Introduction

When you create your resume for an internship, a student job or a work-study program, one question inevitably comes up: what resume skills should you highlight to attract the attention of a recruiter? When starting out, skills often play as important a role as experience, if not more so. They allow businesses to understand how you work, what you already know how to do, and what you could quickly learn once you get started.

In this article, you will discover how to identify the most relevant CV skills, how to value them, how to prove them effectively and how to avoid the most common mistakes.

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🎯 Why are resume skills essential?

Skills are the core of your resume. They allow a recruiter to measure your ability to succeed in a mission, even if you do not yet have a long professional experience. Well chosen, they show your motivation, your potential and your level of preparation. They also help you differentiate yourself from other candidates, especially when several students have similar backgrounds.

A good selection of CV skills makes it possible to compensate for a lack of experience, to highlight your know-how and above all to reassure the company that you have the necessary bases to be quickly operational.

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🧩 The two types of skills to include in your resume

Your resume skills fall into two main categories: technical skills and behavioral skills.

Technical skills, which are also called hard skills, include everything you have learned in your training, in school projects, in internships, in an association or even as an autodidact. They are concrete, measurable and directly linked to the job. Depending on your field, this may be mastering software, computer languages, marketing techniques, production tools, analytical methods or practical know-how.

Behavioral skills, or soft skills, correspond to the way you work, communicate, and collaborate with others. They are not learned in a specific course, but develop through your experiences and interactions. Creativity, organization, stress management, taking initiative, listening, team spirit or adaptability are good examples.

Employers value this second type of skills just as much as they value technical skills. A recruiter often prefers a motivated, curious, and organized student to a student who is highly qualified but unable to work in a team or manage their time.

👉 Read also: How to get an apprenticeship without experience

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🔍 How do you choose which skills to include in your resume?

The first step is to carefully analyze the work-study or internship offer. Businesses almost always indicate which skills are in demand. When you have them, it is essential to include them in your resume because these are the keywords that the recruiter will be looking for.

Then, take the time to list all the skills you really know. You can rely on your courses, your group projects, your presentations, your hobbies, your volunteering or your student jobs. For example, if you've already worked at the cash register, you've probably developed skills in customer relationships, stress management, and problem solving. If you participated in a project as a team, it shows your ability to organize your work, adapt and collaborate.

Once your list is complete, select only the skills that match the offer. No need to put everything in: an effective resume is a synthetic resume. The objective is to create coherence between your profile, the training you are taking and the position you are applying for.

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✍️ How do you present your skills in your resume?

How you present your resume skills is almost as important as their content. You can group them together in a dedicated section called “Skills” or “Key Skills”. You can also incorporate them into the description of your experiences, explaining what you actually did and what it allowed you to develop.

To increase the impact of your skills, remember to use short, precise sentences. For example, instead of simply writing “communication”, you can specify that you have led several presentations as part of group projects. Instead of saying “organization”, you can mention that you managed the preparation of a presentation or the coordination of a school project alone.

When you write your summary at the top of the resume, you can also mention two or three strong skills that are directly related to the position you are aiming for. This allows the recruiter to quickly identify what you can contribute.

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🔥 What are the most sought-after CV skills in 2025?

Trends are changing, but some skills are still in high demand. In terms of technical skills, recruiters often appreciate the mastery of the Office Pack, Google Workspace, analysis or creation tools, as well as code or project management bases depending on the sector. In communication, web writing, social media management and content creation are particularly valued. In computer science, knowledge of programming languages or cybersecurity tools can make a difference.

When it comes to soft skills, organization is probably the most sought-after skill by companies that recruit apprentices. They expect you to be able to juggle between your time in a company and your time in training. Curiosity, motivation, adaptability, critical thinking, and the ability to communicate clearly are also highly valued.

👉 Read also: The complete application guide

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🎓 How do you prove your skills in a resume and in an interview?

Many students simply say that they have skills, but the challenge is mainly to demonstrate them. The best way to do this is by giving concrete examples. For example, if you say that you have a sense of organization, you can specify that you managed a group project, prepared a student event, or coordinated several tasks simultaneously.

You can also strengthen your resume by passing free certifications such as those from Google Digital Workshops or OpenClassrooms modules. This type of certification shows that you are proactive and ready to develop your skills.

If your field is suitable, do not hesitate to create a portfolio, even a simple one. A few jobs, projects or achievements are enough to show your potential and prove what you are capable of producing.

🚫 Mistakes you should definitely avoid

There are several common mistakes with resume skills. The first is to lie about your skills, because recruiters detect it very quickly during an interview or once you are in a job. Another mistake is adding too many skills, which makes it difficult to read and feels like you're scattering. Finally, avoid skills that are too vague and unverifiable, such as “dynamic” or “motivated”, which do not contribute anything concrete to your application.

👉 Read also: Valuing your soft skills when you have no professional experience

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🧭 Example of an effective formulation for your skills

An effective way to present your resume skills in one sentence could be:

“I am proficient in web writing, social media management, and Adobe tools, and am particularly comfortable with project management and teamwork.”

This formulation is clear, precise, and useful for a recruiter.

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🚀 The little Grimp boost for your resume

If you want to go even further, you can create your resume for free on Grimp. The editor helps you structure your skills, and allows you to export a professional resume in a few minutes.

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✅ Conclusion

Choosing and presenting your CV skills well can really change the result of your search for an internship or work-study program. By identifying skills that are useful for your field, by illustrating them with concrete examples and by avoiding classic mistakes, you are giving your resume real strength. Even if you lack experience, mastered and developed skills can allow you to stand out and convince a recruiter.