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6 Organizational Skills to Highlight on Your Resume

organizational skills

It is hard to imagine any job where organizational skills are not useful. Every employer wants to have someone on board, who’s capable of staying atop of their agenda and completing all the tasks promptly. But the bigger question is — how do you convey your organizational abilities in a resume? And more importantly – which of the myriad of organizational skills you should highlight? Let’s provide you with answers to these questions and more! 

What Are Organizational Skills?

Organizational skills are the collection of competencies you have to help you:

  • Manage your time.
  • Set priorities.
  • Keep track of items in your care.
  • Work without the need for excessive supervision

In short, these are the soft skills you use to create structure and order in your day-to-day work, stay personally productive, as well as prompting others to do their part effectively.  

6 Organizational Skills For Your Resume

If you are a Type-A personality, you already take pride in being super organized. But the challenge is convincing the hiring manager. Yes, you could simply list ‘Strong Organizational Skills’, but so will other candidates do. So consider elaborating a bit more.

Here are 6 organizational skills, worth highlighting on your resume: 

1. Time Management

When you have time management skills, your employer can count on you to get things done effectively, prioritize multiple tasks, and always make productive use of your time.

Here are some power words to use on your resume if you want to highlight this skill:

  • Goal setting
  • Planning 
  • Scheduling
  • Strategic thinking
  • Task management
  • Prioritization   

2. Communication and Collaboration

These two skills really mesh with one another. When it comes to group projects, your ability to stay on top of things and communicate effectively will make you stand out apart. This makes you a great asset to have on board. 

collaboration in the workplace

The best part? Collaboration was ranked among the top-5 most in-demand skills last year, and will likely make it to this year’s line-up as well! 

3. Delegation

Delegation isn’t just the ability to assign tasks to others. It is the ability to recognize when you cannot use your talents efficiently. So that you could complete the task by outsourcing it to someone more competent than you are. Delegating allows you to streamline your workload and stay on top of things. 

The ability to effectively delegate is particularly valued among senior and executive-level employers. If that’s the position you’re after, check the respective resume samples our team has previously created. They’ll provide further guidance on how to best describe your ability to delegate and empower others to do the necessary work. 

4. Administration

Can you make a team or project run smoothly? Can you keep others rallied around a shared project? Are you good at supporting others in whatever it is that they are doing? If so, you should definitely highlight your administrative skills on the resume.

organization and administrative skills

Here are several examples of administrative skills worth a mention: 

  • Office coordination
  • Attention to details
  • Appointments booking and management
  • Recordkeeping
  • Calendar management
  • Meeting planning 
  • Event organization 
  • Travel arrangement and coordination
  • Videoconferencing 

5. Research and Analysis

If you have successful research and analysis experience, you also have proven organizational skills. Researching requires that you find adequate sources, gather and organize information, and maintain impeccable notes. The ability to analyze also means that you know how to find information, and use that data to draw accurate conclusions. Thus, if your new job demands a lot of document work and/or recordkeeping, bring these qualities to the front. 

6. Physical Organization 

Have you ever had to handle physical assets, such as a fleet of company vehicles? Are you responsible for the maintenance and organization of a communal workspace? If you are the person people count on to keep track of things, that is another organizational skill.

inventory checking and management

When describing your facility or physical asset management skills, bring up the following:

  • Inventory tracking and management 
  • Budgeting 
  • Returns management 
  • Stock management 
  • Supply ordering
  • Vendor management 
  • Reliability 
  • Responsiveness

How to Improve Organizational Skills 

It’s easy to see why organizational skills are important. But if you are not the most organized person out there? Fret not! With a bit of dedication, you can build up for the lack in this area. 

Here are some tips for improving your organizational skills! 

1. Build Self-Discipline

Organization skills depend a lot on self-discipline. Think about “physical organization” for a moment. People who have that skill tend to immediately put things away. They don’t tell themselves they will deal with that object later. 

The same thing applies to sending emails in a timely manner, responding to texts, or scheduling appointments. Work to get rid of any tendencies towards procrastination or letting small things go until they become ‘big issues’.

2. Make To-Do Lists

When you have a to-do list, you are much less likely to forget about an important task or item. 

prepare to-do lists

Create a simple to-do list at the beginning of each workday. Better yet, create a master list at the start of the month. Then, break that down into weekly and daily lists. You can then supplement your daily lists with the other action items that come across your desk. If you prefer, find a productivity app that you can access from your phone.

3. Keep a Clean Workspace

A clean work area promotes higher efficiency. That’s a fact proven by a body of research. Scientists agree that our physical environment, directly and indirectly, impacts our cognition, behavior, and mood. A cluttered space can lead to increased stress and anxiety levels, undermine the ability to focus, and even impact our eating choices. 

Thus, give your workplace a serious spring-clean. Then set worth an organizational system that works for you. Keep clutter to a minimum, and remove any paperwork that isn’t relevant to your current projects.

To Conclude 

Organization is one of the more important skills to put on a resume. It’s a competency, valued in virtually all fields. So when working on your new resume, be sure to drop systematic cues of your organizational abilities across different sections, and then add some to your cover letter!

Author

  • Elena Prokopets

    Elena runs content operations at Freesumes since 2017. She works closely with copywriters, designers, and invited career experts to ensure that all content meets our highest editorial standards. Up to date, she wrote over 200 career-related pieces around resume writing, career advice... more

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