Free tool
The skills employers expect, by job title
The skills section is the most-skimmed part of a resume and the most commonly wasted. Generic entries — "communication", "teamwork", "hard-working" — take space and tell a reviewer nothing, because every applicant claims them and none of them are verifiable.
What belongs there are the concrete things: the tools you use, the technical competencies your field names, and the certifications that gate hiring. This tool shows what employers actually list for a given role, drawn from the same data as our role guides.
Software Engineer
Technology
Core skills a human reviewer expects
Literal terms an ATS matches on
Tools and technologies
How to use the result
Group them by category
Languages, tools, methods, certifications — grouped skills are scanned far faster than a single comma-separated paragraph, and grouping also stops you padding the list to fill a line.
Only list what you would be interviewed on
Everything in this section is fair game for questions. A shorter list you can defend beats a long one you cannot.
Match the posting's exact wording
Applicant tracking systems match literal strings. If the posting says "PostgreSQL", write PostgreSQL rather than Postgres or "relational databases".
Drop the soft skills
Move them into your bullets where they can be evidenced. "Communication" as a listed skill is noise; "presented findings to a steering committee of six executives" is communication demonstrated.
Frequently asked questions
How many skills should I list?
Eight to fifteen, grouped by category. Beyond that a reviewer reads the list as padding, and each additional item dilutes the ones that matter.
Should I include soft skills on my resume?
Not as a list. Demonstrate them in your experience bullets instead — a claimed soft skill is unverifiable, a demonstrated one is evidence.
Where should the skills section go?
For technical roles, directly under your contact details — recruiters filter on stack first. For most other roles, below your experience, since your work history is the stronger argument.
Role-specific guides
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