Skills
Best Resume Skills To Include In 2026
The technical and soft skills employers prioritize in 2026 — plus how to back each one with evidence so the skills section earns its space.
Employers continue to prioritize both technical skills and soft skills when evaluating candidates. The strongest resumes contain a balanced combination of both — and back each one with evidence somewhere in the document.
Top technical skills for 2026
- Microsoft Office (Excel especially — pivot tables, VLOOKUP, formulas)
- Data Analysis (SQL, Tableau, Power BI, Looker)
- Project Management (Jira, Asana, Monday)
- Customer Relationship Management (Salesforce, HubSpot)
- Artificial Intelligence tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot)
- Cybersecurity awareness
- Cloud computing (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Digital marketing (GA4, SEO, paid social)
- Inventory management & WMS
- Scheduling software (Kronos, Deputy)
- Technical support and ticketing systems
- Accounting software (QuickBooks, NetSuite, Xero)
- Google Workspace
Top soft skills for 2026
- Communication
- Problem solving
- Leadership
- Time management
- Adaptability
- Critical thinking
- Teamwork
- Customer service
- Conflict resolution
- Organization
- Attention to detail
- Decision making
How to pick from these lists
Review each job description and identify the specific skills employers are requesting. Mirror those terms in your skills section, then back them up with evidence inside your experience bullets.
Skills alone aren't enough
Employers want evidence. Whenever possible, support each top-tier skill with a measurable accomplishment that uses it. A skill in isolation is a claim; a skill paired with a number is a credential.
Weak — Soft skill
Strong communication skills.
Strong — Soft skill
Led weekly stand-ups for a 9-person team and rewrote the customer escalation playbook adopted across 3 departments.
Frequently asked
- How many skills should I list?
- 10–14 in the main block. More than 20 dilutes the strong ones.
- Where do I prove the soft skills?
- Inside the experience bullets — never in the skills block alone. Soft skills without examples read as filler.
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