The 10 most in-demand skills employers want to see on your resume right now

The list of skills at the bottom of your resume might feel like an afterthought, but that section is more important than you might think — especially if you're hoping to land a new job soon. 

A majority of companies (76%) are using skills-based hiring to fill open roles, with more than half (55%) using role-specific skills tests to vet candidates, according to TestGorilla, an Amsterdam-based HR tech firm. These numbers are from an October 2022 survey of 2,736 employers in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries.

The skills that hiring managers are looking for, however, are constantly changing, with technical skills including analytics and sales, and soft skills like leadership and communication, becoming more popular in recent years, new research from LinkedIn found.

To help job seekers determine which skills to highlight on their resume, LinkedIn identified the top 10 skills employers are hiring for right now. LinkedIn Learning is also offering free courses in each of the10 skills until March 15.

These skills appeared most often in job descriptions for open, paid roles between April and October 2022 on LinkedIn, and were the most common skills people who were hired or contacted on LinkedIn by a recruiter have on their profile. 

Here are the top skills on that list (see the full report here).

10 most in-demand skills employers want to see on your resume

1. Management 
2. Communication
3. Customer service
4. Leadership
5. Sales
6. Project management
7. Research
8. Analytical skills
9. Marketing
10. Teamwork

Management tops the list, as companies look for people who can hire in a challenging labor market and effectively lead understaffed teams. These leaders also need to be adaptable in case of an economic recession.

"We're facing some of the most uncertain economic conditions we've ever seen," LinkedIn career expert Andrew McCaskill says. "Companies want people who can still thrive in that environment." 

Technical skills are required for many jobs, but lacking soft skills can be a deal-breaker for recruiters and hiring managers. Soft skills like teamwork, communication and problem-solving are especially valuable for professionals working in a hybrid work environment, McCaskill notes.

"The ability to adapt and engage equitably, not just with the people that you have a great rapport with, but the people you might not see everyday, is a really important skill to have for any job," he explains. "But it's a skill that's hard to perfect across different technologies, where things can easily get lost in translation … if you're able to do that, you're a huge asset to any team."

It's important to note that job seekers don't need to include every skill on LinkedIn's list on their applications to be successful in their search: A nurse, for example, doesn't need sales experience.

Still, it's smart to think about what skills are in-demand for the jobs you're interested in by paying close attention to the language in job descriptions, reading companies' career pages or connecting with people in those roles and asking them which skills they've found to be most helpful in their position.

Check out:

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