{"id":5403,"date":"2019-01-02T18:36:17","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T18:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/make-your-skills-list-and-check-it-twice\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T04:54:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T04:54:47","slug":"make-your-skills-list-and-check-it-twice","status":"publish","type":"rbc_tl","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/skills\/make-your-skills-list-and-check-it-twice\/","title":{"rendered":"Make Your Skills List and Check It Twice"},"content":{"rendered":"

But don’t blame the skills mismatch entirely \u2014 it’s also miscommunication.<\/p>\n

A U.S. report by LiveCareer, Bridging the Skills Gap<\/a><\/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.<\/p>\n

We 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.<\/p>\n

But 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.<\/p>\n

When 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.<\/p>\n