Technical skills may land you an interview, but strong people skills are ultimately what land you the job offer and keep your position. You may know them as soft skills or interpersonal skills.
Employers still highly value candidates who can communicate efficiently, collaborate with teammates, show creativity, and resolve conflicts effectively.
In our guide, you’ll learn about important people skills that employers look for, how to add them to your resume, and later, how to improve them.
Later, you can try ResumeGiants’ free resume builder to create a resume and use our free skills generator to show just how strong your people skills are.
What Are People Skills?
People skills are the abilities that help you work and connect with others. They include communication, teamwork, empathy, and problem-solving. These skills make collaboration easier and workplaces more effective. They’re important in every role and industry.
According to a LinkedIn survey conducted in early 2024, people skills are more important than ever in today’s workplace. In the age of AI, the human touch is still seen as the most important critical aspect to employers.
The Top 5 People Skills Employers Look for
It’s worth noting when reviewing job descriptions to pay attention to both the hard skills and the soft skills that employers are looking for. By understanding this, you can stand out to recruiters and employers by highlighting examples of people skills on your resume.
Let’s begin by reviewing different people skills and how they are applied in the workplace.
1. Communication
Emails, Slack pings, voice calls, and video meetings all require communication. The clearer you can say what you mean, and mean what you say—the better the progress. Communication skills typically top the list of people skills that employers look for.
Resume Examples:
- Communicated project updates to different teams via email and video calls.
- Presented complex data insights clearly and concisely in meetings.
2. Negotiation
Negotiating is not just for sales and contracts. Most roles will require this skill.
Negotiating the details of a project with your team is just as important as sales negotiations. It’s essential to actively listen and appreciate different perspectives, incorporating valuable ideas into the plan.
Resume Examples:
- Negotiated with multiple departments to align on budget adjustments.
- Negotiated project deadlines with my team, balancing our capacity with business priorities.
3. Leadership
There’s more to leadership than just management. In fact, reverse mentoring where leaders learn from their coworkers has skyrocketed during the past decade. Every person has leadership potential, which can be powerful with self-awareness of their personality.
The servant leadership style, for example, has become more popularized. This involves leading by serving, not commanding. In short, you support your team’s success by listening to their needs and helping them thrive.
Resume Examples:
- Led a team of 5 to launch a product, ran daily meetings, and kept us on track for the launch.
- Mentored junior team members and encouraged teamwork.
4. Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize and understand your own emotions and those of others. When you have high emotional intelligence, you can communicate better, and work well with other people from all sorts of backgrounds and ages.
Resume Examples:
- Settled team conflicts by finding the root cause and promoting communication and open talks.
- Adjusted communication style to fit each person on my team, boosting teamwork.
5. Collaboration
Collaboration is a key people skill that involves working effectively with others to achieve a common goal. It’s about listening to different perspectives, sharing ideas openly, building on each other’s strengths, and sharing the workload in the best way that works for everyone.
Resume Examples:
- Partnered with sales to align marketing campaigns and drive growth.
- Teamed up with HR to organize a company-wide training event.
You can easily add skills that will get your resume noticed by hiring managers with the help of our advanced AI-powered Resume editor.
How Can I Showcase People Skills on My Resume (Without Just Listing Them)?
There’s a clear difference between simply dishing out a list of skills or achievements and proactively showcasing them.
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💡 Our expert says
Anyone can say they’re a great communicator, but having to state it explicitly on a resume may seem a little redundant. It’s like insisting you can cook by showing a restaurant a photo of your signature dish or claiming you can deliver a talk to an audience by sending a PowerPoint presentation.
Let’s break down various strategies to incorporate these skills by looking at some people skills examples you can adapt for your resume:
E-Commerce
Coordinated with cross-functional teams including marketing, logistics, and sales to ensure seamless operations and customer experience.
Biotechnology
Presented research findings at conferences and effectively communicated complex scientific concepts to diverse audiences, including stakeholders and investors.
Teaching
Served as a mentor to new teachers and student teachers, providing guidance and support in curriculum development and classroom management.
1. Demonstrate your people skills by using metrics
Quantify your accomplishments whenever possible to showcase the impact of your people skills.
Think numbers, percentages, and statistics. Include specific examples from your work experience where you used these skills effectively. This might seem tricky with people skills.
The trick is to measure the outcome of the work you did that involved using your interpersonal skills. Let’s see some examples for inspiration across various industries:
Healthcare
Implemented electronic health record (EHR) system enhancements that increased patient data accessibility and communication frequency by 37%.
Project Management
Led a cross-functional team of 10 to complete a project ahead of time and within budget.
Marketing
Expanded customer base by 25% within six months by collaborating with the sales team to develop and execute a new lead generation strategy.
