Hard Skills for Resume: A Comprehensive Guide w/ Examples

Hard and soft skills are both important in resume writing if you want to stand out in today's job market. However, if you have a specific career path in mind and you want to hone the technical abilities required, you must focus on your hard skills list.

Considered valuable skills in specialized industries, hard skills can elevate a candidate's job hunt once he knows what competencies to lean on and how to highlight them in the resume. This article will guide you through the top hard skills in 2025, examples of a hard skills list for a resume, and how to showcase them.

What are hard skills in a resume?

Hard skills are competencies and knowledge applicable to specific jobs or industries. They are gained through training programs, certifications, and hands-on experience. For example, a civil engineer's hard skills include technical expertise in design software and structural analysis.

Hard skills differ from soft skills. Unlike soft skills like communication and time management, which are more general and applicable to broader job ranges, hard skills are job-specific abilities that are both technical and measurable.

Hard skills for resume are important since they show employers that a job seeker is qualified in job-specific skills, technical knowledge, and industry-recognized credentials. These skills are especially required in industries that require practical proficiency like IT, engineering, healthcare, finance, and construction.

Hard skills list in 2025

Although hard skills are specific to certain jobs, they have a wide array of categories and variations to choose from depending on their relevance to your industry. Here is a list of hard skills to put on resume:

1. Data and analytical skills
   These skills are for fields like research and data science, helping professionals analyze data and trends to drive success in businesses and organizations. Here are its hard skills examples:
   • Data analysis
   • Data mining
   • Predictive analysis
   • Deep learning
   • Regression analysis
   • Statistical analysis
   • Statistical software
   • Data visualization
   • Google analytics
   • Advanced excel
2. IT and Technical skills
   These skills are usually required in software development, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence industries to establish, support, and protect digital frameworks. Here are its hard skills examples:
   • Programming languages (Java, Python, C++)
   • Cloud computing skills (Google Cloud, Azure, AWS)
   • Web development (HTML/CSS, JavaScript)
   • Scripting languages
   • Database design and management (Oracle, SQL)
   • Application programming interfaces
   • Network security
   • Technical support and troubleshooting
   • Debugging
   • Algorithm design
3. Marketing and sales skills
   These skills enable marketing and sales industries to efficiently improve their visibility, generate leads and clients, and finalize deals. Here are examples of sales and marketing hard skills:
   • Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Power Suite
   • Search engine marketing
   • Content management systems
   • Google workspace
   • CRM tools (Salesforce, Dock)
   • Email marketing platforms
   • A/B testing
   • Inbound marketing software
   • Affiliate marketing software
   • Content strategy
4. Hard communication skills
   While communication and language skills can be soft, applying them in specific job tasks that require basic or specialized knowledge makes up for a hard skill. Here are its hard skills examples:
   • Academic writing skills
   • Copywriting
   • Editing and proofreading
   • Proposal writing
   • Press release writing
   • Grant writing
   • Research and reporting
   • Technical report writing
   • Blog writing
   • Foreign languages
5. Leadership and management skills
   These skills help team and project leaders become efficient through process knowledge, expertise in operations, and planning tools. Here are the examples of its hard skills:
   • Agile methodologies
   • Risk management
   • Process improvement
   • Microsoft Project
   • Project management skills
   • Contract management
   • Budgeting and scheduling
   • Performance metrics analysis
   • HR data analysis
   • Change management
6. Creative and design skills
   Creativity needs technical expertise to organize ideas into multiple media and formats and create polished visual materials. Here are the examples of relevant skills in this field:
   • Photo editing skills
   • Adobe proficiency
   • Technical drawing
   • Video editing
   • Presentation design and delivery
   • Content creation
   • Prototype design
   • Typography
   • UI and UX design
   • AP style
7. Software-related skills
   These skills are important for navigating tools, programs, and applications for efficient workflow, communication, and project management. Here are its hard skills:
   • Customer relationship management (CRM) software
   • Accounting software
   • Social media platforms
   • Video and remote meeting software
   • Microsoft excel, Outlook, Teams, Word, PowerPoint
   • Google workspace (Drive, Docs, Slides, Forms)
   • Data software (Looker, Tableau)
   • CMSs (WordPress, Squarespace)
   • Learning management systems (Canvas, Google Classroom)
   • Project management and collaboration software

Example of hard skills for resume

Here is an example of how to properly put a hard skills list in your resume:

Software Developer

[Name]
[Contant Number]
[Email Address]

Profile
A software developer with five years of experience in leading project teams across the globe, launching new products, and specializing in Python, cloud computing, and database management systems.

Professional Experience
Software Developer, Company A, San Jose, CA
February 16, 2020 - Present
Implemented cloud-based technology using [Insert Tools] which enhanced employee information system and resolved recurring accessibility issues by 95%.
Led a team of 10 developers to maintain systems of over 30 clients using the Agile methodology.

Key Skills

• Python, JavaScript, C, C++
• Agile Methodology
• Software Development Lifecycle
• Cloud Computing
• Web Development

Certifications

• AWS Certified Developer - Associate
• Oracle Java SE

Education

Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering

How to showcase hard skills on a resume

Here are some tips on how to incorporate hard skills on your resume and stand out among other candidates:

• Focus on the top skills: Avoid listing all the hard skills and highlight the ones that are relevant to the position and industry you are applying to. This gives a concise resume that attracts hiring managers.
• Match skills with job descriptions: Ensure that your hard skills are aligned with the posted job ads. Modify resumes for each job search to create a strong point on the value of your competencies for the company.
• Present results of skills: Give specific numbers, figures, and facts that can back up your skills and expertise. This includes measurable data and achievements from previous companies. This gives potential employers an idea of how you perform using your hard skills.

Hard skills are earned through consistent training, experience, and education. It is only right that these competencies are well-compensated. To make sure that your hard skills are paid appropriately, use tools like Personal Salary Report to generate data-backed compensation that matches your job, company, experience, and skills.