“Rigour, good listener, discretion, proficient in Microsoft Office.” If your skills section looks like this line, it also looks like almost every other candidate’s. The problem is not that these qualities are false: it is that they say nothing about the role you are applying for. A recruiter, a payroll administrator, an HRBP and a training manager do not need the same skills, and hiring managers know this very well. This article sorts the skills expected for each of these four jobs, then shows how to prove them in your experience lines instead of just stating them.
Why the skills section is read last
An HR recruiter reads a CV in a fairly stable order: job title and summary, current role, previous roles, education, and only then the skills section. They do not read it to discover what you can do, but to check what your experience has already suggested. A skill that appears nowhere else on the page does not convince them.
The section still has two real functions.
- It works as a keyword list. Applicant tracking systems look for the exact terms in the job ad: “DSN”, “structured interview”, “GEPP” (strategic workforce planning), “Qualiopi”. If these words are missing, the CV can be ranked poorly before any human reads it. Our article on ATS and recruiter tools explains how this works.
- It gives the tool inventory. HRIS, payroll software, ATS, LMS, spreadsheet: in HR, tools are a screening criterion in their own right, especially in payroll and recruitment.
The rule that follows is simple: a technical skill or a tool in the section, a piece of evidence in the experience. Personal qualities show through facts and rarely through a list.
Recruitment: the skills that count
Technical know-how
A recruiter, in-house or in an agency, is judged on their ability to find, assess and convince. The skills to show are therefore:
- taking a brief from a manager, that is, turning a vague request into a precise profile;
- sourcing: posting ads, direct approach, Boolean search, building talent pools;
- assessment: structured interviews, work samples, reference checks;
- negotiating the offer and following up until onboarding;
- managing the pipeline and a few metrics (time to hire, offer acceptance rate).
Tools to name
A specific ATS, LinkedIn Recruiter or an equivalent, the job boards you actually use, a spreadsheet. Do not list a tool you have seen once in a demo.
What makes the difference
The recruiter who knows the job they are hiring for. If you recruit technicians, nurses or developers, show that you speak their language. It is a rare skill, and it is easy to prove in an experience bullet.
Payroll and personnel administration
The technical base
In payroll, skills are very concrete and recruiters often check them with a test. They expect:
- producing and checking payslips (starters and leavers, absences, overtime);
- the monthly DSN (nominative social declaration) and event notifications;
- applying one or more collective agreements;
- end-of-contract documents and the final settlement;
- additional filings depending on the company (insurance schemes, health cover, occupational health).
On the personnel administration side, add drafting contracts and amendments, the DPAE (pre-hiring declaration), keeping employee files and the staff register.
Tools
A named payroll package, with the volume of payslips processed, the time-tracking software if you use one, and a spreadsheet with two or three specific functions. We detail what the job expects in the article on becoming a payroll administrator.
What makes the difference
Reliability, proven by checks: “checking month-on-month payroll variances before approval” says more than “rigour”. To see how an entry-level personnel administration role is presented, look at the HR assistant CV example.
HRBPs and HR generalists
A broad range
Generalist roles (HR officer, HR manager in a small or mid-sized company, HRBP) require breadth. The expected skills cover:
- applied employment law: contracts, discipline, terminations, working time;
- employee relations: preparing CSE (works council) meetings, consultations, negotiating agreements;
- supporting managers on team issues;
- talent management: annual and professional reviews, talent reviews, internal mobility;
- reporting: HR dashboard, payroll costs, absenteeism.
For an HRBP, understanding the business
What sets an HRBP apart from a generalist is how well they read the business they support: organisation, economic stakes, future skills needs. On a CV, this shows in lines about decisions made with a leadership team, rather than processes administered. The article on the HRBP CV develops this point.
Tools
An HRIS, possibly a talent management tool, a spreadsheet and a presentation tool for committees. For a complete generalist example, look at the HR officer CV example.
Training and development
The job’s skills
The training manager and their team work on three levels: design, management and evaluation. The skills to show are:
- gathering and analysing needs with managers;
- building and following up the skills development plan;
- managing the budget and funding (OPCO skills operators, CPF personal training accounts);
- the relationship with training providers and checking their Qualiopi certification;
- evaluating programmes, beyond immediate satisfaction;
- running professional reviews and their six-year summary.
Tools
A learning platform (LMS), an authoring tool if you design content, a spreadsheet for budget tracking. The article on the training and learning & development CV shows how to prioritise these elements.
What makes the difference
The link with performance: a training plan built from real needs, and programmes whose effect you can describe. An L&D recruiter is wary of CVs that list catalogues without results.
Proving a skill in an experience line
The skills section lists, the experience proves. Here is how to move from one to the other, with three fictional rewrites to adapt to your own background.
Recruitment
Before
Skills: sourcing, interviewing, negotiation.
After, in the experience section
Recruited maintenance technicians for three sites: direct approach on LinkedIn Recruiter, structured interviews with workshop managers, negotiated offers with management.
Payroll
Before
Proficient in payroll and DSN.
After, in the experience section
Produced and checked monthly payslips on Silae (retail collective agreement), filed the DSN and processed sick leave notifications.
HRBP
Before
Supporting managers, change management.
After, in the experience section
Supported the sales leadership in reorganising two teams: scoping with the director, informing the CSE, internal mobility plan and follow-up of departures.
The method in three questions
For each skill on your list, ask yourself: in which role did I use it, on what scope, and with what result or how often? If you find no answer, remove the skill from the list or phrase it as basic knowledge (“basic payroll knowledge”). An HR recruiter appreciates this honesty, and will check it at interview anyway.
Organising the section
Separate techniques (the core of the job), tools (named) and, if you have them, languages with their level. Two to four lines are enough. Personal qualities can disappear from the section: if your experience is well written, they already show.
Once your lines are rewritten, you can put them together in the editor and create your CV for free. You choose the content, the tool takes care of the presentation, and the resulting PDF keeps its sections readable by screening software: the keywords in your skills list are properly recognised there, instead of getting lost in a graphic column.
Frequently asked questions
How many skills should go on an HR CV?
Between eight and fifteen terms, spread over two to four lines, are enough in most cases. Beyond that, the list becomes a catalogue that nobody reads. Keep the ones that match the job ad and that you can prove.
Should you list soft skills?
Not as a list. “Listening” or “discretion” are expected of every HR candidate and differentiate no one. Show them through a situation instead: a delicate conversation handled, confidential information managed, a conflict calmed down.
Should you rate your level on each skill?
Gauges and stars are best avoided: they mean nothing to a recruiter and are poorly read by ATS. Give the context of use instead (“Excel: pivot tables, XLOOKUP”) or own up to basic knowledge (“basic payroll knowledge”).
How do you adapt the section to each job ad?
Reread the ad, pick out five or six technical terms and check that they appear both in your skills section and in at least one experience line. It takes a few minutes and noticeably improves the match with the ad.