2. Align your resume with the people skills in the job description
Let’s see an example of how examining the job description can help you pick out the people skills you need to include in your resume.
Product Manager
Job description:
- Foster a positive and inclusive community environment, actively addressing user concerns and promoting constructive conversations.
- Partner with marketing and engineering teams to bring your product vision to life.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders across the organization.
Here’s how somebody can tailor their summary and work experience section. The underlined phrases and words match the people skills outlined in the job ad.
Summary
Innovative and results-driven product manager with 5+ years of experience in leading cross-functional teams. Achieved a record 20% increase in product adoption and 35% improvement in customer satisfaction during Q2. Expert at building and growing strong stakeholder relationships to foster inclusive community environments.
Experience
Product Manager
Bloop.io | San Francisco, CA | 2021 – Present
- Enthusiastically led product development efforts from conception to launch for multiple software products, collaborating closely with engineering and marketing teams to ensure alignment with strategic goals.
- Spearheaded a product revamp initiative that led to a 25% increase in revenue within the first year of launch.
- Established and maintained relationships with key stakeholders, including executives, engineering teams, and external partners, resulting in a 30% improvement in cross-functional collaboration.
- Championed customer feedback initiatives, conducted user surveys, and analyzed data to inform product roadmap decisions, contributing to a 10% increase in customer retention.
According to the 2024 Talent Trends report published by SHRM, 30% of the organizations surveyed were experiencing recruitment challenges due to candidates lacking the right soft skills.
If you need help adding the correct skills, you can rely on our free AI-powered resume builder to help you adapt your resume for the roles you are applying to.
💡top tip
Remember, you should always tailor your resume header, professional summary, skills section, and bullets.
How Can I Improve My People Skills (Even if I’m Shy)?
Almost every career requires people skills to some degree, even if you work alone every day. Think of a freelance UX designer, for example. They may productively spend their 9-5 in their cozy home office. But each day, they have dozens of emails to answer and a few meetings to attend.
Great news: people skills (and emotional intelligence) can be developed, with self-awareness as a major first step.
Step aside each day to really sit down and reflect on your emotions, reactions, and behaviors in various interpersonal interactions. This will allow you to understand your strengths and areas for improvement. Get a second listening ear for more perspective!
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💡 Our expert’s advice
Try journaling or seek constructive feedback from colleagues. Also, practice active listening. Focus on the speaker’s words, emotions, and non-verbal cues, which can help you better engage meaningfully and build rapport among your community.
Volunteer or job shadow in your field
Looking to get your foot in the door or build up more advanced skills in your career? Consider volunteering or job shadowing.
- Ask plenty of questions and take notes. How do people communicate in that specific workplace? How are conflicts resolved? How do colleagues negotiate with each other?
- Actively try to leave a positive impression on everyone you meet.
- Get involved in giving presentations, report writing, and public speaking opportunities.
- Strengthen your empathy muscles.
- Practice active listening to all members involved; each department plays an integral role and should be heard equally.
Take an online course
Forget having to commute to a dedicated spot and taking in-class notes. With a laptop and a solid internet connection, we have the opportunity to learn almost anything at our fingertips. And you can certainly build the foundations of people skills by taking a course!
- Join virtual discussions and forums related to public speaking
- Adapt to different communication styles in groups
- Practice speaking with both instructors and peers
- Apply your newfound emotional intelligence knowledge in creative ways
Join a professional organization related to your work
(…or where you want to pivot to, in the case of a career shift.)
Learn from the giants in your industry and look for inspiration. Sign up for newsletters and talk to influencers within your sector because your new mentor (or boss!) could be sitting across from you.
Join meetups in your area and LinkedIn groups to expand your horizons and make the most out of the contacts available to you.
- Network, talk, chat, grab a coffee—anything goes!
- Take the initiative to contribute to open team projects
- Facilitate an event, take notes, and ask questions during seminars
- Mentor new members to gain some fresh industry insights and perspectives
Main Takeaways
People skills are essential to getting hired and succeeding in any role, no matter your industry.
Here’s how to make the most of them during your job search:
- Understand what they are: People skills include communication, teamwork, empathy, leadership, and conflict resolution.
- Show, don’t just list: Use real examples in your resume that highlight how you’ve used these skills on the job.
- Use numbers when possible: Quantify your impact. This allows you to tie your people skills to outcomes like improved collaboration or retention.
- Tailor your resume: Match the people skills in your resume to what’s asked for in the job description.
Mastering these steps helps you stand out to employers, and shows you’re ready to thrive in any team.
Are you still looking for ideas or inspiration? Check out our FREE resume templates to help you with yours and boost your career to the next level. You can also check out which are the best high-paying skills to add to your resume to help you increase your earning potential.
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