Resume Skills vs Experience: What Are the Differences?

Has the global pandemic put a huge gap in your employment history?

Employers will ask what you were doing for the past two years. But, your outdated resume may be the obstacle to reentering the workforce.

You can spin your employment gap to make it work for you. You need to boost your resume skills vs experience. Resume skills help you appeal to more employment opportunities than resume experience.

Don’t worry if you don’t know the difference between resume skills and resume experience. This isn’t an official resume guide, but it will clarify the differences for you.

Continue reading to learn resume tips that will strengthen your resume and help you get that job.

What is a Resume?

A resume is a concise list of your relevant work skills and experience. It gives potential employers an idea of if you are a good fit for their company.

Your resume needs to speak directly to the position you’re applying for. Keep your resume to one page because most employers don’t have the time to read long resumes.

You want to capture an employer’s attention and make them want to get to know you better.

If you find it hard to land a job with your current resume, try using a free resume builder to enhance it. Or, you can connect with a career advisor to help you build your resume.

For either option, you will need a list of your skills and work experience.

Resume Skills

Your resume skills show an employer what you are good at doing. They can be soft skills or computer skills.

Soft skills can be learned at school, when volunteering, or at work. They are widely used across fields and disciplines and can be applied to any occupation.

There were opportunities during the pandemic to build your soft skills. If you collaborated on Covid-19 relief efforts, that is a soft skill because of your ability to be a team player.

Computer skills need to also be included on your resume. List all software and social applications that you are good at using. Include any certifications you received from computer and software courses.

Resume Experience

Your resume experience is your professional roles and duties. Create a list of all your positions and what your core responsibilities were.

Include on your resume the experiences that will make you stand out from the crowd. Do not sell yourself short.

Use your job description as a guide if you need help listing your duties. But, also list responsibilities you performed outside of your core duties. This shows your prospective employer that you are versatile.