Woman at desk analyzing documents on computer.

Including the right skills is essential when writing your resume. For people in financial services, this could become a conundrum. With a wide range of hard and soft skills under your belt and very little room to include them all, how do you decide which skills make the cut?

Here are some of the most important skills to include on your financial services resume.

Financial Certifications and Knowledge

This is probably the most obvious group of skills you’ll want to feature on your resume, but you don’t want something so vital to slip through the cracks.

In addition to certifications you’ve earned throughout your education and career, you want to list classes you took that may be tangentially related to your specific field. For example, if you’re a CPA who also took classes in financial planning, make sure you list “financial planning” in the skills section of your resume.

Reporting and Analytics

Technology has brought reporting and analytics to the forefront of many sectors, financial services chief among them. Therefore, it is crucial that finance professionals show that they not only have the skills to put together a meaningful report, but also that they can provide insight about that report.

This process of collecting data and finding meaning in the numbers is incredibly important for finance professionals today, so make sure that these skills are highlighted in your resume.

Communication and Professionalism

Financial services professionals are often tasked with presenting and explaining their analyses to a range of people. Some will be financially savvy, some will not. That’s why it is imperative that you can communicate your knowledge effectively and professionally.

Soft skills like these are only becoming more essential. If potential employers don’t see this on your paperwork and in your interview, you could miss out on a great opportunity.

Technical Prowess

Professionals need to be able to use the tools at their disposal. If they can do this, they can be extremely effective in the workplace. Software is ubiquitous in the financial world, especially for analytics and forecasting. The more programs you become familiar with, the more likely it will be that a potential employer uses one of the tools in your arsenal. That will bode very well for you in the hiring process.

Be sure to include your expertise with these various financial software programs on your resume, as well as the basics like Excel and PowerPoint.

If you would like additional help during your job search, please reach out to the expert consultants at Michael Page today. You can also submit your resume and browse our job listings.