Should I explicitly mention skills on my CV?

[ginevrafanshawe]

Hi everyone,

It's basically just what the title says!

Here's an example to make it more clear. Which of the following two would be better?
Option A, explicitly mentioned skills: In this role, my responsibilities were A, B and C. This allowed me to develop skills X, Y, and Z.
Option B, implied skills: In this role, my responsibilities were A, B, and C.

Also, just as a side note, should I have a personal profile at the top of my CV setting out who I am? ie I am a student at X uni, wanting to go into commercial law because XYZ.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi everyone,

It's basically just what the title says!

Here's an example to make it more clear. Which of the following two would be better?
Option A, explicitly mentioned skills: In this role, my responsibilities were A, B and C. This allowed me to develop skills X, Y, and Z.
Option B, implied skills: In this role, my responsibilities were A, B, and C.

Also, just as a side note, should I have a personal profile at the top of my CV setting out who I am? ie I am a student at X uni, wanting to go into commercial law because XYZ.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

Personally, I prefer B, although the occasional highlighted skill when it isn't obvious is ok. A recruiter can read in time management skills if you have had a heavy workload or worked to tight deadlines, they can see when you have worked in a team, so saying you developed teamworking skills is redundant in my view. However, lets say you found a solution to something that was novel, they you way want to highlight creativity or innovative thinking as your reader may not understand your solutions was so.

I don't think a personal profile adds much unless you CV is the only thing you are applying with (e.g. no cover letter or application questions) and you have something interesting to say - if it is just a summary of what your CV is going to say (e.g. you are a student at X university), then it isn't needed. What a personal profile can do though is focus more on your motivations, which may not be evident from your CV (e.g. "Penultimate year law student seeking summer internships in large commercial firms.") or to highlight specific interests/motivations that may not stand out from your CV (e.g. "with a strong interest in Private Equity and Technology, gained from my academics and extracurriculars").