How To Show Active Listening Skills on Your Resume

Mentioning active listening on your resume may show employers you can listen to other people and communicate effectively. This can be important for your professional relationships in the workplace and future interaction with team members. Learning how to describe this skill on your resume can help you progress to the interview stage. In this article, we discuss what active listening means, detail how you can include active listening skills on your resume, offer helpful tips for a successful application and share a template and example of this type of resume.

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What are active listening skills on your resume?

Learning about the importance of active listening skills on your resume can help strengthen your job application. Active listening is another form of communication that allows people to listen in conversations and understand what the other person is trying to say. It's important to hear the message behind words and how the speaker might start the conversation. People usually represent their awareness through body language, vocal tone, facial expressions, hand gestures and eye contact.

Showing examples of your active listening skills can help the employer understand your level of communication. Many companies prefer employees to have strong communication skills if they plan to interact with customers. It might be worth noting previous employment and how this developed your active listening skills. You can provide examples of when you focused on the speaker, understood their message, recognised the information and responded accordingly.

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How to show active listening skills on your resume

Sharing your active listening skills on your resume can suggest that you can communicate clearly with others. You can refer to your active listening skills in a dedicated skills section and when describing an example of when you've used them. For example, some employers might want people who can listen to customers, acknowledge their message, remain patient with them and respond to their concerns. Here's a guide you can follow when crafting the section for active listening skills:

1. Make a list of examples

It might be worth planning your active listening examples before crafting the skills section on your resume. Describing your experiences of using active listening to interact with different types of people can help an employer understand your communication style. You can consider adding statistics to each example and explaining how active listening benefited your previous employment. For example, you might write, Listened to team members when discussing upcoming projects and forming achievable deadlines.

Employers usually prefer to see how these talents improved your work performance and helped you advance in your career. These examples may also include your understanding of non-verbal communication and how often you employ it in a conversation. You can mention the duration of eye contact, formal hand gestures, space movement, tone of voice and the phrasing of words. It may be a good idea to copy these examples into the skills section once you have finished.

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2. Check the job advertisement

You can read over the job advertisement and choose keywords you want to include in the skills section on your resume. This may show the employer how dedicated you are to getting the first interview. For example, if the role focuses on helping and talking to people, you can mention how listening to customers might strengthen professional relationships. Keywords on your resume may also help employers find your job application through an applicant tracking system (ATS).

It might be a good idea to think about other relevant words to include. For example, you can mention, Observed the formal meeting and made a note of the relevant information. Expanding your vocabulary and using synonyms of listening might increase your chances of getting the job. You can also use the keywords in other sections of your resume and throughout your cover letter.

Related: Tips for Writing a Captivating Cover Letter

3. Create a skills section

The skills section on your resume usually follows your job qualifications and relevant employment. You can label this section 'relevant skills' and include your active listening examples. It might be a good idea to mention the most important skills that are relevant to the job. For example, if you want to apply for the administrator position, you might include technical, communication, active listening, time management and organisation in your skills section.

You can refer to the skills section when you discuss your talents and suitability for the role in the cover letter. It can also be important to keep the structure of this information neat, as the employer may want to read over it again before interviewing you. Some people also talk about their skills in the personal statement and how this helped with their career growth. A section listing your active listening skills section might prove more effective on the first or second page of your resume.

4. List examples in bullet form

It might be a good idea to write your active listening skills in bullet form, as this can provide the employer with a comprehensive list. People usually include three to four examples of skills and how they used them in previous employment or qualifications. For example, you might write, Acknowledged customer feedback and used this to improve overall work performance. Keeping the skills list short can help the employer analyse resumes during the recruitment process with ease.

Employers often prefer the bullet list to have distinct examples of how you might use one skill. For example, when talking about active listening in the work environment, you can discuss how you may show this skill around different people. Listening can mean showing your awareness, identifying body language, understanding the conversation and planning a detailed response.

Top 3 tips for a successful application

Understanding the tips for a successful application can help you personalise your resume to the job advertisement. Many people focus on the skills section and how this might benefit their role. You can also consider mentioning active listening skills in your introductory paragraph, as this may show the employer you're a strong listener. Here are some tips for strengthening your resume:

1. Mention contact information first

It can be important to include your personal contact information at the top of the resume in bold writing. These details might cover your email address, professional website, phone number and home address. Mentioning this information can help the employer contact you about the application progress and other updates regarding the recruitment stages. Some employers might also note your contact details when talking to you about other positions in the company.

2. Write a personal statement

You can write a personal statement that describes your personality and skills. This statement may provide an overview of your desirable traits and the type of role you're looking for. For example, you might include, A passionate and determined individual looking for an administration role within the business industry that relies on strong listening and organisation skills. It might be worth thinking about your preferred job and how you might use your skills in that industry.

3. Discuss your job accomplishments

Mentioning the biggest accomplishments in your career can show the employer how you achieve your goals. This can strengthen your resume and help you describe the positive outcomes of previous employment. You can include this information at the top of your resume or after your job description section. It might be a good idea to describe statistics in your career accomplishments, as employers may find it easier to visualise your achievements when using numbers.

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Active listening skills on resume template

Here's a template you can refer to when crafting the skills section on your resume:

Relevant skills

Active listening

• [include examples in a bullet list with statistics]

Communication

• [include examples in a bullet list with statistics]

Organisation

• [include examples in a bullet list with statistics]

Active listening skills on resume example

Below is an example you can follow when forming your skills section:

Relevant skills

Active listening

• Received 'employee of the month' award when acknowledging customer queries.

• Observed staff meetings and documented important customer information.

• Achieved 45% more sales when listening to customers and taking on feedback.

• Reflected on feedback from team members, which boosted work performance by 10%.

Communication

• Communicated with customers regarding products and positive shop experience.

• Responded to 40 emails per day, which helped expand the professional network.

• Talked and listened to colleagues about upcoming projects that required 30 hours of study time.

• Conversed with the head administrator about leadership opportunities.

Organisation

• Arranged company meetings to discuss a 65% increase in the sales department.

• Set five daily goals to help complete tasks throughout shifts.

• Organised schedules for team members and updated the daily objectives.

• Planned regular client meetings, which increased new finance accounts by 25%.