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The skills section is dead — here's what to do instead

A comma-separated list of buzzwords convinces no one. Where skills actually belong on a modern resume, and what to put in that space.

By Daniel Brooks · 2026-06-21

The skills section is dead — here's what to do instead

'Leadership, communication, Excel, teamwork' — the traditional skills section is unverifiable filler that recruiters skip and ATS systems misread. Skills belong inside evidence.

What to do instead

  • Embed skills in bullets — 'built the Excel model that…' proves Excel better than listing it.
  • Keep a short hard-skills line — tools, languages, certifications only; things a keyword filter genuinely searches.
  • Kill the soft-skill words — if a bullet doesn't demonstrate leadership, the word 'leadership' won't save you.
The swapUse the freed space for a 3-line summary targeted at this job — the one part of the page every human actually reads.