Top 12 Typist Skills to Put on Your Resume

In today's digital rush, strong typing chops matter. They quietly shout efficiency, accuracy, and focus—traits that help a resume cut through the noise across admin roles, content teams, customer support, and more.

Typist Skills

1. Touch Typing
2. Microsoft Word
3. Google Docs
4. Speed and Accuracy
5. Grammarly
6. Transcription
7. Data Entry
8. Proofreading
9. Excel
10. Adobe PDF
11. Slack (for communication)
12. Trello (for task management)

1. Touch Typing

Touch typing means typing without peeking at the keyboard. Muscle memory takes over. Speed climbs. Errors drop.

Why It's Important

Looking down slows you down. Touch typing frees your eyes for the screen, sharpens accuracy, and cuts fatigue during long stretches at the keys.

How to Improve Touch Typing Skills

Make these habits stick:

1. Map the board in your head: Know every key without glancing.

2. Home row first: Left hand on ASDF, right hand on JKL;. Return there between words.

3. Practice daily: Short, steady sessions build muscle memory fast.

4. Accuracy leads speed: Hit clean keystrokes; the pace will catch up.

5. Raise the bar: Train with tougher passages and timed drills.

6. Rest briefly: Small breaks prevent sloppy form.

How to Display Touch Typing Skills on Your Resume

2. Microsoft Word

Word handles the heavy lifting for typed documents—writing, formatting, styles, layouts, and review tools in one place.

Why It's Important

A typist lives in documents. Styles, templates, track changes, and clean formatting save hours and keep work consistent.

How to Improve Microsoft Word Skills

1. Master shortcuts: Speed through selections, formatting, navigation, and review.

2. Tune the Quick Access Toolbar: Pin commands you use every day.

3. Use AutoCorrect and AutoFormat: Fix repeats and styling on the fly.

4. Build templates: Lock in structure for recurring documents.

5. Add helpful add-ins: Extend Word for your workflow (formatting, citations, style checks).

How to Display Microsoft Word Skills on Your Resume

3. Google Docs

Docs is a browser-based editor built for fast drafting, sharing, and live collaboration—no installs, autosave always on.

Why It's Important

Real-time edits, comments, and version history keep teams moving. Access from anywhere. Easy formatting without the fuss.

How to Improve Google Docs Skills

1. Lean on shortcuts: Format, navigate, and insert without touching the mouse.
2. Try voice typing: Dictate ideas and polish them with the keyboard.
3. Use add-ons wisely: Grammar, citations, and formatting helpers streamline routine work.

How to Display Google Docs Skills on Your Resume

4. Speed and Accuracy

Type fast, type right. Both matter. One without the other creates cleanup.

Why It's Important

High output with minimal corrections saves time for everyone—especially you.

How to Improve Speed Accuracy Skills

1. Practice with intention: Frequent sessions beat marathon days.

2. Touch type: Eyes on the screen keeps rhythm and flow.

3. Fix your posture: Neutral wrists, relaxed shoulders, elbows near 90 degrees.

4. Use all fingers: Let each finger own its zone.

5. Minimize motion: Small, precise reaches trump big hand sweeps.

6. Know the layout cold: Accuracy spikes when you’re not hunting keys.

7. Track goals: Monitor WPM and error rate; nudge targets upward.

8. Breaks are fuel: Rest short and often to avoid sloppy errors.

How to Display Speed Accuracy Skills on Your Resume

5. Grammarly

Grammarly flags grammar slips, typos, tone issues, and clarity problems as you type—like a second set of eyes on every line.

Why It's Important

Clean copy projects professionalism. Real-time suggestions trim mistakes before they spread across a document.

How to Improve Grammarly Skills

1. Tune settings: Choose goals for tone, formality, and domain to get better suggestions.

2. Study the explanations: Learn the why behind each fix so errors fade over time.

3. Build your personal dictionary: Add names, industry terms, and preferred spellings.

4. Review performance stats: Spot recurring weak points and focus your practice.

5. Use shortcuts: Keep edits snappy while you’re in the zone.

How to Display Grammarly Skills on Your Resume

6. Transcription

Turning audio into text—cleanly, completely, and on time.

Why It's Important

Accurate transcripts capture details that otherwise slip away, supporting documentation, accessibility, and searchable records.

How to Improve Transcription Skills

1. Drill regularly: Speed and precision come with steady reps.

2. Sharpen typing: Touch typing plus consistent practice is the foundation.

3. Use transcription tools: Foot pedals, hotkeys, and playback controls keep momentum.

4. Memorize shortcuts: Pause, rewind, timestamp—instant control saves minutes.

5. Train your ear: Work with varied accents and audio quality; use quality headphones.

6. Proofread methodically: Second passes catch mishears and missing words.

7. Learn the lingo: Industry terms (legal, medical, technical) reduce guesswork.

8. Stay ergonomic: Neutral posture and timed breaks prevent fatigue from creeping in.

How to Display Transcription Skills on Your Resume

7. Data Entry

Typing information into systems or spreadsheets with care—structured, consistent, and ready for analysis.

