How to Write Personal Skills in Sentences on Your Resume (With Examples)

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Personal skills are an asset in every resume. According to McKinsey, 41% of recruiters look for skills when reviewing incoming resumes. Listing both soft skills and technical competencies will help you prove that you not only are knowledgeable in your subject area, but also can communicate well, work effectively with others, and solve problems.

To persuade the employer that you have strong personal skills, it's not enough to list them in your resume Skills section. It's also essential to phrase personal skills on a resume to showcase how and when you used your relevant personal skills, such as project management, leadership, teamwork, customer service skills, and more.

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1. Communication skills	details...
2. Problem-solving skills	details...
3. Time management skills	details...
4. Adaptability and flexibility	details...
5. Teamwork skills	details...
6. Creativity	details...
7. Leadership skills	details...
8. Emotional intelligence	details...
9. Attention to detail	details...
10. Critical thinking skills	details...

In this guide, we will explain how to write personal skills on resume and how to organize your resume skills section to attract recruiters' attention. Plus, you will find 20+ resume personal skills examples in a sentence to get inspired to describe your skills. Click on the skill name on the table to learn how to showcase personal skills on your resume.

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What are personal skills?

Personal skills (also called soft skills) are qualities that determine your approach to work and how well you interact with others. They are essential to effectively discuss project details with your teammate, calm down the upset client, and build teams based on the synergy principle.

The soft skills for resume examples include:

• communication skills
• leadership skills
• problem-solving skills
• time management
• empathy
• teamwork skills, etc.

Technical skills refer to specific knowledge essential to perform job duties. The difference between soft skills vs technical skills is that hard skills are easy to learn through courses or education, and can be measured using tests or assessments. Speaking about personal or soft skills, you can learn them through specific workplace experiences (such as dealing with a pressing deadline or handling a difficult client), or coaching.

Relevant skills for the job usually include both hard and soft skills: the former prove that you have technical knowledge, whereas the latter demonstrate that you are comfortable to work with and have strong interpersonal skills.

Why are personal skills essential for your resume?

If you open any job posting, you'll find that it mostly focuses on hard skills: technical knowledge, analytical skills, knowledge of software, industry practices, and regulations. However, when picking the best candidate, the hiring manager will also evaluate your personality and workplace behavior to see if you're the right fit. Emphasizing relevant soft skills proves that you not only qualify for the position, but also will match the team on a personal level.

Among the two equally qualified candidates with similar technical expertise, employers are likely to choose someone with better soft skills. In addition to being experienced professionals, people who possess strong personal skills can prioritize tasks effectively, build stronger relationships at work, and foster team dynamics, thus creating a positive work environment for everyone.

Professionals with important personal skills are also getting promoted more often and can get a better salary. So, if you're wondering how to impress employers with your resume: here's the answer: add personal skills for resume in sentence, explaining how you used them at work.

Now, let's look at the specific in-demand personal skills for resume you should use.

Key Personal Skills to Include on Your Resume

Here are the best personal skills to put on resume. They are essential for candidates at all career levels, from fresh grads to C-level managers. From project management skills, strong communication skills, motivational skills, and emotional intelligence - explore why they matter and how to list these top personal skills for resume in a sentence.

1. Communication skills

75% of projects fail due to ineffective communication. People who can convey information effectively, actively listen, and adjust their conversation style to different audiences will thrive in any workplace. Depending on your role, you might want to emphasize verbal or written communication skills, or your ability to negotiate. These skills are crucial for forming relationships, collaborating on projects, and achieving shared goals.

Examples:

• Communicated technical information to non-technical stakeholders to ensure effective project communication.
• Re-negotiated the contract with a new stationery supply vendor, saving 10% on costs annually.
• Developed a new communication guidebook for social media, boosting user engagement by 35%.

2. Problem-solving skills

Solving problems is necessary in every role, from engineering and software development to sales, marketing, and customer service. The problem-solving skill shows your ability identify and analyze problems, develop and implement creative and boost the bottom line for business. If the job description requests handling challenging situations, highlight how you aced similar situations before.

