Resume Writing Tip: Stop Filling Your Resume With Soft And Generic Skills!

As a Certified Professional Resume Writer for nearly 15 years, I have seen it all. You name it, I’ve seen it. I’ve likely seen it more than once! One thing that I see CONSTANTLY is an overdose of soft skills being mentioned on resumes. I normally replace these soft skills with more industry-specific skills that are highly relevant to the client’s target jobs. I would estimate that 99.9% of my clients are perfectly OK with this, however, from time to time, I come across clients that are convinced that they need to include more generic skills on their resume.

Recently, I created a resume for a marketing professional. The client loved her resume, overall, but was concerned that I did not include some soft skills on her resume. In particular, she was disappointed that I did not list “Active Listening” as an “Area of Expertise.” Yes, active listening is important and should not be taken for granted; however, when it comes to your resume, this “skill” does not set you apart from others, as it is a trait that virtually ANYBODY can write down. You only have one or two pages to “wow” a potential employer. If you use some of that valuable space on your document to list things like “active listening,” then you are selling yourself short. You need to focus on concrete and quantitative facts, credentials, and highlights.

If you write a great resume, then your active listening skills will be displayed during your JOB INTERVIEW!

As you can probably guess, there are plenty of other soft skills/traits that you want to avoid, some of which include the following:

-Detail-Oriented
-Hard-Working
-Organized
-Trustworthy
-Enthusiastic

Yes, the above traits are all valuable, but again, let’s not focus on showcasing characteristics that millions of other people can also write on their resumes.

One of the few exceptions to this rule would be a recent high school graduate with no work experience and no college courses completed. When I assist a client with little experience, I will definitely be more willing to use more soft and generic skills simply due to the fact that there is not much else to work from at that moment.

If you are not somebody with zero work experience and zero college credentials, then shorten that list of “fluff” skills right away!

​Author: Brian Munger, owner of Resume Phenom LLC: WWW.RESUMEPHENOM.COM