Skills Meter on a Resume
Kent R.
If you are unfamiliar with a skills meter, it is (ostensibly) a graphic representation of your proficiency with a set of, more often than not, technical skills. Given that explanation, you are probably thinking, "Wait, I want a skills meter. That sounds great!"
Well, here’s the problem with putting a skills meter on a resume:
They don't really say anything – Let's say the skills meter on your resume outlines that you have "5 out of 5 stars" for the skill Photoshop. It can be assumed that you mean you are an expert in Photoshop, but that scale doesn't actually say that. It says you are "5 out 5 stars" skilled at Photoshop, which is ultimately meaningless.
They are arbitrary – To the above point, how does "5 out of 5 stars" compare to another candidate's "9 out of 10 dots" for the same skill on that candidate's resume. Does your self-identified "5 out of 5 stars" make you more qualified for that skill than the other candidate? Since the scales are arbitrary and the level of expertise self-identified, it is impossible to know.
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They can take up a lot of room – I've seen skills meters that occupy over a third of a resume. That is space that would be so much more effectively used to highlight specific achievements outlining how you have used certain skills to make a real impact.
They often compare disparate skills – I came across a skills meter the other day where the candidate ranked himself "8 out of 10 dots" for the programming language C++ and "7 out of 10 dots" for the skill "creativity." That candidate should give themselves "10 out of 10 dots" for ability to compare unrelated skills, never mind the unique ability to quantify creativity on a 10 point scale.
They don't play nice with screening software – A resume that recently made it across my desk had a skills meter with application icons replacing application names. This means that when a resume screening system looks at that resume for specific software – say Adobe InDesign – it won't see it, despite the fact that the candidate is attempting to tell readers that he or she is an expert in Adobe InDesign. This is actually a larger issue with designed resumes.
In short, don't use a skills meter to outline your level of expertise in certain skills on your resume. Instead, as I mentioned above, include specific achievements that show how you have used a certain skill to make a meaningful (ideally quantifiable) impact on an organization.