How to Write a Skills Based Resume in Five Steps

What is a Skills-Based Resume?

A resume that focuses on skills, also known as a skills-based or functional resume, emphasizes the abilities a candidate holds over other qualifications, such as education. You might also emphasize certain aspects of your work experience, but only if these apply to the job for which you are applying. This makes skills-based resumes stand out from chronological or reverse-chronological resumes, where the focus is on your work history.

The majority of resume templates comprising skills-based resumes will have a summary of the candidate's qualifications, work history and accomplishments with details like job titles and accomplishments not mentioned in the initial summary.

You will want to utilize a skills resume in the following situations:

• Your work history is made up of multiple brief jobs, temporary work or internships as opposed to a long work history.
• You have extensive gaps between jobs in your work history.
• You want to make a career change and you don't have a tremendous amount of applicable experience.
• You want to turn a hobby or personal interest into a career.
• Most of your applicable experience is in volunteer or unpaid work.
• You are a new graduate with minimal or no work history.
• You've held several similar jobs and do not wish to repeat yourself in your resume.

How to Create a Skills-Based Resume

To create a successful skills focused resume, follow these steps:

Choose Which Abilities to Emphasize

When choosing what skills to emphasise, you would initially determine what is the most vital skill for your sought-after profession. Break up the most crucial into three or four general skill groups and list within each block your specific attributes. Your sets of skills will make up the majority of your resume.

Most skills typically fall within one of these three categories:

Job-related skills

These are abilities that are typically learned in school or on the job by most individuals. They are likely to be specific to the particular job. When you're job hunting as a web designer, job-related skills relevant to that position include having a comfort level with Photoshop or a web design program.

Transferable skills

These skills can be transferred to various areas of specialization and are most often applicable to those who intend to change their career. Transferable skills are often very detailed, like management of a team or negotiation abilities. But they might also be general, like research skills.

Adaptive skills

Also referred to as "personal skills," these typically consist of character or personality traits that cannot be measured but are beneficial for a specific job. Traits like honesty and being a team player might be adaptive skills. Depending on the job you're applying for and whether you intend to describe the skill, you might include five to 10 applicable skills on your resume.

Make a List of Skills to Explain

A well-structured skills focused resume highlights key proficiencies using detailed bullet points and results-driven descriptions. Once you have a sense of the skills and individual skills you wish to showcase, you can start detailing the individual bullet points in greater detail. Each bullet point should be composed of sentences that outline your pertinent experience in each skill area.

For this part, you can or cannot list the firms you've worked for or roles you've had. But it is best overall to emphasize achievement and outcomes over describing particular employers in too much detail. It is also a great idea to streamline your word selection for a particular industry. For instance, if you're attempting to move into the sales profession from the healthcare sector, address your patients as customers or clients. This will allow employers to better assess the transferability of skills to the position you have in mind instead of correlating it with an often not-so-related profession.

Make a List of Your Achievements

A section of your accomplishments can allow potential employers to view how the skills you previously listed translate into the work setting. In this section, it is particularly critical to note only accomplishments related to the job you are applying for. You do have some freedom regarding the achievements you may list, but ensure they are pertinent to the target position. If you are targeting an HR job, for instance, you may highlight communications or time management-related accomplishments.

As you describe your accomplishments, always link them with numbers, such as dollars, time saved or percentages. Again, this provides employers with a way to more easily measure the worth of your accomplishments in the real-world environment of the work setting. You can frame your accomplishments as follows:

• Situation plus your action equals a direct outcome.
• Workplace difficulty plus your response equals a direct outcome.

Describe Your Professional Background

In a skilled worker resume, you can list past roles briefly while emphasizing the hands-on experience and results achieved in each position. If so, you may allocate the balance of your resume to a condensed summary of your work history. In contrast with an experience-oriented resume, you don't have to be so specific in this section. List the company, the employment period, your position and a few words describing your responsibilities. Internships and volunteering can also go here if they are specific to the sought-after position.

Include More Information

Think about including information that could improve your perceived value and credibility. You could include the following sections, among others:

• Background Education
• Professional associations
• References from reliable sources
• Tasks you have undertaken or finished
• You've taken development courses
• Activities centered in the community
• Publicly available work

Mention your institution, degree, and the year you earned it under "education." Additionally, you might include a list of any pertinent training sessions, seminars, online courses, and continuing education courses you have taken.

Skills-Based Resume Template

Use this template as a guide when creating your skills-based resume:

[Your Name]

[Position]

[Address]

[Phone Number]

[Email Address]

[Website]

[LinkedIn]

[Social Media]

[Resume Objective]

Skills Summary

[Skill]

• [List]
• [List]
• [List]
• [List]

Experience [Dates]

[Job Title]

[Company Name]

[City]

[Dates]

[Job Title]

[Company Name]

[City]

Education

[Graduation Date]

[School Name]

[Degree]

Additional Skills

• [Skill]
• [Skill]
• [Skill]

Additional Sections (Languages, Awards, etc.)

• [Language/Award/Etc]
• [Language/Award/Etc]

Skills-Based Resume Example

Here is an example of a skills-based resume:

Tai Kaito

Graphic Designer 847 Ocala Street

Providence, RI, 32801

407-423-2482

tai.z.kaito@gmail.com www.taikaito.com

linkedin.com/in/taikaito423

Resume Objective

Imaginative graphic designer with a BA in Graphic Design from RISD seeking to leverage my experience with NED Design Studio. Experienced in creating data-driven infographics (link to my portfolio) and designing novel typography to suit a client’s needs. Interested in developing and creating new conceptual art forms for both digital and print designs to increase brand awareness for large companies and organizations in the tech and robotics industry.

Skills Summary

WEB DESIGN

• Designed the layout and user interface for The Healthy Kitchen website (see portfolio).
• Worked on 15+ website redesigns to improve user experience and increase traffic.

TYPOGRAPHY

• Developed the Eventus typeface for a client, including the layout, grid, and color scheme.
• Collaborated with the in-house design team of Seamless to develop new brochure materials.

GRAPHIC DESIGN

• Designed and developed marketing materials (brochures, logos, presentations) for 60+ clients.
• Collaborated with sales, marketing, and creative teams to create trailblazing designs.
• Prepared on-the-spot illustrations during brainstorming sessions to document design directions.

Work Experience

Freelance Graphic Designer

October 2015—Present

The Studio of Tai Kaito, Brooklyn, NY

Graphic Designer

May 2012—September 2015

Time Magazine, New York, NY

Education

BA in Graphic Design

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), 2012

Additional Skills

• Software: Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign), Maya, CorelDRAW, PowerPoint, Blender

Achievements and Awards

• Graphic designs published in The New York Times and Jacobin
• Recipient of the Rome Prize in Design
• Recognized as a Rising Star in Communication Arts magazine

Key Takeaways:

Here's a summary of things to remember for skills-based resumes:

• A skills resume is all about your skills and is particularly good for skills-based positions, such as for creatives.
• Skills-based resume models are also appropriate for more qualified job candidates who need to downplay their experience and military-to-civilian candidates with hard-to-explain experience.
• Skills-based resumes need to be tailored to the position you’re applying for.
• A skilled worker resume benefits from this approach by showcasing practical competencies over traditional job titles.

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