Examples:

• Identified and eliminated a major bug, increasing code efficiency by 25%.
• Implemented a customer loyalty program, helping generate repeat business and increased average check by 12%.
• Identified issues and developed creative solutions in a high-pressure environment.

3. Time management skills

Time management is one of personal skills that is nice to have on entry-level resumes. It shows that you can work effectively, prioritizing the workload and handling distractions professionally. For more senior roles, effective time management assumes that you can delegate tasks, set goals, and make the entire department run smoothly.

Examples:

• Managed three tech projects simultaneously, ensuring meeting project timelines and budget for all of them.
• Reduced time loss in the office by 10% by automating paperwork processing.
• Implemented a new time tracking system for remote staff, resulting in a 18% increase in productivity.

4. Adaptability and flexibility

These personal skills examples mean that you can adjust to changing circumstances, embrace new technologies and processes, and gain new knowledge at work. Listing it on your CV shows that you are open to new ideas, can adapt to new environments (which is super important in tech roles), and foster a positive work environment. Adaptability is most important for marketing, sales, and public relations roles.

Examples:

• Developed marketing strategies for Facebook, X, and Instagram and used new marketing analytics software, resulting in a 20% increase in subscriptions.
• Transitioned to a new project management system, leading to improved efficiency and better reporting.
• Learned new accounting software, resulting in faster processing of accounts receivable and payable.

5. Teamwork skills

A study by Stanford University has shown that teams that work well together are 50% more productive. This is why most employers appreciate teamwork skills. The teamwork skill has many components: it includes your ability to communicate professionally with others, work together on shared goals, and contribute to the team's outcomes. Highlight personal skills related to group work if you work with clients, as a part of a large team, or as a consultant.

Examples:

• Effectively collaborated in a team environment, resulting in exceeding team goals by 10% in 2022.
• Successfully led a team of 7 engineers to complete a complex project on time and within budget.
• Worked effectively as a part of the nursing team, contributing to positive patient outcomes.

6. Creativity

Creativity is essential not only for artists, designers, or writers. This skill indicates that you can generate ideas, think inventively, and find innovative solutions when troubles arise. It also assumes that you can look at conventional ways of doing things differently and offer something innovative and creative. This skill is nice to have for digital marketers, researchers, video game designers, PR managers, and editors.

Examples:

• Conducted market research and launched a creative advertising campaign that increased brand awareness by 20%.
• Designed a new app feature that improved user experience and increased downloads by 15%.

7. Leadership skills

Even if you are not a manager or supervisor, leadership skill is the asset to your resume. Leadership skills demonstrate that you can take the initiative, guide others, and own the project outcomes. Including leadership skills for your resume also means that you are responsible, and have trained or coached junior team members, or improved the team's outcomes.

By displaying those skills on a resume correctly, you will have a higher potential of getting hired for a more senior position.

Examples:

• Led a team of 8 sales associates and trained the newcomers to achieve a 28% increase in sales over 6 months.
• Effectively delegated tasks and provided guidance to subordinates, resulting in the timely completion of a six-figure software development project.
• Successfully led multicultural teams, achieving high employee retention and job satisfaction.

8. Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is one of the important interpersonal skills. It refers to the ability to understand and manage your emotions, show empathy and compassion to others, and recognize their emotions while remaining self-aware. This skill helps you foster positive workplace relationships and ensures effective communication at all levels.

Examples:

• Successfully mediated conflicts in the team, leading to positive resolution and healthy team dynamics.
• Handled customer complaints and difficult situations, resulting in improved satisfaction levels.
• Used emotional awareness to resolve conflicts and foster positive relationships.

9. Attention to detail

Attention to detail is one of the specific skills valued in different industries. It means that you're able to proactively catch mistakes, maintain accuracy, and produce work of excellent quality, be it a drawing, an article, or web application. This skill is essential for professionals whose work assumes analytical and meticulous tasks: data analysts, accountants, programmers, editors, and virtual assistants.

