Highlighting communication skills on your resume

The importance of communication skills on your resume

Communication has so many benefits in the workplace. Without good communication skills, employees would find it impossible to collaborate with each other on projects. 

You need great communication skills to convey the right information to others clearly and concisely. Doing so not only helps you get your tasks done on time but also enables others to stay productive and meet deadlines since they won’t have to spend extra time clarifying instructions.

Additionally, good communication skills help employees better manage workloads. It helps managers better communicate roles and responsibilities to employees so they can get to work right away. Clear communication can reduce resource waste on unproductive tasks that don’t move the department or the company forward.

Finally, employees with communication skills can often achieve better work-life balance. This is because good communication can ease stress and burnout, so employees will be better equipped to relax both when they’re working and when they’re away from the job.

Which communication skills should you highlight?

When clarifying communication skills, resumes can absolutely benefit from good grammar and appropriate use of industry terms. However, these things don’t represent the totality of good communication. There are other things you need to highlight when tweaking your resume and cover letter examples to apply to a new position.

Active listening

Employers don’t only want to know how well you speak. They also need to see how well you can listen. Active listening skills ensure you can pay close attention to and understand what another person is saying. This makes others feel heard and valued and reduces misunderstandings in the workplace.

Giving feedback

Giving good feedback involves being able to analyze a situation, pick out specific examples to make your point, and deliver information and actionable insights in a way that is positive, engaging, and encouraging. This helps managers improve employee performance and increases the effectiveness of collaboration between co-workers.

Responsiveness

Ensuring timely responses to requests shows that you value your team’s time and productivity. Responding appropriately to communication shows that you have good soft office skills like poise and politeness. 

Tone

Your tone can convey a lot of emotions, including anger, frustration, enthusiasm, empathy, and respect. Using the right tone can enhance your interpersonal skills, ensure the other person receives and understands your message, and affect how people (including co-workers and customers) perceive you. 

Nonverbal communication

Nonverbal communication describes how a person conveys feelings and information without words. This can refer to your body language, facial expressions, posture, gestures, and eye contact (or lack thereof). 

This is yet another skill you can use to your advantage in an interview, as your nonverbal communication can enhance and reveal feelings of confidence and enthusiasm.

Incorporating communication skills in resume (with examples) 

How do you show communication skills on a resume? Fortunately, there are many ways to show communication skills in your resume. 

You have a few options when it comes to placement within your resume. One option is to simply list them in the skills section. You can add communication skills right alongside your other technical and soft skills. Here is an example of how an applicant might accomplish this:

Technical Skills:

• Intuit Quickbooks
• GAAP principles
• Raw data analysis
• Budget forecasting

Soft Skills:

• Active listening
• Problem-solving
• Critical thinking
• Time management

If you’re using a reverse chronological, functional, or hybrid resume format, you may also wish to show off your communication skills within each job description. You can do this by simply including information about these skills in your job description. Here’s an example of how an applicant might do this:

In these examples, it’s important to note that your word choices should center on communication skills. Resumes with words like “coached” and “facilitated” convey that your job responsibilities routinely included communicating with others.

One other option for showing off your communication skills is to add them to the summary section of your resume:

Professional Summary:

While most cover letter templates will include a section for you to write about your skills, this is a great way to incorporate that information into your resume as well.

Tailor communication skills for different applications 

When it comes to conveying communication skills, resumes should be tailored to the job you’re applying for. One way to achieve this is to read through the job description to find communication-related keywords that show what the hiring manager is looking for in an applicant. Then, find a way to incorporate those in your skills or job description sections.

If those keywords are unclear or not present, consider the industry in which you’re applying for a job. Look at resume examples to see if you can pick up on keywords that job seekers throughout your sector are using. 

Additionally, consider the nature of the job and which skills you might need to be successful. For example, someone applying for a corporate trainer position may need to showcase presentation and teaching skills.

Showcasing projects and achievements related to communication 

Whether you choose to use a dedicated project section or include this information in the bullet points under your job descriptions, you don’t have to use precious cover letter space to showcase projects and achievements that demonstrate your communication skills. Here are some tips for incorporating this information into your resume:

• Showcasing leadership skills by telling how many people you supervised or collaborated with during the project
• Describing how information flowed between stakeholders (such as how you communicated with vendors and customers)
• Showing how you incorporated customer or supervisor feedback into your work
• Explaining how you negotiated the terms of the project
• Describing the outcome of each project to help the hiring manager see the impact your communication skills had on the final result

When describing situations that display your communication skills, it’s important to use clear language and demonstrate concrete actions you took to achieve a specific result. 

For example, you might write about how you negotiated a contract with a vendor to help your team and customer save 30% on the project budget or show how you taught a co-worker a new skill that increased efficiency and productivity by 80%.

"Without good communication skills, employees would find it impossible to collaborate with each other on projects."

Show off your communication skills to help your resume stand out

According to a recent LinkedIn survey, it isn’t time management skills that employers want most. Communication is the number one in-demand skill that employers want to see in applicants. (1) 

When it comes to showing off communication skills, resumes give applicants a variety of options. For example, you can opt to showcase these skills in a dedicated projects section or casually incorporate them into your job descriptions or skills list. 

Whatever you choose, make sure your language is specific, focusing on high-powered action words and quantifiable achievements. This will make it clear to employers that you not only have great communication skills but that those skills produce replicable results.

If you need help developing your resume, Jobseeker has you covered. With plenty of informative resume articles and ready-to-go templates, we can help you craft an application package that hiring managers will love. With a little self-reflection and the right resources, you can show off your skills to stand out and land the job you truly want.

References:

(1) LinkedIn Learning Blog, February 8, 2024: LinkedIn 2024 Most In-Demand Skills: Learn the Skills Companies Need Most