7 Personal Skills That Make Your Resume Stand Out

Ready to throw your hat in the ring for a new job? Sure, you might have the technical skills down, but are you forgetting something? If you want to set yourself apart from the crowd, you need to pull out all of the stops. You can elevate your application by including personal skills on your resume. 

If you’re not quite sure what we mean, you have come to the right place. In the following guide, we will be taking a look at some of the strongest personal skills you can add to your resume. 

What are personal skills?

Personal skills are what give your resume character. Your hard skills let the recruiter know that you can deal with everyday job responsibilities. However, people skills – also known as soft skills or interpersonal skills – allow you to get along with the team and manage yourself well. 

These are the skills that give the hiring manager a clue about your character. 

• How do you operate in the workplace? 

• How do you strive to get along with others? 

• What are your core values? 

If you want to climb the career ladder, you need to make sure that you have this part of your application down. Adding personal skills to your resume could make all the difference.

Why you need personal skills on your resume

Now that you know what personal skills are, let’s take a moment to talk about why they matter. While you don’t want to saturate your next resume with these soft skills, they play a vital role in whether a hiring manager invites you for an interview. As such, here is why you need them: 

Showcase your personality 

First up, personal skills on a resume showcase your personality. You can also hint at your character in the summary and cover letter. However, it’s the addition of these skills that let the hiring manager know how you carry yourself at work. This is all about communicating your value to the reader and showing them that you are the right person for the current opening.

At the end of the day, people hire people. When the hiring manager is reviewing your application, they will have a load of questions about your personality. Many of these will be answered during an interview. But you can do some of the groundwork now by letting your reader know about these personal skills up front to help them understand how you tick. 

Be a well-rounded candidate

When you apply for a role, it’s not just about fulfilling the baseline criteria. Having the right qualifications and skills is one thing. However, hiring managers want more than someone who can do the job. As they review your resume, they will have to consider whether you have all of the talents that you need to succeed. Those include a diverse range of personal skills, too.

Truth be told, this is something of a balancing act. As we have already mentioned, you don’t want to have a skills section that only includes hard skills. Equally, having only personal skills will get you nowhere fast. If you want to pull this off, you need to get the balance just right. 

Gel with the workplace culture 

Are you a fit for this workplace? Blending into a new environment rests on how well you utilize your personal skills. When you first start working somewhere, you will need to harness these powers to get to know other coworkers and find your place in the company. That can be tough if you don’t have certain competencies down, and it can cause the hiring manager to worry. Ease their stress by listing a healthy range of personal skills on your resume.

Fundamentally, this is about making sure that the hiring manager trusts you. Building this foundation now will help you greatly should you move further along the hiring process. Do everything you can to reassure them that you can slot into their company without any issues. 

The top personal skills examples 

Want to pepper your resume with personal skills? Luckily, we have a selection of personal skills on resume examples that you can use for inspiration. While there are many different skills you might choose to include on your resume, you need to whittle it down to the top selection. With that in mind, we will be looking closely at seven of the best personal skills for your resume. 

1. Self-motivation 

Only 15% of workers feel motivated in their current job, according to a Gallup Poll. For that reason, if you can show the hiring manager that you have the ability to self motivate, that is going to be a major bonus. The moment they look at your application, they will know that they don’t have to worry about you in the workplace. Put simply, it says that you are a driven person.

Don’t simply tell the hiring manager that you are motivated; weave this core message through every part of your application. Here are some of the ways in which you can do that: 

• Talk about where you took the lead. When you are writing your work experience section, you should use bullet points to flesh out each role. In these points, you can talk about times when you were self-motivated and took the lead on the situation. 

• Show some enthusiasm. Self-motivated individuals are naturally enthusiastic. These professionals don’t need some external force to keep them moving forward. Instead, they have what it takes to find their own drivers and pursue their own goals. 

• Add some context. Wherever possible, you want to add context to this attribute. What has your self-motivation led to? What results have you gained over time? Adding some results-based points – by using the STAR method – will show you in the best light. 

You can carry this personal skill to your cover letter, too. When you are completing this part of your application, consider talking about what it is that drives you and be specific here.

