soft skills are key for a position (if they aren’t mentioned in the description).

That being said, what’s key here is that soft skills are still presented as accomplishments: demonstrations of the impact of the work you’ve done. This is definitely a helpful way to show various sides of your success.

For more information about the difference between soft vs. hard skills, check out our Career Advice post, Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills | How to Master Both.

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by Allison Jones