CV skills: what to list, how many, and a ready list by profession

September 30, 20264 min read

The skills section is the part of a CV that screening software reads most literally, and the part applicants care for least: a long list of generic traits copied from the internet. Here is how to choose your skills, where to put them, and a ready list for eleven professions to start from.

Hard skills and soft skills — the difference

A hard skill is measurable knowledge or a tool: Excel, SAP, AutoCAD, dispensing, preparing tax returns. A soft skill is how you work: communication, problem-solving, working under pressure.

Screening software matches hard skills word for word against the posting; soft skills in a list convince nobody. "Excellent communicator" is on every CV; "presented a weekly report to senior management" is evidence only someone who did it can write.

Hard skills go in the list; soft skills are proven in your experience.

How many, and in what form?

Six to ten, ordered by importance to the job you're applying for, not by preference. Each two to five words — a clear name, not a sentence.

No bars, stars or percentages: what does "Excel 80%" mean? The reader can't tell and the software can't read it.
No repetition: "Excel", "Microsoft Office" and "computer skills" say the same thing three times.
Use the posting's wording: if it says "CRM", write "CRM" — or both the acronym and the full name.

How to choose: start from the posting

The right list isn't written once for every job. Four steps, a few minutes per application:

Copy the posting and mark every tool or area of knowledge it names.
Keep the ones you genuinely have and can talk about at interview.
Write them in the posting's own wording, then add your strongest others up to six or ten.
Put the two most important in your summary too — the summary and skills are matched first.

Skills by profession

A starting point, not a final list. Remove what you can't do and add your employer's tools by name:

Accounting: financial statements, VAT and tax returns, bank reconciliations, e-invoicing, SAP or Oracle, advanced Excel, IFRS.
Nursing: patient assessment, medication and IV administration, wound care, CPR, electronic medical records, infection control.
Sales: negotiation and closing, account management, new business development, CRM, target achievement, presentations.
Software development: JavaScript or TypeScript, React, Node.js, SQL databases, Git, REST APIs, automated testing.
Teaching: lesson planning, active learning, classroom management, assessment design, the Madrasati platform, differentiated instruction.
Customer service: complaint resolution, ticketing systems, phone communication, customer retention, satisfaction metrics, shift work.
Human resources: recruitment and interviewing, Saudi labour law, Qiwa, Mudad and GOSI, payroll, performance appraisal, Saudisation and Nitaqat.
Digital marketing: paid ads, SEO, Google Analytics, content management, email marketing, data-driven decisions.
Administration: correspondence and filing, meetings and calendars, Microsoft Office, government e-services, front desk.
Warehousing: cycle counts, receiving and dispatch, warehouse management systems (WMS), forklift operation, stock layout, invoice matching.
Civil engineering: site supervision, reading drawings, AutoCAD, Primavera P6, quantity take-off, quality control, the Saudi Building Code.

Each of these professions has a full CV example on the site — skills, summary and experience lines — that you can start from directly in the editor.

The most wanted soft skills — and how to prove them

Soft skills do matter, but they belong in your experience lines, not the skills list. Prove each with a sentence from your work:

Communication: "Presented the department's monthly results to management."
Problem-solving: "Found the cause of recurring shipment delays and cut them by 30%."
Working under pressure: "Handled 70+ calls a day at a 4.8/5 satisfaction score."
Leadership: "Led a team of eight through peak season."
Time management: "Delivered 12 projects on schedule in a year."
Quick learning: "Completed a Power BI certificate while working and applied it to the team's reports."

Skills to leave off

Some skills take up space in the list and lower its value:

What everyone is assumed to have: "internet", "email", "Microsoft Word" — unless the posting asks for it.
Traits without content: "ambitious", "hard-working", "team player".
Anything you can't defend: it will be the first interview question.
Hobbies dressed as skills: "reading and travel" belong under interests, if anywhere.

Languages: a section of their own

List languages in their own section, not among the skills, with a level people understand: "Arabic — native", "English — advanced". If you have a recognised test, give the score: "IELTS 7.0" is clearer than any description.

Six to ten hard skills, named as in the posting and ordered by importance to the job. Soft skills move from the list into your experience lines, where they're believed. Change the list for each application — it's the fastest edit that raises how well your CV matches the posting.