How to Create a Skills-Based CV

Everything about work is changing, from what the modern office looks like, to how employers assess and recruit candidates.  Companies and recruitment teams are rapidly recognising that the old-school CV resume isn’t as reliable as it once was.

Documents listing job titles and certifications year-by-year don’t always tell the full story about how successful someone can be in a role.  On the other hand, 94% of organisations say that the people they hire based on skills (rather than traditional credentials) often excel in their roles.

But if companies hire based on skills now, how do you ensure your CV still stands out?  

You need a skills-based or “functional CV” that shines a spotlight on your capabilities and potential.

Whether you’re actively searching for a new role or preparing for the future job market, here’s how to build the ultimate skills-focused CV.

The job market is experiencing yet another period of change. The half-life of professional skills has plummeted to just four to five years, and by 2030, around nine out of ten employees will need new skill sets. This means a candidate's most valuable currency in the job market isn’t their years of service or last job title, but their constantly expanding skills.

Nearly three-quarters (72%) of employers say they now prioritise skills assessments over traditional CVs. McKinsey also found that hiring for skills is five times more predictive of job success than hiring based on education.

Technology is driving a lot of the change . AI tools and applicant tracking systems (ATS) now scan resumes in milliseconds, looking for core competencies. If your experience isn’t packaged correctly, it might not even surpass the first digital gatekeeper. Plus, there are regional pressures shaping hiring strategies.

In the UK, automation is expected to impact up to 30% of jobs by 2030. Despite high applicant volume in Canada, 40% of employers struggle to find qualified talent. Meanwhile, Australia’s booming tech sector is creating demand for cross-disciplinary skill sets, and in the US, the labour market has split. High-skill jobs are growing, while middle-skill roles are vanishing.

All of this means one thing: if you can clearly show what you’re capable of, beyond the boundaries of job titles, you’ll be ahead of the curve.

Figuring out how to create a skills-based or functional CV can initially be complicated.  Most of us are used to structuring these job application documents in a certain way. Fortunately, once you understand what you must include, it’s pretty easy to make the shift.

Here’s what a skills-focused resume should include:

A Skill Summary and Professional Profile

This is the elevator pitch at the very top of the page.  In a few sentences, you introduce your employer to who you are.  Outline your core strengths, your values, and what you bring to the table.  This section reads like a confident LinkedIn bio, for example:

“Flexible and outcomes-focused professional with an extensive record in [things you’ve accomplished].  Skilled in translating data into insights, working with automated and AI-driven tools, and experimenting with new platforms.”

Try to sprinkle keywords from the job listing into this section.  For instance, if the role mentions “adaptability” or “data literacy,” try to include those words.

Skills Categories

Skill categories will comprise the core of your new skills-based resume and should be grouped into logical themes.  That might include:

Each group should list specific, measurable competencies.  Where possible, show proficiency levels (“Advanced in Adobe Premiere Pro” or “Working knowledge of SQL”) or context (“Used Figma to prototype and test UX flows for a SaaS platform”).

Accomplishments

This is where you bring your skills to life by sharing real results and outcomes.  Use the “Challenge Action Result” (CAR) method to write your achievement statements, such as:

“Transformed underperforming email campaign (Challenge) by introducing segmentation and A/B testing (Action), leading to a 47% increase in open rates and a 23% boost in conversions (Result).”

Always quantify your results whenever possible.  Numbers tell hiring managers you understand what success looks like.

Supporting Experience

You can still include work history and experience in your new skills-focused CV.  Just don’t make it the main focus.  A simple list with a job title, company name, dates, and a few statements about what you accomplished in the role should be enough.

Follow this with relevant education and certifications, listed in reverse chronological order.  Remember to mention whether you’ve done any recent specific online courses, micro credentials, or bootcamps that make a difference to your proficiency for the role.

Optional but Valuable Additions

Depending on your field and experience, you might want to include:

Overall, your skills-based CV should reflect your evolution, value, and potential.  It tells employers, “Here’s what I can do, and here’s how I’ve already done it.”

Once you’ve built a powerful, skills-first CV, you need to ensure it reaches the right people.  For many job seekers, that means learning how to bypass the ATS (applicant tracking system) that companies use to filter applications.

Most large and mid-sized companies (and an increasing number of small ones) use ATS software to scan CVs before a human ever lays eyes on them.  These systems sort, filter, and rank resumes based on keyword matches and formatting cues. If your resume isn’t optimised for ATS, it might not make it through to human beings, even if you’re perfect for the job.

First, you need to know that not every ATS is AI-powered, but they are automated. The software looks for alignment with the job description: specific keywords, qualifications, and relevant skills.  These systems are tricky, as they can sometimes filter out the best job applicants.

To avoid that fate:

•  Stick to clean formatting. ATS can struggle with tables, graphics, columns, text boxes, and headers/footers.  Save the design-heavy version for human readers, but always keep a plain text or Word version for ATS upload fields.

Remember, optimising for ATS isn’t about gaming the bots; it’s about learning how to speak their language while still telling the right story for human employers.

One of the strengths of using a skills-based resume to apply for roles is that these documents are highly adaptable.  You can adjust the structure and content based on what’s happening for you right now.  For instance:

If You’re Changing Careers

Draw the most attention to your transferrable skills.  Maybe your retail experience sharpened your communication, leadership, and problem-solving abilities.  These are all fantastic for project coordination, tech support, or HR roles.

Frame your skills in the language of your target role or new industry.  Directly address any leap: “After a decade in hospitality, I’m pivoting into UX design, where my customer-first mindset and attention to detail are major assets.”

If You Have an Employment Gap

Most people will have a gap in their employment history at some point during their career. That’s particularly true following the pandemic. You don’t have to ignore the gap to stand out when applying for a new role with a skills-based CV.

Use your CV to focus on what you maintained or developed during that time: online courses, freelance projects, parenting, caregiving, volunteering. These experiences build organisational, empathy, resilience, and digital literacy skills.

(Read our article on Explaining Breaks in Your Career here)

If You’re a Recent Graduate

If you’ve just finished a course or certification and don’t have much experience in prior roles to mention, lead with your academic projects, internships, and extracurriculars.

Did you manage events for a student society, coordinate team projects, or build an app for your final-year assignment?  That’s an experience worth highlighting. Employers today are looking for emerging skills like data fluency, adaptability, and AI literacy.  Lean into those.

Remember, different industries focus more on specific skills.  In tech, focusing on technical proficiencies, collaboration, and agile workflows makes more sense. In creative roles, your innovative nature and portfolio (even if it’s a personal project portfolio) can be valuable.

The job market continues to change at a record pace.  Today’s hiring managers and employers now value capabilities over credentials, and a skills-based resume gives you a valuable way to present your experience in a relevant and powerful way.

Remember, you don’t need a perfect timeline or a linear story.  What matters is that you can show what you’ve learned, how you’ve applied it, and where you want to grow next.  The skills-based format gives you room to do that, whatever your next step.

So update your CV, focus on your skills, and remember to keep adapting.