The exact skills you need in your resume to qualify for jobs in ten hot sectors

For our most recent Thinkopolis labour report, our team of data analysts poured over the information contained in literally millions of Canadian job postings from the past two years.
Their key findings were that soft skills: communications, teamwork, customer-relations, etc. are highly in demand across industries. So too are computer literacy skills such as using Microsoft office, document production, file management and sharing.
All of these are the skills that your first few jobs working as part of a team, interacting with the public in the service industry, and a basic education can give you. They’ve become the price of admission for the job market in most sectors.
But once you have these, what about taking it to the next level? Our team also looked at the top ten in-demand skills for popular sectors – after they’d removed those competencies that are sought-after across all jobs.
Here’s what you need to qualify for jobs in ten hot fields
Accounting / Finance
Financial statements / reporting |
Admin/Clerical Travel arrangements Administrative support Medical terminology Expense reports Secretarial Invoicing Accounts payable and receivable Office supply ordering Charts Office equipment |
Arts / Media Adobe Photoshop Adobe acrobat Graphic design Journalism Video production / editing Illustrator HTML Graphical user interface InDesign Photography |
Engineering CAD 3d Graphic design Professional engineer Automation Engineering design Layout design Cost control PLC Microsoft project |
Hospitality and food servicePhysical demand Certified CPR Food safety Cooking Cash handling Employee training / instruction Restaurant management Dependable Public speaking Labour relations |
Human resources Employee relations HRIS Labour relations Organizational development Training programs PeopleSoft Surveys Performance analysis Leadership training ADP |
Manufacturing
Welding |
Marketing Market planning Market strategy Marketing communications Public relations Brand management Adobe Acrobat Product management Adobe Photoshop Press releases Graphic design |
Skilled trades
Blueprints |
Technology and Digital Media
SQL |
Employers search the resume database for candidates, looking at 16,000 resumes a day. Their most frequent search method is by keywords, similar to a Google search. Here are the precise keywords that they look for in resumes by sector.
The exact resume keywords employers search for by industry:
FinanceAnalyst Business Financial Accountant Sales Bank Service Data Customer Payroll |
Hospitality
Sales |
Healthcare
Analyst |
MarketingBusiness Analyst Bilingual Web Data Digital Media Communications Writer Designer |
Skilled Trades
Maintenance |
Technology
Developer |
Acquiring some of the skills most relevant to employers in your chosen field, and making sure to include the relevant keywords they search for in resumes can greatly increase your chances of success.
You can read the full in-demand skills report and all of our labour market research at Workopolis.com/research.
See also:
How to tailor your resume to any job posting
How to optimize your resume for the 10-second skim
Should you put a picture on your resume?
What to include on your resume to get an IT job
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