# Special Skills and Qualifications: 7 Things Worth Listing Canonical URL: https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/types-of-skills/special-skills-and-qualifications/ Markdown URL: https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/types-of-skills/special-skills-and-qualifications.md Entity type: Article Last updated: 2026-07-07 Language: en Primary audience: professionals improving building self-awareness at work Owner: Headway Skills Contact: https://headwayskills.com/contact/ ## Short answer What counts as special skills and qualifications on a resume or application: seven types to list, how to state your level honestly, and how to match the job. ## Key facts - Title: Special Skills and Qualifications: 7 Things Worth Listing - Category: Types of Skills - Primary skill: Building Self-Awareness - Related skills: Influence, Communication - Primary keyword: special skills and qualifications - Source page: https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/types-of-skills/special-skills-and-qualifications/ ## What this page covers - What counts as special skills and qualifications on a resume or application: seven types to list, how to state your level honestly, and how to match the job. - Practical guidance for special skills and qualifications - How this topic connects to Building Self-Awareness ## Detailed explanation Special skills and qualifications are the specific, checkable abilities and credentials you bring beyond a job's minimum requirements: software and technical skills, equipment or lab techniques, languages at a stated level, licenses, certifications, special training, and interpersonal skills you can back with an example. What makes them "special" is that they fit the role, not that they are rare. That last point matters if you are looking at an empty section and feeling that [nothing you have is special enough](/knowledge/self-awareness/how-to-identify-your-strengths/). Most students and recent graduates have more to put there than they expect. The hard part is usually seeing it, then choosing what a particular employer will care about, and there is a fairly reliable way to do both. ## What counts as special skills and qualifications In hiring documents, special qualifications are the ones added on top of a position's minimum qualifications, because of the specific duties of that position. Bilingual skills are a typical example, and so are licenses, permits and certifications the law requires for the work. The minimum qualifications decide whether you are considered at all. The special ones are what separate you from everyone else who also meets the minimum. That makes this section different from the rest of your resume or application. It is not a second listing of your degree or your last job title. It is the place for what goes beyond them, and only for what the job will actually use. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts it plainly in its guidance on resumes and applications: list special skills closely related to the job, such as computer applications or equipment operation. So the useful question is not "what is impressive about me?" It is "what do I have that this role will put to work?" ## 7 types of special skills and qualifications worth listing Cal Poly Humboldt's career center describes this section as the home for computer and technical skills, lab or field techniques and equipment, certifications, and special training. Add languages, licenses and evidence-backed interpersonal skills, and you have seven places to look. For an entry-level applicant, most entries will come from coursework, labs, [part-time jobs, clubs and volunteering](/knowledge/types-of-skills/define-transferable-skills/). An employer judges a skill by whether you have used it, not by where you picked it up. ### 1. Computer and software skills Name the actual programs and tools, not a category. "Excel, including pivot tables and lookups" tells a reader something; "computer literate" tells them nothing. Keep to the tools the posting mentions or the work clearly involves, and state your level honestly. If you hold a software certificate, such as one for Google Analytics, Microsoft Excel or Salesforce, it documents the level for you. ### 2. Technical skills, equipment, and lab or field techniques Hands-on techniques count, even when you learned them in a course rather than a job. A lab method you ran all semester, field sampling from a project, a machine you were trained to operate at a summer job: equipment operation is exactly the kind of job-related special skill employers expect to find here. Say what you did with it, not just its name. ### 3. Languages, with a stated level "Fluent" is the vaguest word you can put in this section. A recognized level is far more credible: a CEFR level from A1 to C2, an ACTFL rating, or a test score such as TOEFL or IELTS. If you have never taken a test, rating yourself against the CEFR or ACTFL descriptions still gives an honest, meaningful estimate. A language weighs most when the role involves international contact or the employer works abroad, and bilingual skills are one of the classic special qualifications in civil-service hiring. ### 4. Licenses A license is not the same as a certification. A license is a legal condition for doing certain work; a real estate license, for example, is required to work as an agent or broker. If a posting requires a license you hold, put it at the top of the section, where nobody can miss it. Only list licenses you actually hold and that relate to the role. ### 5. Certifications Certifications document that a skill has been assessed, without being a legal requirement. They come in several kinds: professional certificates tied to job duties, course certificates, language certificates, software certificates, and health and safety certificates such as First Aid/CPR or OSHA training. A First Aid certificate is a real asset for a camp counselor or a warehouse role and noise on an application for a marketing internship. Relevance decides, every time. ### 6. Special training, workshops, and affiliations Structured learning outside your degree belongs here: a workshop series, an intensive course, a training program from a part-time employer. Professional affiliations and volunteer roles can supply entries too, especially when you have little work experience, because they show engagement with the field. Treat each one the same way as a skill: what did it equip you to do? ### 7. Interpersonal skills, backed by evidence Skills like teamwork or communication belong in this section when the posting asks for them, but only with proof attached. A bare label cannot be checked, and nearly every applicant claims it. What works is a [short, specific statement](/knowledge/soft-skills-at-work/career-skills-resume/) of what you did and what came of it: you trained three