Examples:

• Identified discrepancies in financial reports and suggested corrections, cutting expenses by 15%.
• Analyzed large volumes of data and identified patterns and correlations, providing stakeholders with insights for decision-making.
• Proofread articles for a local newspaper, ensuring 100% accuracy thanks to a strong focus on details.

10. Critical thinking skills

Critical thinking involves analyzing information, evaluating the problem from all sides, and coming up with a logical solution to it. It is connected with problem solving, as you need to analyze something comprehensively to come up with an effective solution. There is a variety of jobs where critical thinking is one of the top skills, including programmers, teachers, lawyers, analysts, and registered nurses.

Examples:

• Identified a flaw in a project plan and developed a revised plan that addressed the issue.
• Evaluated market data and came up with a creative advertising campaign idea that increased sales by 24%.
• Researched and analyzed complex information to help the supervisor make data-driven, effective decisions.

Also read: 10 Personal achievement examples that will take your resume to the next level.

Additional personal skills to enhance your resume

In addition to the popular 10 personal skills for resume listed above here are more soft skills for resume employers will appreciate seeing on your resume:

• Organizational skills
• Effective negotiation
• Decision-making
• Cultural sensitivity
• Dependability
• Service orientation
• Active listening
• Conflict resolution
• Work ethic.

It's hard to define how important personal skills are on your resume. By adding these good personal skills for resume, you can get ahead in your career and get hired faster even if you don't know some particular software program. Adaptability, communication, and your focus on professional development are more important, and top employers understand it.

Let's have a closer look at how to list your soft skills in a sentence to catch the recruiters' attention.

How to Phrase Personal Skills in Sentences on Your Resume (With Examples)

Listing personal skills in a sentence creates context for employers, builds credibility, and shows how your soft skills contributed to the company's results. Here are some tips on how to phrase personal skills on a resume in a sentence:

1. Use power action verbs. Start your resume sentences with powerful verbs to emphasize your skill and show the impact. Words like "responsible for" and "assisted" won't help effectively sell your personal skills. Instead of "responsible for new employee training", try "Developed comprehensive training program that increased onboarding speed by 15%"
2. Use the STAR method. When listing your skills with examples, describe the situation, task you had to achieve, steps you took, and the end result. For example, "Organized a series of teamwork and task management workshops to minimize project delays, resulting in 35% reduction in delay time".
3. Include personal skills in all resume sections. List personal skills in a sentence in your Professional experience and Summary sections to give a broader picture of your professional strengths.

Now, let's look at specific personal skills examples in a sentence:

1. Communication: "Communicated complex technical information to non-technical stakeholders to ensure 100% project alignment."
2. Problem solving: "Troubleshooted a critical system issue which resulted in minimizing downtime by 24% and saved about $9,000 in lost revenue."
3. Leadership: "Managed a team in the development of a new well-being mobile app, achieving the project delivery on time and saving 15% of the initial budget."
4. Time management: "Managed 4 projects simultaneously, consistently meeting deadline with a 96% timely delivery rate."
5. Critical thinking: "Analyzed customer data, identifying the top 10% of loyal clients and adjusting the marketing plan to target them, which resulted in a 15% sales increase over six months".
6. Conflict resolution: "Mediated conflicts between team members and developed a mediation strategy that reduced interpersonal conflicts by 25%."
7. Customer service: "Displayed excellent customer service skills by resolving 10+ complaints daily with a 97% success rate."
8. Attention to detail: "Maintain the exceptional level of accuracy, reducing input errors by 30% and ensuring integrity in financial records."

These ready-to-use personal skills sentences display the key traits that hiring managers look for in employees.

How To List Personal Skills on Your Resume

If you still have questions about how to list personal skills on resume so that they increase your chances of landing an interview, here are some extra recommendations:

Read the job description carefully to identify key skills

Before you put any specific skills on a resume, take the time to understand the employer's demands. Read the job posting and try to get a sense of the personality type they'd like to have on board. Learn more about the company culture to know what personal qualities to emphasize.

