Discover how to identify and highlight key resume strengths with this guide. I’ll show you how to tailor resume strengths to job applications and highlight them on your resume.
Resume strengths are often used as a synonym for skills. But is this fair? Are they one and the same?
Your skills are what you’ve learned, what you can do, and your proficiencies. Meanwhile, the resume's strengths go beyond that. They’re natural to you, like an extension of your skills. And your resume strengths are vital assets that deserve a place in different sections of your resume.
With this article, I’ll show you:
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Resume strengths refer to the personal qualities and attributes that make you a strong candidate for the job. The right resume strengths highlight your unique value to employers. To pick the best key strengths, focus on those that align with the role and showcase your best abilities.
The key strengths of a resume change with each job application. That’s because each employer is looking for different qualities for different positions. This is why you’ll target your resume strengths for every job application.
Here’s a list of strengths for resume employers want to see in their candidates:
Leadership skills enable you to guide and motivate a team toward achieving goals. This key resume strength shows your ability to inspire others, make strategic decisions, and handle challenges effectively.
Writing skills allow you to communicate clearly and effectively in written form. This is crucial for creating reports, emails, proposals, and other documents that require precision and clarity.
Presenting skills involve effectively conveying information to an audience. This strength demonstrates your ability to engage listeners, convey your message clearly, and use visual aids to support your points.
Organizational skills help you manage tasks and time efficiently. They ensure that projects are completed on time, resources are used effectively, and priorities are managed appropriately.
Creative thinking involves generating innovative ideas and solutions. This resume strength is essential for problem-solving, product development, and finding new ways to improve processes.
Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information objectively and make reasoned judgments. This good resume strength helps you evaluate complex situations and make decisions based on logic and evidence.
Communication skills enable you to convey information clearly and effectively, both verbally and in writing. This strength for a resume is vital for collaboration, negotiations, and building relationships.
Strategic planning involves setting long-term goals and determining the best way to achieve them. This shows your ability to foresee challenges, allocate resources, and guide an organization toward its objectives.
Teamwork skills demonstrate your ability to work well with others to achieve a common goal. The ability to work in a team is crucial for collaborative projects and maintaining a harmonious work environment.
Interpersonal skills are your ability to interact effectively with others. This strength helps you build relationships, resolve conflicts, and create a positive work atmosphere.
Problem-solving skills enable you to identify issues and find effective solutions. This resume strength shows your ability to handle unexpected challenges and improve processes.
Decision-making skills involve choosing the best course of action among several alternatives. This key strength for a resume is critical for leadership roles and managing projects effectively.
Marketing skills involve promoting products or services to target audiences. It helps organizations increase brand awareness, attract customers, and drive sales.
Time management skills help you prioritize tasks and manage your time efficiently. It ensures productivity and helps you meet deadlines consistently.
Adaptability is the ability to adjust to new conditions and changes. This resume strength is vital in dynamic work environments where flexibility and quick learning are essential.
Logical thinking involves reasoning clearly and systematically to solve problems. This strength helps you make sound decisions based on facts and data.
Creativity is the ability to think outside the box and generate original ideas. This strength for a resume is essential for innovation, design, and developing unique solutions.
Attention to detail ensures that work is completed accurately and thoroughly. It’s important for quality control, proofreading, and meticulous project execution.
Flexibility is the willingness to adapt to new situations and challenges. It’s a key resume strength that helps you handle multiple tasks, switch priorities, and maintain productivity under changing conditions.
Management skills involve overseeing and coordinating resources, projects, and people. This strength is crucial for ensuring that organizational goals are met efficiently and effectively.
Technical skills are the specific knowledge and abilities required to perform tasks related to technology and specialized fields. They are essential for roles in IT, engineering, and other technical disciplines.
Negotiation skills enable you to reach mutually beneficial agreements. This strength is important for resolving conflicts, securing deals, and maintaining positive professional relationships.
Customer service skills involve meeting the needs of customers and ensuring their satisfaction. This resume strength helps organizations build loyal customer bases and improve their reputation.
