Top Skills to Put On a Job Application in 2026

Key takeaways

• Top skills to put on a job application in 2026 include AI literacy, communication, adaptability, problem-solving, data literacy, and project management.

• The top skills to put on a job application can vary by industry and role, and may require you to stay up to date on specific tools and features within those tools, such as Microsoft Copilot, or Adobe Firefly.

• You can search for skills reports or trend reports to help identify trending or in-demand industry-specific skills.

In this article, we'll go over the top skills you should put on your resume and how to tailor your resume for every job application. To enhance your resume, prepare for interviews with expert guidance, and craft a step-by-step job search plan with help from AI tool Gemini, consider enrolling in Google's Accelerate Your Job Search Specialization

Types of skills to put on your resume

There are three types of skills you should integrate into your resume: technical, workplace, and interpersonal. However, these aren't always tidy categories. At times, these can overlap. For example, you'll notice that active listening can be a workplace skill and an interpersonal skill.

• Technical skills: Specialized knowledge used to complete tasks specific to a role, such as using a content management system (CMS) or conducting data analysis.

• Workplace skills: The behaviors you use to complete your work, such as critical thinking and empathy.

• Interpersonal skills: Sometimes called people skills, these are strengths that showcase how you work with others, such as active listening and conflict resolution.

Free job search resources

Coursera's Career Resource Hub offers a powerful collection of free job search resources designed to support you whether you're starting out, switching fields, or aiming for a promotion:

• Industry-specific interview prep to ace your toughest questions

• Custom study guides for today's most in-demand skills

• Career quizzes for finding your ideal role (or the skills you'll need to get there)

• Cheat sheets and topic glossaries to support your independent study

• Career path maps to visualize your opportunities

• Career transition guides for making a smooth and successful change

What are some good skills to put on a job application?

The best skills to put on your resume are always going to be the ones you've developed that align with the required and recommended skills a potential employer has outlined in a job posting.

But, other than looking at job postings to identify which skills to feature on your resume, where else can you learn about high-income skills that are in demand and worth developing? Job reports, such as the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs and Coursera's annual Job Skills Report, can be excellent sources for helping you identify areas you may want to feature on your resume—or any skill gaps you need to address in order to continue growing in your career.

Here are the top overall job skills in 2025, according to Coursera [1]:

• E-commerce

• Media strategy and planning

• System security

• Search engine optimization

• Customer success

• Power BI

• Linux

• Systems design

• Audit

• Marketing management

Technical skills to put on your resume

Here are some general technical skills that can be useful to feature on your resume:

• Microsoft Office tools like Excel, Teams, and PowerPoint

• Building and engineering skills like carpentry, plumbing, roofing, or surveying

• Design tools like Figma, Sketch, or Adobe Photoshop

• Computer programming languages like Python, hypertext markup language (HTML), and C++

• Data analysis tools like structured query language (SQL), Stata, or R

• Budgeting and budget analysis

• Writing and editing

• Management and management methodologies like Agile

• Social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and LinkedIn

AI’s impact on the workplace in 2026

Since the emergence of user-friendly AI tools like Chat-GPT, the demand for AI literacy has been high and is climbing. AI has even found itself at the forefront of industries not traditionally associated with tech, such as health care, research, and management [2]. Since 2018, the number of companies looking for employees with AI skills has more than doubled [3].

Workplace skills

Here are some of the top workplace skills that can be helpful to have on a resume:

• Teamwork

• Attention to detail

• Public speaking

• Organization

• Analysis

• Research

• Customer service

• Management

• Critical thinking

• Resilience

• Initiative

Top skills by job role

Depending on your field, you can also search for skills reports or trend reports to help identify industry-specific skills. We've compiled a list of skills that correspond to some of the more in-demand roles below:

• Customer service skills

• Cybersecurity analyst skills

• Data analyst skills

• Data engineer skills

• Data scientist skills

• Health care skills

• Information technology (IT) skills

• Machine learning skills

• Management skills

• Marketing skills

• Project management skills

• Software developer skills

• User experience (UX) design skills

How to add key skills to your resume

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) often scan resumes before they make it to a recruiter for further review, so it's a good idea to make sure your resume aligns as much as possible with the language used in the job description. (That's because ATS algorithms are set to filter applicants based on how closely they appear to fit the job description.) In that case, feature the various skills you've listed out when they closely align with the job description. And you will want to include other skills that strengthen your application by showing your work ethic, impact, or other successes.

Here's how to align your resume with a job posting.

1. Make a list of your skills.

Take time to sit down and reflect on each role you've had. What technical skills did you need to perform your work? What workplace or interpersonal skills did you develop to be successful as a team member and employee? If you need help creating this list, search for job descriptions that match the roles you've held for inspiration.

Getting clear about your skills—your strengths—will help you as you set about adding these skills to your resume.

2. Look at the job description.

The job description should be your main guide when it comes to deciding what skills to include. Start by finding a job description you're interested in. Note the key desired skills and qualities: These can be part of a lengthier paragraph describing the role or bullet points that synthesize the ideal candidate.

These are the skills you should aim to highlight in your job application.

3. Decide how to incorporate your skills into your resume.

Once you have a set of skills you feel can work well in your job application, start including them in your resume. You can do this by including them in your past experiences section, the skills section, or the summary.

• Past experiences section: Draw attention to key skills by including them in your past experiences. Start each experience section with a resume action word such as “organize,” “manage,” or “analyze” to showcase your abilities.

• Skills section: A skills section is generally a list of skills relevant to the job. You can choose to include your ability level in each skill, or organize them by category, such as "technical" and "workplace."

• Objective: A resume objective tells recruiters what you hope to achieve in your next role. It's a great way to detail what you've already done and your long-term career goals. And it's also an ideal spot to slip in a few skills, such as "problem-solver" or "empathetic."

• Summary: A resume summary explains who you are and what you've done without thinking too specifically about your career goals. It can be a great use of resume space when you're just getting started or you need to synthesize a less straightforward career path. In that case, pick the top skills you want to draw attention to.

Need help formatting your resume skills?

Read How to Feature Key Skills on Your Resume to learn best practices, find tips, and explore examples to make the most of your resume’s skill section.

Explore more job search resources for your career journey

By subscribing to Career Chat, our weekly LinkedIn newsletter, you can stay updated on career trends and tips. You can also check out these free resources as you plan your next move:

• Prepare yourself: Job Search 101 

• Learn from an expert: How to Use GenAI to Advance Your Career: Insight from Coursera's Former CEO

• Watch on YouTube: Resume Timeline Tips: What to Include (and Skip)

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