October 27, 2020
If you’re like most people, you hope to have a rewarding, fulfilling career that includes, of course, a promotion, raise, or other forms of recognition for your efforts. While there are many factors that contribute to overall success in your career trajectory, one of the most important in our opinion, is effectively building and upgrading your skillset.
This is true not only because you’ll need specific skills in order to perform optimally, but also because continuously developing your skills adds value over time – something that all employers love! This is the exact reason why there are so many skill upgrade programs that can be taken part-time – allowing you to simultaneously learn and contribute your skills on the job.
With the importance of building and upgrading your skill set in mind, we thought it would be helpful to share our top 10 tips that you can use to help develop and upgrade your skills, without breaking the bank; as well as specific examples of what skills to include (and not to include) on your resume.
At Resume Ninjas, not only do we help our clients develop highly-competitive resumes, but we also work closely with them to help plan cost-effective paths to success in their chosen career – which often involves carefully matching employer needs to existing skillsets and offering recommendations for upgrades.
By definition, a skill set is a group of skills or abilities that can be applied to your career, volunteer, or creative endeavours to help you perform optimally. You can develop your skillset through training, education, personal development, or a bit of all three! The benefits of increasing your skillset not only include better performance on the job. When you get to the level of an expert at a particular skill – it will most certainly earn you top dollar!
Before we jump into our discussion on the top 10 tips for developing your skillset, it’s important that you first understand the difference between the two main types of skill sets – soft and hard skills – along with how they influence your job application process and ultimately, your success.
Soft Skills are skills that refer to you how you interact with others at work, and often include personality traits and other interpersonal skills. They help paint a picture in your potential employers head – telling them a bit more about how you as an individual, will benefit your new team.
Some examples of popular soft skills include:
Team-player
Time Management
Leadership
Attention to Detail
Stress-Management
Organizational
Communication
While some of these items should be obvious to potential employers, they often aren’t. For example, if you’re a computer programmer that’s being hired to do mostly autonomous work, it would be helpful for your employer to know they have someone who also has excellent leadership skills to jump in as an Interim Project Manager if the team is falling behind. It’s always easier to hire from within!
An easy way to think about hard skills is to refer to them as technical skills. These are the skills that you will need to develop via a course, self-research, or further education, and include things like:
Computer skills
Presentation skills
Microsoft office skills
Project management skills
Trade specific skills
Language skills
Design skills
Writing skills
Certifications
As you can see, these types of skills will have varying levels of proficiency, so it’s helpful if you include your level of understanding when listing hard skills on your resume (beginner, intermediate, or advanced).
Now that you have a better understanding of what skill sets are, and the main types of skill sets, let’s discuss in detail our 10 tips for developing both your soft and hard skills on a budget – in order to get (and retain) the job of your dreams!
Many seasoned professionals in a variety of industries have mentorship programs where they help coach and guide others. If you don’t know of any in your particular industry, a great way to find them is to Google “find a mentor for ____” and insert your industry, or by connecting with people on LinkedIn.
For example, our friend Andy Dhillon runs a mentorship program for students who are looking to become CPA’s. Through his mentorship program, he contributes his diverse accounting skill set to encourage financial literacy, foster well-being, and help the students obtain their career goals. Working with a mentor like Andy is a great way for you to develop both your soft & hard skills, to make your application as competitive as possible.
You’ll be amazed at how many hard skills you can learn & perfect just from watching videos online. From woodworking to computer software, to real estate, if you can dream it, you can learn how to do it online.
We suggest that you do a bit of background research on the person you’ll be learning from, prior to starting, to ensure that they’re a trusted source in whatever skill set you’re trying to develop or perfect.
This is a great example of how to learn something on a budget – especially because you’re doing it right now! There are a plethora of online blogs that are written by professionals in almost every industry where you can upgrade both your soft & hard skills. If you’re the old-fashioned type, visit your local bookstore! One of our favourite types of books that will help you learn a new skill set is the “Dummies” series.
Because of the recent shift to working and learning from home, online courses and webinars are in abundance – and many of them are free! One of our absolute favourites for upgrading your skillset in a variety of topics is Coursera – where you can take courses for free from world-class Universities and companies. They charge a small fee if you require a certificate or diploma, but other than that, there’s no cost to you.
