When you’re working on your resume, you often focus on your technical skills, education and past experiences. While these are essential to showcase your background and ability to perform in a specific role, hiring managers are also looking for soft skills you may possess.

Soft skills are intangible qualities that showcase how you collaborate, solve problems, make decisions and manage your time. These skills shape how you will adapt to challenges and determine if you are a good cultural fit for the company.

Your resume should showcase your soft skills in a way that will resonate with hiring managers, indicating that you are the right fit for the role and the company. 

Soft Skills to Identify for Your Resume 

Take time to think about what soft skills you have that are most valuable for the role to which you are applying. In-demand soft skills could vary by industry and job function, but they are transferable and are an advantage to almost all roles. Here are some important ones to consider adding to your resume: 

• Communication: Can you communicate clearly and work well with colleagues and clients? 
• Teamwork and Collaboration: Can you work well with others to achieve goals? 
• Adaptability: How well can you handle change and challenges that may arise? 
• Leadership: Are you able to inspire and motivate others on your team? 
• Problem Solving: Are you solution-oriented? 
• Time Management: Can you organize your tasks and priorities efficiently? 
• Emotional Intelligence: How well can you manage emotions when navigating complex social dynamics in the workplace? 

Incorporating Soft Skills into Your Resume 

Soft skills should be woven naturally throughout your resume. Here are some ideas.

1. Have a powerful summary statement

Include a short paragraph introducing your experience with your strongest soft skills. Instead of just your job title, add something like, ‘Dynamic marketing specialist with a passion for storytelling and a track record of building strong cross-functional teams. Skilled at fostering client relationships, adapting to market trends, and driving innovative campaigns that resonate with target audiences.’ 

Not only are you talking about your background and your job title, but you are also showcasing skills like collaboration, communication and adaptability. 

2. Apply your soft skills to your work experience

You will need to show hiring managers how you have used your soft skills in your previous roles. Try to describe situations where you have found a solution to help grow an account or improve collaboration. Use metrics or quantify your explanations when possible. This is the best way to subtly showcase your soft skills as you talk about your accomplishments.

3. Highlight soft skills in your ‘key skills’ section

When you list your technical skills, mix in soft skills as well. For example, your skills section could look like: 

Digital Marketing | Storytelling | Cross-Team Collaboration 

4. Use action-oriented language

Action words will catch hiring managers’ attention, so use strong verbs to demonstrate your soft skills effectively. Use words like “collaborated, resolved, mentored, adapted” or others that will showcase how your soft skills can benefit the company. 

5. Leverage your cover letter

To supplement your resume, your cover letter will allow you to shine even further regarding your soft skills. Make sure to use real-life examples of how your soft skills have driven success in your team.  

Additional Tips 

Stay authentic and don’t force soft skills where they don’t fit. Make sure to use metrics when possible as hiring managers like to see numbers. Formatting is important, so you want to pay attention to structure, bullet points, concise descriptions and readability.

Additionally, a one-size-fits-all resume doesn’t work as well as you think it does. Take the time to tailor each resume for the role to which you are applying.