How To Prove (Not Just List) Communication Skills on A Resume?

Talent acquisition survey reports:

“Up to 97% of the recruiters consider soft skills essential for hiring a new employee.”

This fact proves that interactive abilities are not an extra point. Rather these are crucial for job search. And communication is the topmost soft skill anyone can have as a professional.

Thus, a successful job search requires that you must:

• Develop good interpersonal skills 
• Add and highlight them on your resume

But how do you translate your ability to deal with people into resume bullets? Would it be enough to write “strong communicative skills” in the resume? 

What can you do to impress the HR team with your interpersonal abilities?

In this guide, we have explained that in detail. Plus, you can see examples of exactly what to write in your CV.

Identify What Skills to Add Your Resume?

Crafting job-specific resumes is the secret of successful job hunting. We recommend revisiting each section whether it is skills, summary, or objective.

To do so, you must first understand the exact job requirements. Read and analyze the job description. Identify what are the key qualities the recruiter wants to see in the ideal job candidate.

Look out for job duties to figure out which communicative skills are most needed for the job. 

Let’s say that the job description says:

“Presenting company projects to clients” 

Or 

“Delivering the administration message to lower staff” 

It means the job requires verbal dexterity (active listening, public speaking).

The case is different when the key responsibilities are:

“Replying to customer emails ” 

Or

“Writing the company’s newsletter”

For such a job, writing expertise (grammar, persuasive writing, etc.) is more important.

We can classify workplace communicative skills in the following categories:

• Verbal communication is the most common form of communication. Simply put, it is the way you talk. This includes:
  • Clear and concise speaking
  • Active listening
  • Confident presentation delivery
  • And the ability to change your style according to the audience
• Written communication defines your ability to convey your message through text. Different jobs need writing expertise in various formats like emails, reports, and proposals. Hence, you are a good fit for such roles if:
  •  Your grammar is strong 
  • You can produce text free from punctuation, and spelling errors
  • Your writing is concise and persuasive
• Nonverbal communication also plays a key role in conversations. 

On-site roles call for this ability more often as one-on-one interaction is needed the most in these positions. Some of the traits that show professionalism and confidence are:

• Effective body language
• Eye contact
• Facial expressions 
• Sound Pitch

Once you have identified the key skills, the next task is to pinpoint the ones you excel at. An easy way to do this is to compare your work experience or training with the job description.

Next, shortlist 3 to 5 skills that best match the job requirements. Add them to your resume with impactful descriptions. 

How? 

Explained below.

Listing Interpersonal Skills on Resume

Generic phrases are a no-no in today’s competitive and ever-evolving job market. Only adding sentences like “excellent communication” or “strong interpersonal skills” won’t impress anyone. 

Instead, provide some proof of your abilities.  Experience descriptions are an effective way to do so:

• Have you supervised a project that required effective communication and collaboration? 
• Have you resolved a conflict by implementing active listening and empathy? 

Share these experiences, highlighting the specific skills and the positive outcomes.

Examples Of Communication Skills in A Resume 

What To Write in The Skill Section? 

Following is a precise list of phrases and terms you can use on your CV to showcase your ability to interact.

1. Active listening
2. Negotiation
3. Empathy
4. Confidence
5. Persuasive dialogue
6. Negotiation
7. High Emotional intelligence
8. Collaboration
9. Constructive feedback
10. Conflict resolution
11. Presentation skills
12. Assertiveness
13. Honesty
14. Team building and coaching
15. Articulate writing
16. Public speaking
17. Cultural Sensitivity

What To Write in The Experience Section?

Where To Include Communication Skills on Resume?

Skills

This is the most obvious place to include any skill. And communication is no different. 

• A handy tip is to mention your interactive abilities top of the list. 
• Also, add both verbal and written qualities. Again, use specific vocabulary and change it according to each job application.

Besides mentioning it here, also showcase your communication capabilities in other sections.

Summary 

Many HRs don’t read past the resume summary section. Keeping this point in view, you should optimize the summary section well.

Depict your interactive adeptness in the resume summary. You can use one of the best results from your work experience. For example, if you are a sales agent, use your successful sales deals to prove your communicative adeptness. For this purpose, use sentences like:

“Increased sales for <company name> by x% in only 6 months”

Or 

“Closed a $50,000 deal after presentation and negotiation”

Likewise, call center agents can boast high customer satisfaction ratings. And content creators present audience engagement stats to prove their ability to interact.

Work Experience

In this section, you cannot only mention but also describe communication skills.

Quantifiable results and clear examples are an effective way of doing that. Data shows how effective are your interpersonal abilities for professional goals.

Use action verbs to make the text more engaging and lively.

Here are a few examples in action:

• Technical writer: 

“Developed user-friendly product manuals. 67% of customers praised the new manual for clarity. They said new documents better communicate complex technical concepts.”

• Sales representative: 

“Outreached 20 potential clients to promote the company’s products.  Used active listening and persuasion strategies to negotiate with them. Closed 16 out of 20 deals exceeding sales goal by 15%.”

• Customer service representative: 

“Resolved customer complaints with a 95% satisfaction rate. Utilized conflict resolution and empathy to ensure quality service.”

Education And Activities

You can add communication skills descriptions from your college project or volunteer work. Think of different activities where you dealt with people. 

This tip especially suits beginners who have no prior work experience. Here are some examples:

“Leading the group project at university” 

“College football team captaincy” 

“Tutoring at the campus” 

“Hosting the annual party of the class” 

“Collecting donations for a charity organization”

Communication And People Skills Section

You can also include a specified “communication skills” section in your resume if:

• Communication and people dealing is one of the main duties of the target job
• you also have extensive experience in fields like consumer services, sales, or hospitality

References:

https://www.trvst.world/work-skills/soft-skills-facts-statistics