Hey everyone! I'm updating my resume and struggling with the skills section. Should I organize it chronologically (based on when I learned/used each skill) or by proficiency level? Right now my resume skills are just listed randomly and it looks messy. Anyone have experience with what hiring managers prefer?
The skills section of resume should definitely be organized by proficiency! Here's why:
1. Recruiters spend ~6 seconds scanning resumes
2. They want to see your strongest skills first
3. Nobody cares when you learned something
Think about it - would you rather see someone's expert skills buried at the bottom just because they learned them recently? Order your technical skills by how well you know them.
actually disagree w/ @ResumeSage here... when i did my skills section chronologically it helped tell a story about my growth. showed how i built on basic skills to learn more advanced ones. got good feedback from interviews about it
In my experience reviewing resumes, the best skills section of resume combines both approaches:
- Group skills by category (programming languages, tools, soft skills)
- Within each category, list by proficiency
- Use visual indicators (⭐️⭐️⭐️) or text (Expert/Advanced/Basic) to show levels
This makes the resume skills section super scannable while still being informative. I've reviewed hundreds of applications and this format always stands out.
wait so for the skills section should i include stuff im still learning?? like im taking a python course rn but im not an expert yet
> wait so for the skills section should i include stuff im still learning??
Definitely include skills you're learning, but be honest about your level! I usually format my technical skills section like this:
- Expert: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
- Intermediate: React, Node.js
- Learning: Python, AWS
Better to be upfront than get caught in an interview pretending to know more than you do 😅
Thanks everyone! @Diane J. Hurt your approach makes a lot of sense. One follow-up q - for the skills section of resume, do you recommend including soft skills mixed in with technical ones? Or should they be separate?
bruh keep ur skills section focused on hard skills!! soft skills should come through in ur experience bullets. nobody wants to see "team player" and "good communicator" taking up space in ur resume skills. show don't tell!!
@HustleMode couldn't disagree more! In UX/UI roles, soft skills are CRUCIAL. My skills section of resume has a dedicated area for "Collaboration & Leadership" skills because they're just as important as my design tools. Different industries value different things!
The way I've structured my skills section:
Technical Skills:
- Design: Figma, Sketch, Adobe Suite (Expert)
- Development: HTML/CSS, JavaScript (Intermediate)
- Tools: Jira, Git (Advanced)
Professional Skills:
- Project Management
- Team Leadership
- Client Communication
This resume skills layout has gotten me several callbacks. Clean categorization is key! 📝✨
Update: Reorganized my skills section of resume using @Diane J. Hurt's advice + some inspiration from @DeeCTobiaschu's format. Feeling much better about it now! Thanks everyone for the help 🙏