{"id":1084,"date":"2019-01-02T18:36:17","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T18:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/tl\/make-your-skills-list-and-check-it-twice\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T15:15:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:15:50","slug":"make-your-skills-list-and-check-it-twice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/skills-and-post-secondary\/make-your-skills-list-and-check-it-twice\/","title":{"rendered":"Make Your Skills List and Check It Twice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tHow miscommunication is exacerbating Canada’s skills gap.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nBut don’t blame the skills mismatch entirely \u2014 it’s also miscommunication.\n\nA U.S. report by LiveCareer, Bridging the Skills Gap<\/i>, has found that part of the problem is around the way we talk about skills. For one thing, job seekers aren’t emphasizing them enough. The average job ad lists about 22 skills, but the people replying to it list only 13 skills. They aren’t articulating what they’re capable of doing.\n\nWe also have a gap to bridge around the types of skills we’re talking about. Job ads in all categories mention hard skills more frequently than soft skills, encouraging people to highlight technical know-how over people skills. Of the 13 skills that the average person lists, 10 are hard skills and 3 are soft skills.\n\nBut when employers sit down to review resumes, it’s the soft skills that jump out at them. They’re more likely to follow up with people who described themselves in human terms. If you have a positive attitude, say so. The report identified three highly-sought soft skills that people aren’t using in their resumes: energetic, detailed oriented and building effective relationships.\n\nWhen researchers compared the 20 skills that most frequently appear in job ads to the 20 skills most frequently listed on resumes, it revealed more interesting divergences.\n

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  • Four of the top skills employers list in job ads don’t appear in the top 20 skills listed on resumes. Those missing resume skills are: multitasking, physical demand, teamwork, retail industry knowledge and positive attitude.<\/li>\n \t
  • Five of the top skills job seekers do list on resumes don’t actually appear in the top 20 skills listed in job ads. Those are: budgeting, time management, being a team player and Microsoft Word.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThere are lessons here for both sides.\n\nJob seekers need to showcase their full range of skills, even it means adding another page to their resume. But you can go ahead and delete Microsoft Word at this point.\n\nEmployers should beware that relying on automated software to scan resumes and match skillsets might mean they miss out on qualified applicants. \u201cTeamwork” is one of those most frequently listed skills in job ads. But people don’t use \u201cteamwork” to describe themselves in a resume \u2014 they say \u201cteam player.” This isn’t a skills gap \u2014 it’s semantics.\n\nThe skills gap is a long-term issue for us to tackle as a country. But we can close this communication gap between employers and job seekers first thing in 2019.\n