Top 12 Model Skills to Put on Your Resume

In the highly competitive world of modeling, standing out to agencies and clients is everything, and a sharp, intentional resume helps you get in the door. Showcasing relevant skills signals range, reliability, and professionalism—qualities casting teams notice fast. A clear list of strengths can tilt the scale in your favor when every spot is contested.

Model Skills

1. Photoshop
2. Lightroom
3. InDesign
4. Final Cut Pro
5. Premiere Pro
6. After Effects
7. Capture One
8. ZBrush
9. Maya
10. Blender
11. Unity
12. Unreal Engine

1. Photoshop

Photoshop is a digital editing powerhouse used to enhance, retouch, and refine images—tuning color, light, composition, and detail to match a desired aesthetic.

Why It's Important

For models and creatives building visual brands, Photoshop helps present work at its best—clean, consistent, polished—while preserving natural features and the intent of a shoot.

How to Improve Photoshop Skills

Sharpen your edge with steady practice and smarter technique:

1. Master fundamentals: Layers, masks, smart objects, and blending modes. These form the backbone of non-destructive editing.

2. Retouch with restraint: Use frequency separation, dodge and burn, and healing tools to keep texture intact and skin believable.

3. Color control: Work with adjustment layers, curves, and selective color to shape mood without crushing detail.

4. Precise selections: Hone the Pen Tool and Select and Mask for hair, edges, and clean cutouts.

5. Compositing chops: Match light, perspective, and grain when blending elements so edits disappear into the frame.

6. Stay current: Explore new tools—AI-powered selections, remove tools, and gradient/interpolation updates can speed everything up.

Regular reps on real images beat theory. Build a small workflow and keep tightening it.

How to Display Photoshop Skills on Your Resume

2. Lightroom

Lightroom is for organizing large photo libraries and delivering fast, consistent edits across sets—perfect for portfolios, lookbooks, and campaign selects.

Why It's Important

It keeps your body of work cohesive. Faster culling, reliable color, and consistent tones make selection meetings painless and your portfolio instantly presentable.

How to Improve Lightroom Skills

Dial in a clean workflow and your output jumps:

1. Build repeatable looks: Create and refine presets that fit your brand, then tweak per shoot.

2. Organize ruthlessly: Use flags, stars, keywords, and collections. Find anything in seconds.

3. Tether when possible: On-set tethering provides immediate feedback for pose, light, and styling adjustments.

4. Targeted adjustments: Brush, radial, and linear masks let you refine skin, eyes, background, and wardrobe selectively.

5. Color management: Calibrate displays and stick to consistent profiles for a stable look across devices.

6. Export presets: Save export recipes for web, print, and social. No more guessing formats.

How to Display Lightroom Skills on Your Resume

3. InDesign

InDesign is layout software for print and digital—ideal for clean comp cards, media kits, and portfolio books with consistent typography and structure.

Why It's Important

Presentation counts. A tidy comp card and an orderly portfolio signal professionalism before anyone even reads your name.

How to Improve InDesign Skills

Think systems, not one-off pages:

1. Learn master pages: Lock in structure—headers, footers, grids—so every page stays aligned.

2. Styles everywhere: Paragraph, character, and object styles keep typography and spacing uniform.

3. Use templates: Start from a well-built base, then adapt; consistency gets easier.

4. Image handling: Place linked assets, preflight, and package files to avoid broken links.

5. Type finesse: Kerning, leading, and hyphenation settings make text breathe without distractions.

6. Shortcuts and scripts: Save time on repetitive layout tasks with hotkeys and simple automations.

How to Display InDesign Skills on Your Resume

4. Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is non-linear video editing for macOS—fast, organized, and built for clean reels, campaigns, and social edits.

Why It's Important

Video sells motion and presence. A crisp reel or story-driven short can land opportunities photos can’t touch.