Research skills involve gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data. They are essential for making informed decisions, developing strategies, and contributing to knowledge in your field.
Conceptual skills are the ability to understand complex ideas and develop strategic plans. This is crucial for leadership roles and driving innovation within an organization.
Data analysis skills involve interpreting and drawing conclusions from data. This resume strength helps organizations make data-driven decisions and uncover insights that drive performance.
Mentoring skills involve guiding and supporting others in their professional development. This strength is important for fostering talent, building a positive work culture, and enhancing team performance.
As you can tell, the resume strengths I listed are technically resume skills. The difference is—your strengths show naturally. Recruiters are always looking for candidates who show desired strengths on their resumes.
Expert Hint: You may have noticed a parallel between resume keywords and strengths. That's because the strengths you list on a resume are also keywords sought after by your employer. Proper use of them is vital when building an ATS-friendly resume.
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Nail it all with a splash of color, choose a clean font, and highlight your skills in just a few clicks. You're the perfect candidate, and we'll prove it. Use our resume builder now.
Nail it all with a splash of color, choose a clean font, and highlight your skills in just a few clicks. You're the perfect candidate, and we'll prove it. Use our resume builder now.
It’s simple. Follow these steps, and you’ll surely find success:
It goes without saying—resumes with well-developed sections are looked upon more favorably than those with lower levels of education, experience, etc.
Let’s look at the sample below to visualize the use of strengths on a resume.
Summary
Creative and detail-oriented marketing manager with 7+ years of experience driving teams to substantial revenue growth. Seeking to increase ROI for clients at L.I.T. Marketing through expert sales management and negotiations. Led 3 teams of 25 marketing associates at Diamant, raising revenue of $15M for one client.
The resume introduction is the first section that is read, so it needs to show your best resume strengths. The example above emphasizes leadership by mentioning it twice.
It also starts with two resume action words that are key strengths of the candidate. The added accomplishment also presents valuable resume strengths in sales management and negotiating.
Experience
Marketing Manager
Diamant Inc., Toledo, OH
June 2017–November 2022
Marketing Associate
Rising Bull Marketing, Toledo, OH
January 2014–June 2017
The bulk of your important key strengths for a resume should be included in your work experience section. Here, you need to prove both your hard skills and soft skills by showcasing them as your key resume strengths.
Notice how in most of the bullet points above, the resume strength comes as the first thing in the sentence. This ensures it gets noticed immediately.
Education
MBA in Marketing
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH
March 2011–August 2013
The education section is more than just a list of schools you graduated from. You can add bonus information to showcase key strengths on a resume you had prior to gaining work experience.
Skills
This section is self-explanatory. List all the valuable resume strengths that you want to emphasize. Focus especially on those that you couldn’t fit into other sections of your resume.
Memberships
What you do outside of work or school matters, as these extracurricular activities can prove the strengths you put on a resume. In this example, mentoring proves leadership, teamwork, communication, and more.
I highlighted the many strengths and skills for the resume this candidate presented. Imagine how bland his resume would be without them. You can also see in practice how to implement your strengths throughout the entirety of your job application resume.
These rules, combined with a clean resume layout, readable resume font, and other aspects that improve the look of your application, will positively impact your recruiter’s decision.
Expert Hint: Just because they are called “resume strengths” doesn’t mean they should only be included on your resume. Learn how to write a cover letter and sprinkle these strengths all throughout it. They will greatly improve its impact.
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Here’s what you need to remember about strengths on a resume:
Do you have any questions about resume strengths? Do you want to share a particular essential strength for a resume? Or do you have questions about incorporating specific resume strengths into your application? Please write a comment below. I’ll be happy to help!
Mariusz is a career expert with a background in quality control & economics. With work experience in FinTech and a passion for self-development, Mariusz brings a unique perspective to his role. He’s dedicated to providing the most effective advice on resume and cover letter writing techniques to help his readers secure the jobs of their dreams.
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