Story time: Last month I applied for a job as a manuscript editor. Or rather, I called a business and asked if they were hiring. “No,” they said, “But send us your resume and we’ll hold it until we are.”

Okay. No big deal.

About an hour later, I got called back. “Can you really read over 500 words a minute? And type 107?” “Um, yes?” They sent me a 3000-word, terribly-written draft to edit to prove it. I finished editing the entire thing in about forty minutes.

They hired me right away.

What this proved to me (and what it should prove to you) is that sometimes, the only thing you need to get hired is one special skill that stands out.

It makes sense: most of the people applying for a job probably have similar experience to you. Everyone could be equally qualified. It’s up to you to find some way to make yourself stand out.

Here’s a list of good skills to put on a resume. All of these skills, in my experience, are impressive enough to give you that advantage!

Related reading: How to Write a Stellar CV (& My Top CV Tips from Experience)

Table of Contents

1. Coding (of Any Kind)

I’ll be honest, I tried to learn how to code and it did NOT go well. However, it is no secret that coding is a highly sought-after skill, so if the language of computers is something that you can demonstrate proficiency in, you’ll definitely set yourself apart.

Udemy and Codecademy, among other websites, offer free courses in basics like CSS and HTML, and even go up to Javascript, Python and other types of more advanced coding. They are some great resources to get you started!

Besides, if you know how to code, you may not need a resume: You can just create your own app and get rich that way (I’m assuming).

2. Japanese

Let’s face it: being bilingual is a huge advantage in today’s intercultural business world, but everyone who graduated high school probably has some form of “Conversant/Fluent in Spanish/French” on their resume.