Best examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume

Real examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume

When recruiters say “send your resume,” what they really mean is “show me, in 6–10 seconds, that you can solve the problems we’re hiring for.” That’s why the best examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume are specific, recent, and tied to outcomes.

Think less in terms of “things you know” and more in terms of capabilities you can prove. Instead of listing a wall of tools, show how you’ve used them:

Python, Pandas, SQL → Built a Python ETL pipeline using Pandas and SQL that cut reporting time from 3 hours to 10 minutes.

That shift—from tools to impact—is what separates average resumes from interview magnets.

Technical examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume

Let’s start with concrete technical areas. These are the kinds of examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume that hiring managers in 2024–2025 expect to see, especially in software and data roles.

Modern programming and scripting skills

For most engineering and data roles, you’ll want to show:

• Languages and depth: Not just “JavaScript, Python, Java,” but where and how you used them.
• Frameworks and ecosystems: React vs. Angular, Django vs. Spring Boot, etc.

Stronger example of a skills section:

Languages & Frameworks: Python (data pipelines, APIs), TypeScript (React), Java (Spring Boot microservices), SQL (PostgreSQL, BigQuery)

And then back it up in your experience bullets:

Developed and maintained a TypeScript/React front end used by 50k+ monthly users; reduced bundle size by 30% through code splitting and tree-shaking.

That’s a real example of skills to highlight in a tech resume: you show the stack and the performance outcome.

Cloud platforms and distributed systems

Cloud fluency is now table stakes for many tech roles. According to AWS and other major providers, cloud adoption continues to grow across industries through 2024–2025. Showing hands-on cloud skills is one of the best examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume for modern engineering jobs.

Useful cloud skills to highlight:

• AWS, Azure, or GCP: Mention specific services, not just the platform name.
• Infrastructure-as-code: Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, Azure Resource Manager.
• Containerization and orchestration: Docker, Kubernetes.

Example of how to present it:

Deployed containerized microservices to AWS ECS using Terraform; improved deployment frequency from weekly to multiple times per day while maintaining 99.9% uptime.

Here, the examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume include not just “AWS” and “Docker” but a clear story about reliability and speed.

Data, analytics, and AI/ML skills

Data-oriented skills are in demand well beyond traditional data science roles. Product managers, marketers, and even operations teams are expected to be data-literate.

Strong examples include:

• Data querying and modeling: SQL, dbt, data warehousing (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift).
• Analytics tools: Tableau, Power BI, Looker.
• Machine learning: Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch, model deployment.
• AI integration: Using large language models (LLMs) via APIs, building retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems.

Example bullet:

Designed and deployed a churn prediction model in Python (scikit-learn) using data from BigQuery; reduced churn in a pilot segment by 8% over 6 months.

Another real example of skills to highlight in a tech resume for 2024–2025:

Integrated OpenAI API into customer support workflows, automating responses for ~30% of Tier 1 tickets while maintaining a human-in-the-loop review process.

These examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume show that you understand both tools and responsible application.

DevOps, CI/CD, and reliability

Even if you’re not a DevOps engineer, demonstrating that you can ship, monitor, and maintain software safely is a major plus.

Valuable skills to mention:

• CI/CD tools: GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, CircleCI.
• Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, OpenTelemetry.
• Testing: Unit, integration, end-to-end, test automation.

Example:

Implemented GitHub Actions CI/CD pipelines with automated tests and security scans, cutting deployment failures by 40% and reducing mean time to recovery (MTTR) from 2 hours to 20 minutes.

Again, this is an example of skills to highlight in a tech resume that shows you understand the full lifecycle, not just writing code.

Security and privacy awareness

Security expectations keep rising, especially with remote work and increased regulation. Even if you’re not a security engineer, you can highlight:

• Secure coding practices: OWASP Top 10 awareness, input validation, proper auth.
• Compliance familiarity: HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR, depending on your domain.
• Access control and identity: OAuth2, SSO, role-based access control (RBAC).

Example bullet:

Refactored authentication flow to use OAuth2 and short-lived tokens; reduced unauthorized access incidents and passed internal security audit with no critical findings.

