Networking Skills: Resume Guide, Examples & Skill Set

Here are the top ways to show your Networking skills on your resume. Find out relevant Networking keywords and phrases and build your resume today.

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In This Guide:

• Why are networking skills important on your resume
• What skills, activities and accomplishments help you highlight your networking skills
• Networking skills: key takeaways for your resume

Having strong networking skills means being able to build and maintain interpersonal connections. When appropriately developed, networking skills can help you accelerate both your personal and professional development.

People with strong networking skills are perceived as sociable, easy-going, and often even influential individuals.

But when it comes to your resume, talking explicitly about your networking skills and adding them to your skills section is a big ‘no-no’. (Actually, that’s valid for most soft skills.)

Instead, you should focus on pointing out that you’re an active listener, a confident communicator, and someone who’s always up for a challenge.

Why are networking skills important on your resume

Although networking skills shouldn’t be listed explicitly in your resume, they are highly valued by recruiters.

Why? Because they prove three main things: that you’re a skilled communicator, that you have (probably) built a large professional network, and that you can contribute to the development of the company you work at.

Even if you’re not applying for a position in sales or marketing, knowing the right people is always a good thing.

What’s more, strong networking skills help you generate and exchange ideas with others, which would inevitably lead to increased opportunities for growth for both you and the company.

Being good at networking also boosts your confidence and contributes to your well-being. It empowers you to aim higher and achieve more.

But how do you showcase your networking skills on your resume? By sharing how they’ve helped you do better in the past and how you believe they would benefit you in the future.

And trust us, it’s way easier than it sounds. Hop on!

What skills, activities and accomplishments help you highlight your networking skills

Networking is not a skill per se. Rather, it consists of several different skills that all contribute to your ability to build a professional network and use it efficiently.

• Communication and active listening: sounds obvious, yet you’d be amazed how many people lack communication and active listening skills and wonder why they struggle to build a professional network.
• Emotional intelligence and positive attitude: networking is a positive-sum game if you treat it as such. Unfortunately, there are many people who treat is a negative-sum game and devote their time only to those who they view as ‘superior’. Understanding this and keeping a positive outlook when you find yourself in such situations is crucial for acting professionally at all costs.
• Patience and organization: being patient and well-organized are intrinsically linked when it comes to networking. Finding the best people to talk to usually takes time and effort, and recruiters know that. So if you want to make a strong first impression, link your strong organization skills to your ability to build a connection with just about anyone.

How to demonstrate networking skills on your resume:

• Share how your ability to listen actively has helped you build a connection with someone important.
• Describe times when keeping patient was necessary for reaching a goal.
• Point out your ability to keep a positive attitude when faced with a tough situation.
• Demonstrate how your communication skills have made it easy for you to establish meaningful friendships and partnerships.
• Talk about times when you had to work with an uncooperative colleague and how you dealt with it.

Remember: adding the phrase ‘networking skills’ to your resume skills section is pointless. Something more - it might make your resume appear unprofessional and shallow.

And if we have to be completely honest – it would make recruiters think that you have no networking skills whatsoever.

So just try answering these questions instead:

• How have your networking skills helped you succeed in your previous job?
• Have you closed any deals / attracted new clients / secured new partnerships thanks to your strong networking skills?
• When was the last time you found yourself in a conflict you had to resolve yourself?

We’ve collected some of the best resume snippets from real EnhanCV users to give you an idea of how you can highlight your networking skills in real life. Use them as inspiration to build your own resume!