new hires at your weekend job, or you kept a five-person project group on schedule by setting up weekly check-ins. If you are unsure which of these skills you could honestly claim, it helps to [find your strongest work skills](https://assessment.headwayskills.com/) first, so the examples you choose rest on something genuinely strong. ## How to choose and word your special skills and qualifications A long list is not the goal. A short list where every line connects to the job is. Start with the posting. Baker College's career services recommends reading the job posting first and mirroring its keywords, covering both hard skills, such as project management, and soft skills, such as teamwork. The person reading your application, and often the software screening it, compares what you wrote against the posting's language. If the posting says "data visualization" and you write "making charts," you are describing the same thing in words that will not match. Then sort what you have. For each skill on your raw list, ask two questions: does this job use it, and can I point to a time I used it? Entries that pass both go in. Entries that pass only the first need an example before they are worth a line. Entries that pass neither come out, however proud of them you are. Finally, state each level honestly. CUNY's career planning guidance advises adding a qualifier such as "intermediate" when you are less than proficient, or leaving the skill out, and listing licenses and certifications, sometimes with the year you earned them. Overstated skills tend to surface quickly, in an interview question or in the first weeks of the job. That is also why the honest version protects you. Even people who listed nothing but the truth can feel [a jolt of doubt](/knowledge/confidence/imposter-syndrome/) once the offer arrives. One of the young people we interviewed about starting work put it this way: > I was actually really scared when I started. Would I even be able to do this — or had I oversold myself? A list you can stand behind line by line does not make that feeling disappear, but it gives you a solid answer to it: every claim on the page is something you have already done. ## What makes a short list convincing Look at what the hard parts of this actually were: seeing what you have, choosing what a particular employer will use, and putting it in words a stranger believes in a few seconds. None of those is a formatting problem. **Building Self-Awareness** is where the list starts. Before you can fill the section, you need a clear view of what you are genuinely good at, not just what you have been exposed to. Asking how you work when you use a skill, how it feels, and what results you get turns "I have nothing special" into a short list of real candidates. Asking a lecturer, supervisor or colleague for specific feedback surfaces strengths you take for granted, and the blind spots you might otherwise overclaim. **Influence** is what turns that list into a pitch. A qualifications section works only when it starts from what is in it for the employer, the duties in the posting, rather than from what you are proudest of. The same principles that make any pitch persuasive apply on a single page: keep it simple, make the first line count, back each claim with an example, and do not overstate. Over time, being known for one specific expertise is how a line on paper becomes a reputation. **Communication** decides whether a genuine skill even registers. The section is read in seconds, so state the main point first, be clear and direct, be brief, and write for the person on the other end, someone scanning against a posting. Precise wording beats vague labels. And the same clarity carries over when an interviewer asks you to talk about any line you wrote. Each of these grows with practice, which is what makes them worth measuring. The **free Job Skills Test** looks at all three as part of a set of twelve work skills and shows you [which one to strengthen next](https://assessment.headwayskills.com/), so the next qualifications section you write rests on skills you are actively building rather than ones you hope are there. ## Your list is probably longer than it looks Some of this may already be familiar. If you have ever been the person a group project turned to when the spreadsheet broke, or the one a manager at your part-time job asked to show the new hire the ropes, you have a special skill and the evidence for it in the same moment. Knowing your strengths, pitching them to the right reader and describing them clearly are all things you can get better at, without becoming someone you are not, starting with the ones that matter most for the roles you are aiming at now. They count for more as applications get more competitive and the jobs you want ask for more, so each one you write now is practice that compounds. What helps most at this point is an honest picture of where you are starting from. ## Know which skills you can claim The only thing left is to see which of your work skills are already strong and which are worth developing before the next application. The Job Skills Test is a **free** self-assessment of the twelve skills that shape how you work with others and manage yourself. In 7 minutes, it shows where you stand on each and which ones will make the biggest difference to the case you put in front of an employer. ## Who this is for - Professionals building practical workplace skills - Readers looking for specific, usable work advice - Managers, educators, and coaches supporting career readiness ## Common questions ### What is this guide about? What counts as special skills and qualifications on a resume or application: seven types to list, how to state your level honestly, and how to match the job. ### Which Headway skill does this connect to? This guide connects primarily to Building Self-Awareness. It also relates to Influence, Communication. ### What is the recommended next step? Use the free Work Skills Test to reflect on which work skill to improve next. ## Related pages - https://headwayskills.com/knowledge.md - https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/types-of-skills.md - https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/self-awareness.md - https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/influence.md - https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/communication.md - https://headwayskills.com/work-skills-test.md ## Citation guidance Use the canonical page when citing this content: https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/types-of-skills/special-skills-and-qualifications/ Preferred summary: "What counts as special skills and qualifications on a resume or application: seven types to list, how to state your level honestly, and how to match the job." ## Change log - 2026-07-07: Content collection version published.