Technology Skills for Resumes and Cover Letters

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“Technology” is a very broad topic. Tech skills include almost any way of making anything, from building a computer to sharpening a stick. But most of the time when people talk about tech, they are referring to computers and digital technology. Of course, that is still a big topic because the digital economy is massive, and still growing rapidly. That's good news for you if you have the skills necessary to work in this field.

Most technology positions require certain skills you should highlight on your resume, including detail-orientation, logical thinking, good organizational skills, the ability to work well on a team, basic understanding of coding languages, and a passion for learning. The field is always changing, and if you do not love to learn, you will not be able to keep up.

What Are Technology Skills?

Within the technology field, there are many different sub-fields with slightly different required skill sets. For example, programmers need different skills and programming language know-how, depending on if they work on apps or websites. 

Depending on the role, different soft skills or non-technical skills may also be required.

Career tracks also vary depending on what type of position you have within the tech field. Skill requirements, education requirements, and pay scales are not the same everywhere. For most positions, however, a relevant four-year degree or completion of a programming boot camp should be enough to get you started, and some employers will even accept an associate’s degree.

How You Can Highlight Your Technology Skills 

First, you'll want to know what skills are valuable to hiring managers within your particular industry. Reviewing these skills lists will help there. And, once you are applying for a specific role, reading the job description closely can help reveal which skills are required for it. 

Incorporate Skills Into Your Resume

Once you have a sense of the in-demand skills, you'll want to make sure to highlight the ones you possess. To do so, you can incorporate skills into the job descriptions on your resume. For example, if you're applying for a role as a game developer, you could change "Worked on a team to develop and launch XYZ game" to "Used Javascript to develop and launch XYZ game." That way, anyone looking at your resume will see you know the Javascript programming language. 

Use a Resume Skills Section

Another option is to include a skills section on your resume. There, you can list the technology skills you have. Depending on your skills, it might make sense to have a "Programming Languages" section or something similar to call out your knowledge of programming. 

Highlight Your Most Relevant Skills in Your Cover Letter

And don't overlook your cover letter. You can mention your technology skills within that document as well, weaving mentions of important skills into your summary of your experience. Again, it's a good idea to highlight any skills that are listed as required in the job advertisement. 

Types of Technology Skills

Programming and Application Development

Programmers develop new software. They also customize the programming code and maintain and update existing systems.

Knowing the right programming languages and having the communication skills to understand exactly what the software needs to be able to do are critical.

This skill set is very much in demand and salaries are high and extremely competitive, both for freelance roles and payroll employees. 

Tech Support

Tech support generally means being on call in case someone has a problem using their computer or computer software. The job may also involve helping your employer make tech-related purchasing decisions, such as determining which type of software to invest in to meet a given need.

You will have to be familiar with all relevant software and hardware options, of course, but you will also need excellent people skills to explain your reasoning by your recommendations.

If someone calls you to complain that their machine won’t work when they forgot to turn it on, you’ll have to help them without being condescending. While some tech support jobs are entry-level, compensation can be very good. Here are some of the key skills for tech support roles

Security

Many companies hire experts to design and maintain digital security systems and practices. The objective is to keep the company safe from malware of various types. Besides the expected familiarity with multiple programming languages and information systems, cybersecurity specialists must also have one or more certifications. As cyber-criminals get evermore sophisticated, cybersecurity must as well. If that’s you, you’ll be very much in demand.

  • Information Security Analyst
  • Cyber Security
  • Malware Prevention and Detection
  • Digital Forensics
  • System Reboot
  • Ethical Hacking
  • Compliance
  • IP Setup
  • Wireless Modems/Routers
  • Programming Languages 
  • Operating Systems
  • Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Tools 
  • Firewall, IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) and IDS (Intrusion Detection Systems)

Business Analytics

In the Information Age, more and more companies are turning to data to provide insights into customer behavior and industry trends to inform decision making. But data alone is worthless without human analysis. People who can perform that type of analysis typically have backgrounds in math, statistics, and engineering, as well as understanding business and knowing relevant programming languages.

  • Data Scientist
  • Big Data
  • Data Mining
  • SQL
  • R
  • NoSQL
  • Database Management
  • Tables and Queries

Web Development

Web developers build websites. Although just about anyone can build a website using a template, creating a site from scratch provides a much wider variety of design options and requires someone with experience in both programming and graphic design. Web development is a rapidly growing field, and demand for these services is projected to continue to grow significantly in the near future.

More Technology Skills

  • Creativity
  • Flexibility
  • Leadership
  • Active Listening
  • Mentoring
  • Teamwork
  • Market Research Analyst
  • Problem Solving
  • Research
  • Automation
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Digital Marketing
  • Cloud Computing
  • UX Design
  • Python
  • Ruby
  • Communicating Complex Information in Digestible Amounts
  • Digital Communications
  • Manage Remote Working Teams
  • Continually Review Processes for Improvement 
  • AutoCAD
  • Azure
  • Configure Database Software
  • Operating Systems
  • Mobile Applications
  • js
  • Open Source Technology Integration
  • Optimizing Website Performance

How to Make Your Skills Stand Out

ADD RELEVANT SKILLS TO YOUR RESUME: You can use skills lists to determine whether a certain type of job is a good match for you, and you can also use the names of skills as keywords in your resume or other application materials.

HIGHLIGHT SKILLS IN YOUR COVER LETTER: When you write your cover letter, call attention to some of your relevant skills. For programming jobs, many employers will want to see a portfolio of projects you’ve designed.

MENTION YOUR TECH SKILLS IN JOB INTERVIEWS: Be prepared to give specific examples of times you embodied these skills since your interviewer will likely ask.