Skills on LinkedIn: which ones to add, and how to make them count.
Your LinkedIn skills help recruiters find you and help visitors see what you do. Like a resume skills section, they work best when they match the roles you want and are backed up by your experience.
Add the skills that appear in postings for the role you want and that you can demonstrate, using the postings' terms. Put your most important skills where visitors see them first, connect skills to the experience entries where you used them, and ask colleagues to endorse the few that matter most. Remove skills that point you toward work you no longer want.
How to choose and use LinkedIn skills
- Collect skills from target postings. Read several postings for the role you want and list the skills that repeat.
- Keep the ones you can prove. Add only skills you have used, in the postings' wording.
- Order them by importance. Make your most relevant skills the ones visitors see first.
- Link skills to experience. Associate each skill with the roles where you used it, and mention it in that role's description.
- Ask for a few endorsements. Former colleagues who saw you use a key skill can endorse it.
- Prune old skills. Remove skills that pull recruiters toward roles you no longer want. LinkedIn renames and moves menus from time to time, so look for these options by name, or search LinkedIn Help for the current steps.
Illustrative examples to adapt
Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.
Skills list for a target role
When to use: Planning your skills section.
Role you want: [job title] Top skills from postings: [skill], [skill], [skill] Skills I can prove: [skill] (used at [Employer]), [skill] (used in [project]) Skills to remove: [old skill not related to target]
Experience description that shows a skill
When to use: Connecting a skill to evidence.
I used [skill] to [what you did] for [who], which [result you can prove].
Endorsement request
When to use: Asking a former colleague.
Hi [Name], I'm updating my profile for [target role]. If you're comfortable, would you endorse my [skill]? You saw me use it on [project]. Happy to do the same for you.
Disclosure: TryHired makes HIRED, a paid job-search program, so we have a conflict of interest when we mention it. Every sample on this page is free to use without buying anything.
LinkedIn skills vs resume skills
| Aspect | Resume | |
|---|---|---|
| Audience | Recruiters searching and visitors | One employer at a time |
| Tailoring | To your target role in general | To each posting |
| Proof | Experience entries and endorsements | Bullets with results |
| Length | Room for more skills | A short grouped list |
| Order | Most important first | Posting's priorities first |
The same line, rewritten
Illustrative example with placeholders.
| Version | Example |
|---|---|
| Weak | Skills: Microsoft Word, Teamwork, Leadership, Email, Internet, Management, Communication. |
| Strong | Skills (top): [skill from target postings], [skill], [skill], each linked to the role where you used it. |
Why it matters: Generic skills do not help anyone find you for the role you want. Skills taken from target postings and linked to experience do.
Before you send it
- Skills come from postings for your target role.
- You can demonstrate every skill listed.
- The most important skills appear first.
- Key skills are linked to experience entries.
- A few key skills have endorsements.
- Unrelated old skills are removed.
Mistakes to avoid
- Adding every skill LinkedIn suggests.
- Listing skills you cannot demonstrate.
- Leaving outdated skills that point to old roles.
- Collecting endorsements for skills that do not matter.
- Keeping skills separate from the experience that proves them.
Build yours
Questions people ask
What skills should I put on LinkedIn?
How many skills should I add on LinkedIn?
Do LinkedIn endorsements matter?
How do I endorse someone's skills?
How this page is built
Written by Maid Dizdarevic, a career coach and 8x LinkedIn Top Voice. Advice is labelled as advice. Every sample uses a fictional person marked '(illustrative)' or a 'Your name' placeholder, and every employer, school, date and result is a bracketed placeholder for your own true details.
- What a specific employer screens for: always read the posting.
- Your results: we never invent numbers, and you should never copy a result you did not achieve.
- Outcomes: no resume, letter, profile or program can promise an interview or a job.
- TryHired editorial guidance by Maid Dizdarevic, career coach, Nov 4, 2026.