If you work in healthcare or life sciences tech, it can help to reference your familiarity with privacy and security guidelines from organizations like the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (hhs.gov) or research institutions such as the National Institutes of Health (nih.gov).

Non-technical examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume

The higher you go in your career, the more hiring managers care about how you work with people and drive outcomes, not just how fast you can code.

Communication and stakeholder management

Strong communication is one of the best examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume that actually moves the needle. Instead of just writing “excellent communication skills,” show it:

• Leading cross-functional projects.
• Translating technical tradeoffs for non-technical stakeholders.
• Writing specs, RFCs, or documentation.

Example:

Led cross-functional discovery with engineering, marketing, and legal to define requirements for a new user consent flow; produced a clear technical spec that cut implementation time by 25%.

That’s a concrete example of skills to highlight in a tech resume that proves you can collaborate and align teams.

Product thinking and business impact

Companies want engineers and data folks who understand why they’re building something, not just how.

You can show product thinking by:

• Tying work to KPIs: revenue, retention, conversion, latency, adoption.
• Mentioning experiments: A/B tests, feature flags, user research.
• Showing tradeoff decisions you influenced.

Example:

Collaborated with product to prioritize performance improvements that reduced median page load time by 40%, contributing to a 5% increase in checkout conversion.

This is a strong example of skills to highlight in a tech resume because it connects technical work, product collaboration, and business results.

Leadership, mentoring, and collaboration

You don’t need a manager title to show leadership. Think about:

• Mentoring junior engineers or interns.
• Owning a system, component, or process.
• Facilitating incident reviews or architecture discussions.

Example:

Mentored 3 junior engineers through code reviews and pairing sessions; helped reduce onboarding time from 3 months to 6 weeks.

For senior roles, this kind of real example of skills to highlight in a tech resume is often more persuasive than another framework name.

How to choose the right examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume

The biggest mistake candidates make is listing everything they’ve ever touched. That doesn’t impress anyone; it just makes it harder to see the signal.

Instead, choose targeted examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume by working backward from the job posting.

Align skills with the job description

Scan the posting for:

• Core stack: Languages, frameworks, cloud provider.
• Key responsibilities: Own a service, build dashboards, improve reliability.
• Business context: Industry, user base, scale.

Then pick 3–5 clusters of skills that match, and show them in context.

For example, if the role emphasizes data engineering on GCP, your examples might emphasize:

• Python, SQL, Apache Beam, Airflow.
• BigQuery, Dataflow, Pub/Sub.
• Data modeling for analytics.

Experience bullet:

Built batch and streaming ETL pipelines in Python using Apache Beam and Dataflow, loading data into BigQuery for analytics; cut report generation time from daily to near real-time.

That’s a tightly aligned example of skills to highlight in a tech resume that matches a specific job pattern.

Prioritize recency and depth over volume

A short, recent list beats a long, outdated one. It’s better to show 5–8 skills you use regularly than 25 tools you barely remember.

Ask yourself:

• Have I used this skill in the last 12–18 months?
• Can I describe a concrete project or outcome with it?
• Would I be comfortable discussing it at interview depth?

If the answer is no, it probably doesn’t belong among the primary examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume for this application.

Use metrics and outcomes wherever possible

Data isn’t just for dashboards. It makes your resume more credible.

You don’t need perfect precision; ranges and approximations are fine, as long as they’re honest. Common metrics to highlight:

• Performance: latency, throughput, load times.
• Reliability: uptime, MTTR, incident frequency.
• Business: revenue lift, churn reduction, conversion rate.
• Productivity: time saved, deployments per day, tickets closed.

Example:

Automated nightly data quality checks in SQL and Python, reducing data-related incident tickets by ~35% over 6 months.

This turns a generic “improved data quality” line into a concrete example of skills to highlight in a tech resume.

Role-specific examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume

Different tech roles emphasize different skill sets. Here are real examples tailored to common paths.

Software engineer / full-stack developer

For a mid-level full-stack role, examples might include:

Built and maintained a React/TypeScript front end and Node.js/Express API serving ~100k monthly active users; implemented lazy loading and query optimization, cutting average page load time from 3.2s to 1.4s.