2. Values

Your ethics and values can set you apart from the competition. In the modern workplace, it has never been more important to have a moral backbone and allow that to pulse through everything that you do. Including these personal skills on your resume will let the hiring manager know that you are more than just a ‘yes person.’ Your values may include the following: 

• Fighting for equality. Equality is a fundamental value. If you can show this is a part of your moral makeup, you will impress the reader. That may mean taking a step back and allowing underrepresented workers to have a voice or standing with them on causes.

• Being a moral person. Are you willing to cut other people down to get where you want to be? The correct answer is no. It’s important to show the reader you are a moral person, concerned with doing the ‘right’ thing whatever the personal cost.

• Having honesty and integrity. These two personal skills are at the base of any working relationship. When you are working as part of a team, you need to make sure that people can trust you and believe in you. Fostering these competencies is the way to go.

Often enough, candidates miss these integral personal skills when they are writing their resumes. Don’t make that mistake. Consider how your values make you a prime candidate.

3. Collaboration 

Collaboration – or teamwork – can be hard. If you have ever worked in a professional setting, you will know that there can be a lot of different personalities and perspectives. It is this division that can make it tricky to all pull toward the same common goal. For that reason, it should come as no surprise that most hiring managers value this personal skill highly. 

Take the time to consider the ways in which you work with other people. 

• What do you bring to the table? 

• What approaches do you take to ease the process along? 

If you are a natural ‘people person,’ you may never have considered these questions. For some individuals, working as part of a team comes as naturally as breathing. However, doing some introspection into how you make this work for you will allow you to better describe the competency on your resume. 

4. Communication 

How do you get your message across? 89% of workers feel that poor communication affects their work in a negative way. The takeaway is simple. If you don’t have excellent communication skills, you will make work harder for yourself and for the rest of your team. Let’s break down the competencies that you need to make sure that you are communicating with others well: 

• Active listening. Rather than merely waiting for the other person to stop speaking so that you can talk, you need to truly listen to them. It’s important to make sure that you understand their point and try your best to see their point of view. 

• Clear communication. Are you making things more complicated than they need to be? When you are communicating with your team, keep things clear, concise, and simple. The last thing you want to do is bamboozle your coworkers with too much information. 

• Reflection and appreciation. Workplace conflict can be a major problem. So, modern-day workers need to do all that they can to reflect on other people’s opinions and appreciate their input. That can be hard, but it changes the way you communicate. 

If you have all of these skills under your belt, you want to include them in your resume. That means showing the hiring manager that you are a pro when it comes to communication. 

5. Creativity 

When we talk about the personal skills you need on your resume, here’s one that we cannot overlook. Creativity helps you in every area of your working life, regardless of your position. Here are some of the ways in which this personal skill can help you to get ahead in work. 

• Problem-solving. Some of the trickiest problems need a creative solution. If you have the power to think outside of the box, you will be able to overcome many obstacles. 

• Production. If you work in a creative field – such as writing or graphic design – creativity will be fundamental to everything you do. You will need to make sure that this is one of the core personal skills on your resume. 

• Innovation. Are you the person who comes up with new ideas? If you happen to have that skill set, you will be wildly attractive to hiring managers. Employers are always looking for staff members who can innovate and drive forward new ideas. 

6. Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is a two-fold personal skill. It means having the ability to manage your emotions and – crucially in the workplace – how you react to things as they happen. However, it also means having the ability to understand other people and the emotions they experience. To do that, you need to develop a strong sense of empathy and a knack for listening.  

7. Time management

How well do you manage your time? Hiring managers will always be on the lookout for these personal skills on your resume. If you can show that you know how to prioritize your workload, organize your time, and get the job done, you are a winner. 

The takeaway 

Having personal skills on your resume is always a savvy move. No matter what job you’re aiming for, these competencies can help you to be more professional and work well with others. Look at the list of personal skills examples we have provided here, and see which ones you have. Including them in your next application could be the secret to your ultimate success. 

Showcase your personal skills and get noticed now! Get your free resume review and find out how to upgrade your application. Land more interviews and get hired faster.

Recommended reading: 

• Communication Skills on a Resume (Examples + Tips)

• The Best 10 Skills to Put on Your Resume

• Interpersonal Skills Can Give You the Competitive Career Advantage You Need