Do you have a friend or relative who works in an industry that you’d like to get more experience in? Job shadowing is an excellent way to learn both what their day to day looks like while simultaneously developing your skillset! As we mentioned in #4, because times have changed and the majority of us now work from home, the likelihood of someone being able to shadow you has significantly increased – so it’s best to use this to your benefit.
Most of us have had to intern at one time or another, so it probably doesn’t come as a surprise to you that this method made our top 10 list. Most intern positions are paid, although at a much lower rate than you’ll receive once you’re gainfully employed in your new profession.
On the other hand, volunteering means that you won’t get paid, but you will often be given a lot of autonomy and a wide variety of tasks to do.
Hot tip – include volunteer experience on your resume under the title ‘professional experience’ with the rest of your work experience, rather than separating the two. Experience is experience, regardless of if you’re paid or not!
This is a method of building or upgrading your skillset that often gets overlooked. By joining a professional association, not only will you be able to attend talks, and read articles written by thought leaders in your industry, but you’ll also have the chance to network with them and find out what skill sets they recommend you build in order to be successful. It’s truly a win-win in our eyes!
Many companies are eligible for grants of up to $300,000 to help train and retain skilled workers in a variety of fields. Because the grants that are available will depend on your geographic location, it’s best to check with your local employment office to find the most up-to-date and relevant information.
This is one of our favourite items on our top 10 list, because it’s more of an attitude than a skill – but will result in so many benefits for anyone that embodies it. A growth mindset simply means subscribing to the idea that your talents (aka skill sets) can be developed by hard work, good strategies, and input from others.
If you glance back at the items on our top 10 list so far, you’ll find that all of them fit into one or more of these categories! Being optimistic and believing that you can develop a robust skillset without having to pay for an expensive education will take you a lot further than you know – so it’s best to keep that in mind along your journey.
The last item on our list should be practiced along with the other nine items in order to guarantee your success. Each and every time you develop new skills, you should immediately implement them and ask for feedback from a supervisor, mentor, colleague, or friend. Feedback is an invaluable tool that will allow you to understand where you still need more training, as well as uncover your strengths. That way, when you go back to further develop your skills, you know where to focus and where you can shift some energy from.
Now that you understand what a skill set is, the different types of skill sets, as well as some tangible ideas of how to develop your skillset on a budget, it’s important to discuss which skills you should (and shouldn’t) include on your resume.
Thankfully, the answer to this question is pretty easy, as long as you’ve read the job description thoroughly. Typically, an employer will list both the hard and soft skills that they’re looking for in potential applicants. If you’re running out of room and need to choose between technical skills or soft skills, a good rule of thumb is to always include the technical skills that the employer is asking for first, as they tell your future employer that you’re skilled and able to do the job that they’re hiring for.
You should also make a habit of including any skills which you know will set you apart from the other applicants. For example, if you speak multiple languages be sure to list them as most companies see multilingualism as a very strong asset, even if they don’t explicitly mention that in the job description.
To further your understanding of the implementation of skill sets, we thought it would be helpful to include a few examples:
Truck Driver
10 years of Truck Driving Experience
Certified Class * License
Attention to Detail
Reliable and Responsible
Engineer
BA in Engineering
Analytical, problem-solver
Excellent time-management & planning skills
Project Management Skills
Electrician
Electrician Qualified
Excellent Manual Dexterity & Vision
Strong Team-player
Strong electrical installation and safety knowledge
We hope you now have a better understanding of what skill sets are, the different types of skill sets, some tips on how to develop your skillset on a budget, and some tangible ideas of what to include and not include on your resume. We also hope you’ve found some inspiration and are ready to get started on the path to building your future career!
At Resume Ninjas, we know the power of a good resume. Beyond that, we know that you need more than a good resume to get ahead. From assisting with your application to helping you build your skill set, to interview prep and salary negotiation, and beyond – we’re here to help you move forward. Contact us today to start one of the most fulfilling journeys of your life! Regardless of where you are in your journey, we can’t wait to hear from you.