How to Improve Final Cut Pro Skills

Cut smarter, not just harder:

1. Memorize shortcuts: Trim, ripple, blade, and navigation keys speed everything up.

2. Keep timelines lean: Fewer stacked effects and fewer plugins mean faster playback and cleaner storytelling.

3. Use proxies: Edit 4K/6K smoothly by generating lightweight proxy media.

4. Color like a pro: Balance first, then grade. Scopes on, saturation in check, skin tones protected.

5. Organize media: Libraries, events, and smart collections keep projects sane.

6. Stay updated: New codecs, performance boosts, and stability fixes are worth the update.

How to Display Final Cut Pro Skills on Your Resume

5. Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro is a professional editor used across agencies and studios for versatile, cross-platform video work.

Why It's Important

Models and creators with video chops can produce reels, behind-the-scenes clips, and branded content without waiting on an editor.

How to Improve Premiere Pro Skills

Smooth performance, smoother stories:

1. Keep it current: New versions bring critical bug fixes and performance gains.

2. Tune preferences: Allocate memory, set a fast media cache location, and optimize playback settings.

3. Work with proxies: Heavy footage? Proxies keep edits responsive.

4. Manage cache: Clear and relocate cache files to fast storage to avoid slowdowns.

5. Right hardware: SSDs, ample RAM, and a capable GPU make a noticeable difference.

6. Limit background apps: Free resources for smoother scrubbing and exports.

7. Adjust playback resolution: Drop preview resolution while editing; export at full quality.

How to Display Premiere Pro Skills on Your Resume

6. After Effects

After Effects handles motion graphics, titles, transitions, and visual effects—great for dynamic portfolio reels and campaign assets with punch.

Why It's Important

Animation and subtle effects can elevate simple footage, add brand polish, and hold attention longer.

How to Improve After Effects Skills

Make it faster, make it cleaner:

1. Update and maintain: Keep AE, plugins, and GPU drivers current for stability and speed.

2. Optimize preferences: Tune RAM usage, disk cache size/location, and purge settings.

3. Use proxies and pre-renders: Pre-render heavy comps; employ proxies for high-res assets.

4. Modular comps: Break complex scenes into smaller, linked compositions that are easier to manage.

5. Enable hardware acceleration: Use GPU-accelerated effects where available and match project settings to your system.

6. Organize projects: Name layers, color-label assets, and folder your files. Chaos costs time.

7. Limit background load: Close other apps during long previews and renders.

8. Upgrade wisely: Faster storage and more RAM typically give the best returns.

How to Display After Effects Skills on Your Resume

7. Capture One

Capture One is pro-grade photo software known for superb color, tethering reliability, and crisp raw processing.

Why It's Important

On set and in post, color accuracy and efficient tethering mean fewer reshoots, faster selects, and gallery-ready results.

How to Improve Capture One Skills

Small changes, big gains:

1. Color grading: Use color balance and selective color tools to sculpt mood while protecting skin tones.

2. Local adjustments: Work on layers for targeted refinements without wrecking the base image.

3. Dynamic range control: Recover highlights and open shadows with high dynamic range tools before creative grades.

4. Detail tuning: Balance sharpening and noise reduction to keep texture natural.

5. Custom workspace: Arrange panels and tools to match your editing flow and speed.

6. Shortcuts: Learn the keystrokes you use every session—culling, rating, masking, brushing.

How to Display Capture One Skills on Your Resume

8. ZBrush

ZBrush is a digital sculpting tool for ultra-detailed 3D models—characters, accessories, and assets with millions of polygons.

Why It's Important

For virtual shoots, digital doubles, and 3D collabs, ZBrush enables lifelike forms and intricate surface detail that photographs convincingly.

How to Improve ZBrush Skills

Build control, then push style:

1. Interface and brushes: Get comfortable with navigation, brush families, and stroke settings.

2. Anatomy and form: Study structure, proportions, and planes; detail only shines when the base is right.

3. DynaMesh and ZRemesher: Sculpt freely, then retopologize for clean, efficient geometry.

4. Subdivision workflow: Block shapes at low res, refine at higher levels—avoid chasing pores too early.

5. Alphas and detailing: Use alphas for pores, fabric, and micro details with restraint.

6. Routine critiques: Compare silhouettes, check proportions, and seek feedback before polishing.

How to Display ZBrush Skills on Your Resume

9. Maya

Maya delivers professional 3D modeling, animation, simulation, and rendering—widely used in film, TV, and games.

