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The CV skills section: choosing keywords employers really search for

7 minute read · Updated 2026-08-24

The CV skills section is the block of short lines under your personal statement, and on most CVs it is wasted. It fills with words like communication, teamwork and Microsoft Office, which appear on almost every application and therefore separate you from nobody. Used properly it does two jobs at once: it puts the exact terms a recruiter searches for near the top of page one, and it tells a human reader in ten seconds whether you can do the job.

What belongs in a CV skills section

Think of it as a shortlist of the things the employer must have, written in their words. Six to ten items is plenty, grouped if that helps, each one specific enough that another applicant could not simply copy it.

  • Licences, cards and registrations: C+E licence with Driver CPC valid to 2029, blue CSCS skilled worker card, SMSTS, SIA door supervisor licence, enhanced DBS on the update service, NMC registration, Gas Safe registration, counterbalance forklift certificate.
  • Qualifications that act as gatekeepers: NVQ Level 3 in Electrical Installation, Level 3 Diploma in Adult Care, AAT Level 3, CIPD Level 5, IOSH Managing Safely, food safety Level 2.
  • Systems and software you actually use: Sage 50, Xero, SAP, a named warehouse management system, an electronic care planning system, AutoCAD, Excel to the level you can genuinely work at.
  • Processes and standards: RAMS, CQC standards, ISO 9001, HACCP, GDPR, safeguarding procedures, right to work checks, payroll to RTI submission for HMRC.
  • Machinery, vehicles or equipment: moving floor trailer, Hiab, reach truck, scissor lift, MIG welding, telehandler.

If an item on your list would fit equally well on a CV for a completely different job, it is probably filler.

How to find the right keywords

You do not need to guess. Open three or four adverts for the role you want and read them as source material.

  1. Copy out every noun that names a skill, ticket, system or standard.
  2. Note which ones appear in more than one advert. Those are the sector's real vocabulary.
  3. Note the exact job title used, and the variants: HGV Class 1 and LGV C+E often mean the same vacancy, and both are searched.
  4. Write abbreviations and full terms together the first time, such as SSSTS (Site Supervision Safety Training Scheme), so you match either search.
  5. Delete anything you cannot honestly claim, because everything on the list is fair game at interview.

Then reorder your skills block for each application so the three items the advert leads with are the three at the top of yours. That is a two minute edit, and it is the highest value change you can make to a CV. The parsing side of this is covered in our guide to ATS CV format.

Hard skills, soft skills and how to prove them

Hard skills belong in the list. Soft skills do not, because a bare claim carries no weight. Move them into your employment bullets where they come with evidence attached.

  • Instead of excellent communication: Handled first line customer complaints and escalated only where a refund exceeded my authority.
  • Instead of strong leadership: Ran a shift of eleven pickers, allocated breaks and covered absence at short notice.
  • Instead of attention to detail: Kept daily MAR charts and medication counts that passed two internal audits without a discrepancy.
  • Instead of problem solving: Rebuilt the delivery route order after a depot move, removing two hours of empty running a week.

Numbers make these work. Headcount, drops per day, plots on site, service users per shift, invoices per month, the value of stock you were accountable for. Use figures you can defend, and where you are estimating, round honestly rather than inventing precision.

Levels: say what you can actually do

Vague self ratings such as advanced Excel or a row of stars mean nothing and cause trouble in practical tests. Describe the task instead: Excel to pivot tables and VLOOKUP, comfortable building a monthly report from a raw export. For languages, use plain wording such as conversational Polish, fluent written and spoken Urdu. For driving, give the licence categories, the points if the advert asks, and whether you hold a digital tachograph card.

The same honesty applies to training in progress. Working towards NVQ Level 3, expected completion March 2027 is a genuine asset. Listing it as though it is finished is a problem waiting to surface during checks.

Keep it a summary, not a second CV

The skills block should never run past about a third of page one, and it must not repeat the whole employment history in shorter form. Its purpose is to get the reader to carry on down the page. Everything in it should then be visible again, with context, in the roles beneath.

Before you send, read the list on its own and ask whether it describes the advert in front of you. If it describes your last job instead, spend two minutes reordering it. That habit does more for your response rate than a redesign ever will, and it is the same discipline used in a strong personal statement.

Next step: rewrite your skills block from three live adverts, then apply to one of them through our job listings while the wording is still fresh.