Client Type: Mid-Career | Stuck in Job Rut
Industry: Information Technology (USA-based)
Services Provided: Resume Optimization, Career Coaching, Interview Preparation
Backstory: This client worked in IT but was unmotivated and emotionally checked out. Though his job was “stable,” it didn’t bring joy—and his partner was beginning to question.
Backstory: This client worked in IT but was unmotivated and emotionally checked out. Though his job was “stable,” it didn’t bring joy—and his partner was beginning to question where his life was going. Fear of leaving the comfort zone and not knowing where to start had kept him stuck for years.
How Resume Ninjas Helped: Amen’s coaching goes beyond templates. In their session, she asked powerful questions like:
By helping him reconnect with his own story and strengths, she transformed his resume into a mirror of what he had actually accomplished. It was a confidence reframe, wrapped in a resume. She then coached him through interviews—offering insights, encouragement, and scripts that made him feel prepared.
Within one week, he landed interviews. Within days, he had an offer with a $30,000 salary increase.
Results:
Why It Worked: Amen’s unique combination of strategic resume editing, deep listening, and mindset coaching gave him the push he needed. She’s not just a resume writer—she’s a career catalyst.
“I forgot how talented I was until Amen reminded me. I walked away not just with a job—but with belief in myself again.”
Client Type: Re-entering Workforce | Domestic
Control Survivor
Industry: Undisclosed (Anonymized for privacy)
Services Provided: Career Support, Resume Build, Emotional Empowerment
Backstory: This client reached out in secret. In a controlling marriage where financial transactions were monitored, she couldn’t even send an e-transfer or use a card.
Backstory: This client reached out in secret. In a controlling marriage where financial transactions were monitored, she couldn’t even send an e-transfer or use a card without her husband finding out. But she was determined to take her first step toward independence—and that step was a resume.
How Resume Ninjas Helped:
Amen met her where she was—literally and emotionally.
Understanding the sensitivity of her situation, Amen offered to meet in person and accept payment in cash. More importantly, she offered non-judgmental space and emotional safety, reminding her of her strengths and education, and showing her the career potential she thought was lost. Even before the resume was written, the client broke down in tears, saying, “You’re an angel. I’m so grateful I called you.”
Amen’s coaching goes far beyond technical formatting—it’s trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, and rooted in empowerment. With every conversation, she helped this woman believe she was worthy of a future—and that she wasn’t alone.
Results:
Why It Worked: Amen’s experience supporting women returning from maternity, abusive relationships, or major life changes gives her a special ability to see the human behind the resume. She doesn’t just write documents—she offers hope, safety, and clarity during life’s messiest transitions.
“Amen reminded me who I was before life broke me. I finally felt seen.”
Client Type: Career Shift | Midlife Professional
Industry: Laser Hair Removal & Skin Care – elegancestudio.ca Aesthetics & Personal Services
Services Provided: Career Coaching, Resume Writing, Business Branding & Marketing Strategy
Backstory: This client was more than just a job seeker—she was a mother, a caregiver, and a woman trying to rebuild her life after years of financial struggle.
Backstory: This client was more than just a job seeker—she was a mother, a caregiver, and a woman trying to rebuild her life after years of financial struggle. Working as a secretary while raising three children and supporting a husband with mental health challenges, she realized minimum wage wouldn’t be enough to sustain her family. She dreamed of doing something more fulfilling, something hers—but she questioned whether it was too late.
How Resume Ninjas Helped: Amen didn’t just build her brand and hand her a resume—she helped her transform her life and build a future. With over two decades of experience in career development, Amen knew this transformation needed more than paperwork. Through personalized coaching strategies sessions, Amen helped her explore entrepreneurship in a field she already loved: electrolysis. She guided her through every step—researching certifications, building confidence, and launching a business from the ground up. Amen even brought her branding expertise into play: she named the business, designed the flyers, created her business cards, and helped market the service. It became a family affair—her kids delivered door to door flyers while Amen mentored and cheered her on every step of the way.
Results:
Why It Worked: Amen’s nurturing but strategic approach helps clients see beyond their current job search—she supports whole life transformations. With deep empathy rooted in her own experience, she helped this client reimagine what was possible at any stage of life.
“I didn’t just shift a career and get a new resume. I got my self-worth and integrity back.”