Why It's Important

It’s a staple for robust modeling pipelines and animation-ready assets—useful for virtual productions and mixed-reality campaigns.

How to Improve Maya Skills

Structure first, finesse later:

1. Topology fundamentals: Clean edge flow, quads over triangles, and good loops for deformation if animating.

2. Reference-driven: Model against orthographic references to nail proportion and silhouette.

3. Subdivision modeling: Control support loops and creases to keep forms sharp when subdivided.

4. Sculpting integration: Rough in Maya, sculpt details elsewhere if needed, then retopo back.

5. UVs that behave: Lay out clean UVs early to avoid texture headaches later.

6. Hotkeys and marking menus: Speed compounds; learn the commands you touch every session.

How to Display Maya Skills on Your Resume

10. Blender

Blender is a free, open-source 3D suite covering modeling, rigging, animation, sculpting, rendering, and more.

Why It's Important

It’s accessible and capable, making 3D experimentation—virtual sets, product mockups, stylized visuals—possible without heavy budgets.

How to Improve Blender Skills

Refine the craft, iterate often:

1. Reference setup: Use image planes and real-world scale for accuracy.

2. Subdivision surfaces: Add smoothness with control loops; keep meshes light until final polish.

3. Clean topology: Favor quads and logical edge flow; future you will thank you during rigging or shading.

4. Sculpt then retopo: Sculpt organic forms, then rebuild efficient, animation-friendly meshes.

5. Materials and nodes: Build believable shaders; mix maps thoughtfully for depth.

6. Lighting and cameras: Simple three-point setups and HDRIs can change everything. Frame with intent.

7. Consistent practice: Small daily projects beat rare, massive ones.

How to Display Blender Skills on Your Resume

11. Unity

Unity is a real-time engine for interactive 3D experiences—games, simulations, AR/VR, and virtual showrooms.

Why It's Important

For digital campaigns and immersive showcases, Unity brings models and environments to life across devices.

How to Improve Unity Skills

Optimize what the camera sees and how assets load:

1. Model optimization: Reduce polygon counts where detail won’t be noticed; keep silhouettes strong.

2. Texture atlases: Pack textures to cut draw calls and speed rendering.

3. Level of Detail (LOD): Swap lower-detail meshes at distance to maintain frame rate.

4. Occlusion culling: Avoid rendering objects the camera can’t see.

5. Efficient materials: Favor simpler shaders; instancing where appropriate.

6. Baked lighting: For static scenes, bake to reduce real-time calculations.

7. Profile regularly: Use the Profiler to find bottlenecks and fix the worst offenders first.

How to Display Unity Skills on Your Resume

12. Unreal Engine

Unreal Engine powers high-fidelity, real-time 3D with cinematic rendering—ideal for immersive visuals, virtual production, and interactive showcases.

Why It's Important

Its real-time rendering and material system produce striking results quickly, perfect for pitches, fashion-tech collaborations, and virtual sets.

How to Improve Unreal Engine Skills

Quality up, performance steady:

1. Optimize meshes: Tight geometry, clean normals, and sensible UVs reduce overhead.

2. Use LODs: Create distance-based versions of assets to keep frame rates high.

3. Texture strategy: Right-size textures, stream when possible, and reuse materials.

4. Lighting choices: Mix baked lighting for static elements with dynamic lights for motion; balance beauty and speed.

5. Blueprints: Build logic visually to iterate faster without deep code.

6. Material efficiency: Keep shader complexity in check; instance materials for variations.

7. Profile and iterate: Use built-in profiling tools to track GPU and CPU costs and adjust scene complexity.

8. Modern features: If your project supports it, explore Nanite and Lumen for detail and lighting gains without heavy manual setup.

How to Display Unreal Engine Skills on Your Resume