How to list skills on a resume without sounding like a robot.

The skills section is small. Six to ten lines, usually. It looks easy because it's short. It's actually one of the harder parts of the resume to get right, because every skill you list is a claim, and the wrong claims make your whole resume feel either fluffy or fake. Here's how to fill that section honestly and well.

The two kinds of skills

There are technical skills, and there are skills that are really about who you are as a worker. Both belong on a resume. Mix them.

Technical skills are specific things you can do. Forklift certified. QuickBooks. Microsoft Excel. Phlebotomy. ServSafe certified. Bilingual Spanish and English. Class A CDL. CPR and first aid. RF scanners. Forty words per minute typing. These are concrete and checkable. If you put them on the resume, you should be able to do them on day one of the job.

Soft skills are about how you work. Reliable attendance. Strong communication. Comfortable with difficult customers. Calm under pressure. Quick learner with new systems. Detail-oriented with paperwork. Some people say soft skills are useless on a resume because everyone claims them. They're partly right — "team player" is a cliché. But a soft skill written as a real, specific claim is still useful. "Reliable attendance — missed two days in two years at last job" is more believable than "highly motivated team player."

Read the job posting before you write your skills section

This is the single biggest piece of advice. Pull up the job you're applying for. Read it twice. Make a list of every skill, certification, or quality the company mentions. Then go through your skills section and make sure every one of their requirements that you actually have is on your list, in their words.

If they say "forklift," you say "forklift." Not "warehouse equipment." If they say "ServSafe certified," you say "ServSafe certified" — not "food safety knowledgeable." If they say "QuickBooks," you say "QuickBooks" — not "accounting software." This isn't fakery. This is matching your honest skills to their honest needs in their words. The Applicant Tracking System reads it. The recruiter skimming reads it. Both are looking for the words from the posting. Give it to them.

How many skills should you list?

Six to ten is a healthy range for most resumes. Less than six looks thin. More than fifteen looks like padding, and the reader stops believing you.

If you find yourself with twenty skills and can't choose, ask yourself: which six of these would I most confidently demonstrate on day one of this job? Cut to those.

What to leave out

Skills you don't actually have. Don't list "advanced Excel" if you can't make a pivot table. Don't list a programming language you opened a tutorial for once. Hiring managers will sometimes test on the skills you claim, and if not, the work itself will reveal you within a week.

Things that aren't really skills. "Hard worker" is not a skill, it's a claim about who you are — better placed in a summary or shown through your work history. "Punctual" is similar. If you want to convey those, find a way to say something more specific.

Outdated skills. Don't list "Internet Explorer" or "Microsoft Office 2003" or "Lotus Notes." Aging skills make a resume look stale. Stick with current tools.

Skills that everyone has. "Email" and "internet" don't belong on a resume in 2026. "Microsoft Word" is borderline — only list it if the job specifically requires it.

Some honest examples

For a warehouse role, a strong skills section might look like:

Forklift certified (sit-down and stand-up) · Pallet jack and hand truck use · RF scanner experience · Order picking and packing · Loading and unloading trucks · OSHA safety standards · Reliable attendance · Team coordination on the floor

For an admin assistant role:

Calendar management for multiple managers · Microsoft Office and Google Workspace · Travel booking and expense reports · Document drafting and proofing · Meeting prep and minute-taking · Discretion with confidential matters · Strong written communication

For a CNA role:

State CNA certification (current) · Activities of daily living (ADL) support · Vital signs and basic charting · Safe transfers and Hoyer lift use · Infection control and PPE · HIPAA and patient privacy · 12-hour shift availability · Compassionate, patient care

Notice what's not there: anything vague, anything that sounds like a personality test, and anything you'd struggle to demonstrate. Each skill is a real, specific claim that someone can verify.

Format the section to be skimmable

The skills section should be easy on the eye. Two strong formats:

The dot-separated line. "Forklift certified · Pallet jack · RF scanner · OSHA safety · Reliable attendance." Compact, scannable, ATS-friendly.

The two-column list. Six to ten short lines arranged in two columns. Also fine, as long as your file isn't formatted as an actual table (the ATS gets confused by tables — see our ATS article for why).

The single-line dot-separated format works in nearly every resume system, on every screen, in every ATS. When in doubt, use that one.

Last thing

Your skills section isn't bragging. It's an honest inventory. Write it like you're telling a friend what you're good at. Then read it back and ask yourself: would I be embarrassed if my last manager saw this list? If yes, edit it. If no, it's ready.