How to Write an Analytical Skills Resume: Tips and Benefits

The importance of analytical skills on resumes

Analytical skills are used in nearly every role and company to some degree. This is a broad term that encompasses many skills, including critical thinking, data analysis, and research. These abilities are crucial to organizations because they enable you to study situations in-depth, recognize patterns, and discover feasible solutions.

While analytical skills are soft skills, they benefit greatly from hard skills and help enhance your technical skills. For example, accurately reading data reports enhances your analysis, and an accurate analysis leads to calculated business strategies.

Analytical skills are versatile and used by many different industries. Business analysts use analytical skills to interpret data, predict organizational outcomes, and make risky decisions. An HR manager, on the other hand, uses their analytical skills to examine retention trends and improve the employee experience.

Incorporating analytical skills in resumes

While you can simply list Analytical expertise in your Skills section, we recommend this be only one of the ways you incorporate your analytical skills.

It’s vital to use specific examples to show the hiring manager your abilities rather than just telling them. Choose past achievements where you demonstrated great critical thinking and consider how you can add metrics and quantified outcomes. This gives hiring managers relevant, tangible examples they can compare to their open role.

Additionally, it’s important to review the job description you’re targeting so you can mention the most relevant analytical skills. For example, a job ad might ask for management skills like the ability to identify and solve team conflicts. You can then find a similar example from your work history to display your perfect qualifications. 

The top analytical skills for resumes

“Analytical skills” is a category containing many useful skills, and getting to know them will help you accurately describe your professional expertise. 

Here are our top analytical skills for resumes.

Data analysis

Data analysis is the ability to gather, examine, and interpret large data sets. This enables companies to leverage data-driven decision-making, leading to more effective strategies and actions. 

This skill is most common for data analysts, business analysts, and marketing managers. Still, it’s used by many roles in smaller amounts, such as an HR director who needs to monitor employee satisfaction.

Critical thinking

This refers to considering facts, applying logical reasoning, and questioning assumptions and biases. Objective, logical thinking helps workers solve issues and resolve conflict. It also helps create new processes and improve workflow by questioning the status quo in favor of something more effective.

Problem-solving

While it’s related to other analytical skills, problem-solving is an ability in itself. Finding solutions to issues is vital in countless roles and helps streamline work, improve relationships, and stay competitive with other organizations.

For example, Scrum masters meet with their teams to identify roadblocks, brainstorm solutions, and take action to ensure projects meet deadlines and deliver excellent performance.

Quantitative and qualitative analysis

These terms go hand in hand and are both vital analytical skills, but they both play unique roles.

Quantitative analysis uses measurable data to identify patterns and issues and draw logical conclusions, while qualitative analysis uses non-tangible data like opinions and experiences to understand why or how something happens.

Research skills

Many organizations value the ability to study, research, and discover ideas and data. Although you may not always possess the data you need, having the skills to efficiently discover new information is beneficial.

Time management is an important skill to pair with this. For example, a technical writer may need to research software development requirements, but they need to block off their schedule so they don’t spend the entire day on research.

How to put analytical skills on resumes

Now, let’s see exactly how to list analytical skills on resumes.

Starting with the most obvious, feel free to list highly relevant abilities in your Skills section. This isn’t the most impactful way to include them, so this should definitely be just one of the ways you incorporate your analytical skills.

A great way to hook the reader from the start is by placing analytical skills in your resume summary or objective. This section is right at the start of your resume, and unlike the Skills section, it’s easy to slip a quantified achievement in to reinforce your qualifications. Here’s an example:

Try using this strategy in your Work Experience section, too. Work entries shouldn’t be a to-do list of your past responsibilities – each bullet point should contain valuable, measurable accomplishments that catch the recruiter’s eye. Here’s a quick example:

Eager for more examples? Head over to our resume samples for realistic resumes for a large variety of professions and industries.

Tips and mistakes to avoid

Ready to start building your resume? Then, keep our list handy so you can reference the do’s and don’ts of listing analytical skills quickly and easily.

Here’s a quick summary of tips:

• Describe the outcome: Always describe the impact and outcome of your actions. You can only prove the value of your analytical skills if you discuss how they affected the organization positively.
• Use the STAR method: Try using the STAR method to describe each step of your analytical process. This framework breaks each scenario down into a Situation, Task, Action, and Result.
• Use a great template: Keep your qualifications organized in a professional, easy-to-read resume template. Hiring managers will know exactly where to find what they’re looking for when you have a tidy structure. 
• Be specific: Analytical skills can be complex and technical, and while you shouldn’t use complicated terms, it pays to be specific with situations, projects, and data.
• Mention software when relevant: Did you examine Excel spreadsheets to find the data? Maybe you interpreted data from a human resource information system (HRIS)? Mention the technology you used for greater value and depth.

“Choose past achievements where you demonstrated great critical thinking and consider how you can add metrics and quantified outcomes.”

Display your critical thinking with an analytical skills resume 

Businesses have always needed problem-solving, and the modern world relies on data, so showcase your analytical skills and display your timeless expertise. Here are our key takeaways:

• Consider your different analytical skills to display relevant value, including research skills and data analysis.
• Quantify your achievements to show measurable, tangible outcomes.
• Weave your analytical skills throughout your application, including your resume summary and work experience.
• Read the job description and discover which analytical skills are vital to your potential employer.

Time to highlight your specific analytical skills and impress recruiters. Head over to CVwizard’s resume maker to create a professional resume in minutes with our simple, drag-and-drop interface.