Next, highlight the relevant keywords for transferable skills. Here are some examples of personal skills you might find in job postings:

• strong problem-solving skills
• ability to work independently
• detail-driven individual.

Try to use the keywords in your resume naturally. It will help you pass the automated screening and increase your chances for an interview.

Use action verbs and quantify your impact

Simply stating that you have leadership skills is not enough. You need to show your impact using numbers. Thus, you will achieve better results in your job search.

Instead of saying "Led a marketing team", write "Coordinated a team of 4 to launch a social media campaign that increased brand recognition by 35% and sales by 20%". It will show your ability to manage a team that brings results.

Use powerful resume language. Words like orchestrated, initiated, developed, skyrocketed, and achieved will help you sound more assertive and persuasive, which is exactly what you need to sell your skills better.

Include personal skills in all resume sections

Describing your transferable skills and technical proficiencies as a bulleted list will surely catch the eye of the recruiter. You might also want to use those skills in other resume sections for a better impact:

• Your Career Summary: Emphasize the most important skills at the top of the resume where employers will instantly see them. Focus on 1-2 personal skills that matter most to your potential employers. Say, if they look for someone creative and innovative, mention this skill or a relevant achievement in your Summary section.
• Your Experience section: Speak through examples, capitalizing on both personal and technical skills. Give numbers, percentages, and context so they can better access your personality and approach to work.
• Your Training/Certifications section: If you completed online courses, training, or certification programs, mention specific skills you've acquired. Lifelong learning always makes a great impression, so do not miss a chance to boast your skills.

How To Improve Your Personal Skills

Developing your soft and technical skills will help you become a more in-demand professional and expand your career prospects. But what do you do if you've read the dream job description and discovered that some important skills are missing? Here are the specific ways of how to develop personal skills for resume quickly:

1. Take online courses with certifications. Such platforms as Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, and Udemy offer online courses in every field of knowledge, including soft skills. You can take courses in leadership, business communication, conflict resolution, and time management. Many courses offer certifications, providing tangible proof of your newfound knowledge.
2. Attend workshops and webinars. Attending industry-specific workshops can help you develop specific soft skills in your industry. Some of them are free of charge and provide valuable insights that can be directly applied to your work.
3. Sign up for on-the-job training. Seek opportunities for professional growth within your current role. Try taking on a new project, shadowing colleagues, or finding a coach - it can provide you with learning experiences and expand your skillset.
4. Listen to books and podcasts in your free time. Although soft skills are best acquired in real-world situations, listening to educational podcasts and reading books is a great way to stay informed. You can learn about new behavioral strategies and approaches, and then put new skills into practice.

These are the most common ways to build your soft and hard skills and become more competitive on the job market.

Personal Skills Examples for Different Job Types

Specific examples of personal skills for job-seekers to list on your resume depend on your industry, position, and job seniority. Here are some skill examples for different industries.

Sales and customer service positions

Customer-facing positions require a positive attitude and great communication skills. As a sales pro, you will articulate product benefits, understand customer needs, and resolve issues. It takes great active listening skills, empathy, persuasion skills, and the ability to resolve customer problems and offer effective solution.

Leadership roles

Leaders and managers must show their ability to guide, influence, inspire, and organize others. To do that effectively, you need a diverse set of skills. First, emphasize your decision-making and delegating abilities to show that you can take charge of the success of the project, manage the workload, and orchestrate the processes. Secondly, show that you can inspire and guide others towards the completion of shared goals. Finally, focus on conflict resolution abilities - it requires emotional intelligence and the ability to listen to others.

Creative and technical roles

Positions in digital marketing, software development, design, and arts require a great deal of creative thinking, but also the ability to manage your time and workload, prioritize tasks, and critical thinking skills. Be sure to emphasize attention to detail, meticulousness, and the ability to find unique solutions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)