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Skills
A "skills" section shouldn't take up much room - it's just a list of technologies you're familiar with and technical skills that you have.
Frankly, I don't think it's all that useful to the hiring manager, but non-technical recruiters, HR folks, and ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) do use it in preliminary screening. So it's worth including.
Structure
I like to use a simple list of bullet points, where each bullet point is a logical grouping of related technologies. For example:
- Go, Python, JavaScript
- PostgreSQL, SQLite, MongoDB
- Docker, GCP, AWS
- Git, GitHub, GitHub Actions, Jenkins
Don't Try to Qualify Your Skills
I see some resumes that look like this:
- Go (advanced)
- Python (intermediate)
- JavaScript (beginner)
Or this:
- Go 4/5
- Python 3/5
- JavaScript 2/5
What am I supposed to understand from this as a hiring manager??? What does "3/5" mean??? I have no idea. It's all relative, and it's all nonsense. Just list the stuff you feel comfortable working with, and leave it at that.
Resume Versions
It's okay to have multiple versions of your resume.
When you apply for a full-stack Python job, make sure to emphasize those skills. If you're applying for a back-end Go job, again, make sure to emphasize those skills. If you find yourself applying to a few different types of jobs, it's okay to maintain a few different versions of your resume, each tailored to the type of job you're applying for.
When I'm hiring a junior backend Go developer I'd rather see this:
- Go, Docker, Kubernetes, PostgreSQL
- ...
Than this:
- Go, Docker, Kubernetes, PostgreSQL, Java, JavaScript, C# C, C++, Rust, Ruby, PHP, Python, ...
The first is more believable, and it emphasizes the skills that are actually relevant to the job I'm hiring for.
Assignment
Add a "skills" section to your resume.