Why It's Important

Accurate data feeds good decisions. Clean input prevents downstream fixes and confusion.

How to Improve Data Entry Skills

1. Touch typing practice: Pace rises, errors fall.

2. Keyboard shortcuts: Navigate fields, copy, paste, and fill without friction.

3. Ergonomic setup: Chair height, screen level, and wrist position reduce strain and mistakes.

4. Proof as you go: Verify formats, totals, and IDs before submitting.

5. Use smart tools: Data validation, forms, and error checks catch slips early.

6. Work in intervals: Short focused sprints with quick breaks preserve accuracy.

How to Display Data Entry Skills on Your Resume

8. Proofreading

One last pass to catch the sneaky stuff: spelling slips, punctuation misses, clunky phrasing, inconsistent formatting.

Why It's Important

It’s the polish that makes documents trustworthy. Readers notice when it’s missing.

How to Improve Proofreading Skills

1. Practice slow reading: Intentional scans beat quick skims.

2. Know common errors: Homophones, subject-verb agreement, dangling punctuation—flag your usual suspects.

3. Use helpers: Grammar and clarity tools assist, but final judgment is yours.

4. Read aloud: Your ear catches what your eyes gloss over.

5. Take a breather: Distance brings fresh eyes and better catches.

6. Check in layers: Spelling first, then grammar, then style and formatting.

How to Display Proofreading Skills on Your Resume

9. Excel

Spreadsheets for structure. Tables, formulas, lists, and charts to wrangle data without chaos.

Why It's Important

A typist who’s comfortable in Excel can clean, sort, validate, and present information quickly—huge boost to productivity.

How to Improve Excel Skills

1. Shortcut fluency: Jump cells, select ranges, insert, fill, and format at speed.

2. Smart data entry: Use data validation, drop-downs, and autofill to avoid typos.

3. Core functions: Master SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, IF, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, TEXT functions, and simple pivot tables.

4. Templates: Build reusable sheets for recurring tasks and reports.

5. Keep learning: New functions and features arrive often—experiment and iterate.

How to Display Excel Skills on Your Resume

10. Adobe PDF

PDF keeps a document’s look intact anywhere. Great for sharing, signing, and archiving without weird formatting surprises.

Why It's Important

Consistency, security options, and reliable printing make PDFs the final stop for polished documents.

How to Improve Adobe PDF Skills

1. Stay updated: New versions bring stability and better tools.

2. Use keyboard shortcuts: Review, comment, and navigate efficiently.

3. Customize toolbars: Keep your must-have actions front and center.

4. Auto-Complete forms: Save time on repeated entries.

5. Optimize files: Shrink size for faster sharing without losing clarity.

6. Text recognition (OCR): Convert scans into selectable, searchable text.

7. Organize cleanly: Merge, split, reorder, and label files for quick retrieval.

8. Use cloud storage: Access documents anywhere, keep backups current.

How to Display Adobe PDF Skills on Your Resume

11. Slack (for communication)

Slack is a hub for quick team messages, channels, DMs, and shared files—fast conversations without endless email.

Why It's Important

Clear channels and searchable threads keep projects moving and reduce misfires across the team.

How to Improve Slack (for communication) Skills

1. Learn shortcuts: Jump between channels, format text, and search instantly.

2. Dial in notifications: Cut noise, keep only what matters.

3. Add helpful apps: Grammar checks, task connections, and calendars reduce context switching.

4. Slash commands: Quick actions for status, reminders, and searches.

5. Use snippets and saved replies: Speed through repetitive messages.

6. Organize ruthlessly: Channel naming, descriptions, and pinned items keep info findable.

How to Display Slack (for communication) Skills on Your Resume

12. Trello (for task management)

Trello turns work into boards, lists, and cards—visual, flexible, easy to scan at a glance.

Why It's Important

For typists juggling requests, deadlines, and drafts, Trello clarifies what’s next and what’s blocking progress.

How to Improve Trello (for task management) Skills

1. Shortcuts first: Navigate, edit, and move cards without the mouse.
2. Template boards: Reuse proven workflows for recurring projects.
3. Power-Ups: Calendars, custom fields, dashboards—add only what you need.
4. Labels and filters: Color-code and focus on exactly the right slice of work.
5. Automations with Butler: Recurring tasks, due date rules, and reminders that run themselves.
6. Crisp structure: Lists for stages; cards with clear checklists, owners, and dates.
7. Attach context: Files, notes, and references in the card—no hunting elsewhere.

How to Display Trello (for task management) Skills on Your Resume