How to List IT Skills on a Resume: Best Skills and Examples

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Almost every job requires some IT, or information technology, skills. These include how well you understand the physical parts of technology, called hardware skills, and how familiar you are with programs and applications, or software skills. Use this article to help you decide how to include your IT skills on your resume and which ones are best to highlight.

Why employers want to see IT skills on your resume

IT skills are becoming more common in every industry. Employers want to hire people who have IT skills that will increase productivity, save money and provide better customer service. They want people who have a range of skills that they can use in new ways. Most job listings include specific IT skills, which are separated into what is required and preferred to do the job. 

Learn more: Technical Skills: Definitions and Examples

How to list IT skills on a resume

Use these steps to showcase your IT skills:

1. First, include job-specific IT skills in your resume summary

List two or three advanced IT skills that are mentioned in the job posting in your resume summary. The resume summary is a short overview of your experience to get employers to look at the details of your resume. You want to show that you have the skills employers are looking for. For example, a social media manager’s resume summary might read, ‘Creative and dedicated social media manager with 5+ years of experience with SEO and social media platform algorithm optimization.

Related: Writing a Resume Summary (with Examples)

2. Next, design an eye-catching skills section that lists your skills

This section of your resume should include IT skills, other technical skills and soft skills like communication and teamwork. If you work in a field that requires a lot of technical skills, you might have them in a separate section. You can show how competent you are in a skill by using a visual rating system, like closed and open circles or checkmarks and open boxes. You should use a scale of five, where one rating means you can do basic tasks and five means you are an expert.

3. Lastly, build IT skills into your work experience section

Highlight the IT skills that you have used in each job, especially if those skills are listed in the job posting. Listing your skills in your experience section also shows how your skills grew over time. Be sure to use numbers to show your value to employers. For example, “Used SEO best practices to increase website traffic by 30%.”

Related: How to Write Work Experience on a Resume

Best IT skills to add to a resume

Here are the best IT skills to list on your resume:

  • Typing speed of 65 wpm and exceptional accuracy when doing data entry and coding
  • Knowledge of coding languages for software and web development
  • Ability to use email management programs
  • Comfortable using a variety of operating systems 
  • Use of Excel for data analysis and reporting
  • Creating documents with Microsoft Word 
  • Making creative and interesting presentations with PowerPoint
  • Troubleshooting and repairing sales systems
  • Research and data collection
  • Social media management
  • Can use UI/UX to improve customer experience

Use the job posting to guide what skills you should emphasize on your resume. Employers will be looking for the keywords they put in the job description and requirements. Highlight the IT skills the job posting specifically lists to prove you are a great fit for the position and the company.

Tips to grow your IT skill set

There are many options if you want to improve on IT skills you already have or if you want to learn new ones. There are online resources that are free or low-cost that you can use. You can take classes offered by technology companies, technical schools or universities to earn certifications and licenses. 

Sometimes, your employer will offer tuition reimbursement or sponsor certification courses. Your local library or community center might offer skills workshops, especially in coding, email and office software and suites. There are many books available to teach you everything you need to know. There are also tutoring services that will teach you IT skills if you prefer one-on-one learning. 

Finally, you can simply build your IT skills by exploring the software. Take the time to become familiar with the different features and how you can use them in your work.

Tips for including job-specific IT skills on your resume

Almost every industry and role has specific technology and software you need to be familiar with. Some IT skills are relatively universal, like Microsoft Office. Others are more specialized, like graphic design suites or database management. The level of experience you are expected to have with each of these IT skills depends on your work as well. 

If you aren’t sure which IT skills you should list, you can check job postings and general job descriptions. These will tell you what IT skills are required and which are preferred. They will also tell you how comfortable you need to be with technology. 

You can also look at sample resumes for your job title and field. Resume samples will show you a range of IT skills that you should include based on your experience level. 

Here are a few examples of job-specific IT skills:

  • QuickBooks for bookkeeping and financial reporting
  • SAP for sales
  • AS400 for inventory management
  • SQL for database management
  • Online learning platforms for teachers and corporate trainers

Employers expect everyone to have some IT skills. Often, you are expected to know how to use a computer, how to check email and how to search for information online. Your job opportunities significantly increase as you become familiar with IT skills and how to present them to hiring managers.

Related: Computer Skills: Definitions and Examples