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

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Why employers want to see organizational skills on your resume

Organizational skills are a very important part of your resume. Any work-related activity requires proper time management and the ability to determine which tasks are prioritized over others, with the ultimate purpose of delivering intended results. This article shows you how to list organizational skills on a resume and gives you a list of the best organizational skills to list on a resume.

How to list organizational skills on your resume

 Here are the best practices related to listing organizational skills on a resume:

1. First, ensure your resume is well-organized

A hiring manager typically only needs to glance at a resume to get a first impression of a candidate. Therefore, the first way to showcase your organizational skills is by properly organizing your resume.

2. Second, be concise and to the point

It’s tempting for candidates to create long resumes with detailed educational and professional descriptions. However, condensing relevant information makes it easier for recruiters to assess your skills and experience.

3. Third, add work experience in reverse-chronological order

Putting your most recent work experience and acquired skills first can show your career progression in a reverse-chronological format.

4. Fourth, start your resume with a career summary or objective

This will show your potential employer you have a well-organized career plan. It will also help them to understand your career trajectory or goals.

5. Fifth, add a key skills section

After identifying your organizational skills, enhance them in a dedicated resume section by listing and describing them.

Best organizational skills to add to a resume

Listing specific organizational skills shows that you can complete your work-related tasks efficiently while offering employers further assurance that you can properly do your job with minimal supervision.

Here are the best organizational skills you can add to your resume:

Time management

Accurately assessing the time needed to complete tasks and projects, as well as delivering them within the required timeframe, is a crucial skill for employees in all professional fields. Having good time management skills allows an employee to work efficiently, adapting to any issues and ensuring deadlines are met. Time management involves planning, making schedules, developing strategies, proper task delegation and having the self-discipline to deliver as planned.

Communication

A crucial organizational skill is clear, direct communication. Speaking and writing clearly will ensure everyone understands your plans and ideas.

Delegation

Well-organized employees must know what tasks they can do by themselves and what tasks are better left to other team members who are more experienced in dealing with that particular type of situation.

Planning

The ability to properly plan your future actions is one of the most crucial organizational skills. Anticipating future events and planning accordingly are major steps towards workplace organization.

Prioritizing

Assessing tasks by importance and logical progression will enhance your organizational skills. By comparing and logically executing each relevant task to the bigger goal, you can deliver quality work on time.

Teamwork

Most work-related projects involve more than one employee. Having organizational skills implies identifying each team member’s top skills and strong points while organizing the project to enable everyone involved can deliver maximum quality and efficiency.

How to improve organizational skills

Just like most skills, organizational skills can be improved throughout a career. 

Here are some ways to improve your organizational skills:

1. First, evaluate your current organizational skills

Develop personal organizational skills and growth opportunities by determining and evaluating your current, work-related skill set. You can evaluate your planning skills by reviewing past plans and determining your accuracy in anticipating future tasks and events.

2. Second, make lists to keep track of tasks

To become a more organized employee, you will need to properly keep track of all tasks and know what you need to do at all times. Making lists and checking off completed tasks makes it easier to remember everything and acts as a motivational tool to keep you focused on future tasks. Making lists will improve your prioritizing skills, as it will help you understand all future tasks and determine their importance within a larger context.

3. Third, make a schedule to be aware of upcoming tasks and meetings

After listing future tasks, create a schedule to track task completion and estimated time slots. Schedules greatly improve your time management skills, as you will have a clear view of what you will be doing for the foreseeable future and how much time you will need to complete your tasks.

4. Fourth, be proactive and plan ahead

By actively approaching tasks and situations, you will know exactly what you need to do and the timeframe in which it needs to be done. This will make you more organized, as you will be in control of your future actions, instead of passively waiting for their occurrence. By being proactive with your work-related activities, you will improve your communication and delegation skills, as you will better understand what needs to be done, allowing you to assess the next step for each task.