Containerized services with Docker and deployed to Kubernetes on GCP; introduced liveness/readiness probes and resource limits, improving service reliability during peak traffic.

These examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume show front end, back end, performance, and reliability in one go.

Data engineer / data scientist

For a data-focused role, your resume might highlight:

Designed a star-schema data model in Snowflake and orchestrated ETL with dbt and Airflow, enabling self-serve analytics for 50+ business users.

Developed a demand forecasting model in Python (Prophet, scikit-learn) using 3 years of sales data; improved forecast accuracy by ~12%, informing inventory planning.

Again, these are concrete examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume that match modern data stacks.

DevOps / SRE / platform engineer

For reliability and platform roles, highlight:

Implemented infrastructure-as-code with Terraform to manage AWS VPCs, ECS clusters, and RDS instances; reduced manual configuration drift and simplified disaster recovery.

Set up centralized logging and metrics with Prometheus and Grafana; created SLO dashboards and alerts that reduced mean time to detect (MTTD) by 50%.

These examples include both tooling and measurable impact.

IT, security, and support roles

For IT and security positions, focus on:

Managed 400+ Windows and macOS endpoints using Intune and Jamf; automated patching and security updates, improving patch compliance to 98% within 7 days.

Configured and monitored endpoint protection and email security tools, reducing phishing-related incidents by 60% through technical controls and employee training.

Here, examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume stretch beyond pure code, into systems, security, and user support.

How to format and place your skills for maximum impact

The same skills can look impressive or forgettable depending on where and how you place them.

Use a focused skills section + proof in experience

A good pattern is:

• A skills section that groups your strongest capabilities.
• Experience bullets that prove each cluster with real examples.

For instance, your skills section might say:

Skills: Python, SQL, Airflow, BigQuery, dbt, Docker, GitHub Actions, stakeholder communication, technical documentation

Then your experience section provides examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume that match those claims:

Owned data pipelines in Airflow and dbt feeding executive dashboards; partnered with finance to validate metrics definitions and reduce reporting discrepancies.

Avoid laundry lists and outdated tools

If your skills section reads like a Wikipedia page, you’re doing the recruiter’s job harder, not easier.

Trim or remove:

• Obsolete tech (Flash, Silverlight, very old frameworks) unless explicitly relevant.
• One-off tools you used for a week.
• Generic phrases like “Microsoft Office” for technical roles.

Focus instead on examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume that match modern, in-demand stacks for your target roles.

FAQ: examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume

What are some strong examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume for junior developers?
For junior roles, prioritize skills you’ve used in projects, internships, or coursework. Strong examples include: building a REST API in Node.js or Django, creating a React or Vue front end, writing SQL queries for a small database, using Git and GitHub for version control, and deploying a project to a cloud platform like AWS or Render. Show at least one real project where you applied these skills and mention outcomes, even if small (for example, number of users, performance improvements, or features delivered).

What’s an example of soft skills that matter on a tech resume?
Instead of listing “teamwork,” show it with a story. For example: “Collaborated with a team of 4 developers and a product manager to ship a new onboarding flow in 6 weeks; held weekly check-ins and documented decisions in shared design docs.” This is an example of soft skills expressed in a way that hiring managers can actually evaluate.

How many skills should I list on my tech resume?
Most candidates do well with 8–15 focused skills grouped in a short skills section, plus supporting examples in the experience section. If you’re tempted to list 25–30 tools, you’re probably diluting your strongest examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume. Prioritize recency, depth, and alignment with the job description.

Should I include certifications as skills?
Certifications can support your skills, especially in areas like cloud, security, and project management. Place them in a separate “Certifications” section (for example, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, CompTIA Security+). They add credibility, but you still need real examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume—projects, systems, or features where you applied what you learned.

Where can I learn which tech skills are in demand right now?
Job boards and official training providers are good places to start. Sites like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov) publish data on tech occupations and trends. Major cloud providers (AWS, Microsoft, Google) and universities such as Harvard (harvard.edu) share updated learning paths and skills frameworks. Use these to refine which examples of skills to highlight in a tech resume for the roles you’re targeting.