Having technical skills on your resume is essential. When we refer to technical skills, typically we are referring to the skills or knowledge one possesses through experiencing and using different softwares or programs. By having these types of skills on your resume, it shows employers that you are prepared with the proper tools in order to get the job done and to get it done efficiently. Each industry has its own long lists of specific technical skills its workers should have, but here are the five staple skills we here at BrandResumes think that everyone should know.

1. Microsoft Office Suite

Microsoft Office Suites includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, and OneNote. Most people are probably already familiar with Word, PowerPoint, and Excel from using them as a student or even in prior jobs, but it can be helpful to have experience with the other platforms as well.

Each of these tools serves a different purpose to help you work effectively in an organized and digital fashion. Word is a word processing software allowing users to type up important documents. Whereas Excel creates spreadsheets that allow you to organize data in whatever format works best for you. Using excel is a great way to separate whatever type of data you are collecting and keep it organized.

If you are giving any type of presentation for your colleagues, PowerPoint is great for creating slideshow presentations to help you stay on track and keep your audience engaged. Outlook is used to manage calendars and emails. If you work a lot with communications both internal and external, Outlook is perfect for remaining on schedule and allowing you to communicate with everyone else to stay on schedule.

Access is a data management tool, which allows you to organize and analyze large sets of data. And last but not least, you have Outlook. This program is simply a note taking tool to help whatever notes you put down stay digital. By learning how to use each of these programs, your work will be cleaner and more efficient. You can even earn certifications in these platforms to show your employer that you truly understand it like the back of your hand.

2. Google Drive

This software pretty much mimics the software and tools built by Microsoft and consists of Docs, Spreadsheets, Slides, Calendar, and Meet. For example, Google Docs is a word processing program very similar to Microsoft Word and Google Sheets is the twin to Microsoft Excel. However, unlike Microsoft, using Google Drive is free and it allows you to collaborate with other Google users. And the best part is that it’s free!

Being proficient in Google Drive is incredibly helpful for anyone working remotely or working in teams because it allows multiple users to work on a doc at the same time. While it doesn’t allow for as much storage space as Microsoft, it still has many benefits making it worth being familiar with.

3. Social Media

Even if you’re not looking into working as a social media marketer, you should still have a grasp of most popular social media platforms. It is important to understand what content users want to see and what content they don’t want to see. Social media also allows anyone to promote themselves or their company even without it directly being your position.

Additionally, it is important to understand how social media can affect you as an employee. Once content is posted on any platform, it is out there for the world to see. If you’re posting less than flattering content or anything offensive, it can and most likely will get back to your employer. The golden rule of social media is “if you wouldn’t show it to your grandmother, you probably shouldn’t post it.”

LinkedIn specifically is an extremely beneficial platform for anyone in the job market to be able to understand and use. If you’d like to learn more about how to ensure your LinkedIn profile is a strong one, check out our article here.

4. Data analysis software

Being able to visualize and understand data is important for almost any position. Having it organized using any of the previously mentioned platforms is great, but it doesn’t really mean much if you can’t do anything with that information,

There are plenty of data analysis softwares out there and many industries have preferred tools, but here are a few of the most popular platforms to get you started:

• Google Analytics
• SAP Business Intelligence Platform
• IBM Analytics
• Looker
• Tableau

5. HTML5

This technical skill can be a little difficult to learn, but it can help you go so far. HTML programming language, or Hypertext Markup Language, is the standard language that makes up web documents.

Even if you don’t work in IT, knowing even the basics of HTML will look great on your resume. If you are using anything digital, HTML plays a part in it. If you’d like to learn more, w3schools has a lot of information to help you learn and it’s easy to understand.

Technical skills can sometimes take time to learn, but the benefits are well worth it. Again, every industry has their own set of skills that employers want, but these five skills can be used in any professional setting and for any tasks.

Once you’ve acquired these skill sets, be sure to include them on your resume before applying. For more tips and tricks on resume writing, be sure to check out our article here and good luck!