You’re preparing your resume for your dream job. You include a section on your skill set. Or is it your skillset? Or could it be skill-set?
Use the wrong version, and you’ll undermine any claims for possessing an impressive set of skills, especially if you’re seeking a position as a copywriter.
So what’s the right version? Is it skill set, skillset, or skill-set?
Go with skill set.
What’s the Definition of Skill Set?
Merriam-Webster defines skill set as a noun meaning “a set of skills.”
The included expanded definition is: “a collection of skills and abilities that can be applied to a professional or creative endeavor.”
Your skill set includes the abilities you possess that equip you to carry out certain tasks.
A person can have more than one skill set. If you’re applying for a job, emphasize the skill sets you have that fit the needs of that position.
For example, if you’re seeking a job in graphic design, your artistic and digital skills are part of the specific skill set which qualify you as a graphic designer.
Your abilities to write well, think critically, and work collaboratively, as well as your relevant personal qualities, represent your soft-skills, an asset to any professional situation.
How Is Having a Skill Set Different from Having a Skill?
The operative word is “set.” If you’ve mastered one skill, that’s great. If you cultivate a collection of related skills, that’s better.
In his New York Times article “Stop Trying to Master One Skill. Instead, Build a Skill Set,” Tim Herrera writes:
Instead of focusing your efforts on becoming singularly great at one specific skill or task, you should strive to get proficient at a few related skills that can be woven together into a wider skill set that does make you singularly good at your profession.
Consider your go-to “handyperson.” Their facility with tools, ability to take apart and rebuild, and knowledge of “how things in a house should work” represent a versatile skill set.
It’s better to have one reliable, multi-skilled person to call for those household chores than a list of individual experts.
Skillset or Skill Set: Which Is Grammatically Correct?
Skill set is a noun phrase. A noun phrase is a group of two or more words that perform the function of a noun.
Not all words in a noun phrase have to be nouns. In skill set, “skill” is an adjective describing a type of “set,” which is the noun.
Skill set is also a compound word, specifically an open compound word.
Compound words occur when two words are joined together to create one unit of meaning.
In open compound words, there is a space between the joined words. Examples of this include: living room, real estate, skill set.
How to Spell Skill Set: Should It Be Hyphenated?
Since skill set is an open compound word, the correct spelling includes a space between the words skill and set, but no hyphen.
That means both skillset and skill-set are incorrect spellings. The major dictionaries agree on this point.
If you conduct a search for the word skillset or skill-set on Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com, and Cambridge Dictionary, you’ll be routed to entries for skill set.
These entries include neither skillset nor skill-set as alternative spellings nor definition entries for those versions of the term.
The Oxford Learner’s and Macmillan dictionaries will say, “no match for skillset. Did you mean…” and offer possibilities. Leading those options is the word skill set.
Google’s dictionary takes a slightly different approach. A Google search of the word skillset leads to a dictionary entry for skill set that also includes the skillset spelling.
Most respected sources recognize skill set, the open-compound version, as the only correct spelling of the term. It’s best to follow this large majority rule.
To keep yourself on the right track use ProWritingAid. Its Realtime Report will correct you if you use the hyphenated version in your work.
The Skillset Exception
There is an organization in New South Wales called Skillset. If you’re writing about this organization, the correct spelling is the one-word Skillset with a capital “S.”
Examples of Sentences Using Skill Set
Just as most dictionary sources recognize skill set as the correct spelling, so do most published sources.
“Managing danger and fear is part of the skill set.”—The New York Times, “That Sigh You Hear…,” John Branch
“Which sport gives you the best all-around skill set?”—The Guardian, Reader’s Reply, August 8, 2021
“A cloud data platform’s architecture and deployment style need to match your organization’s use cases, skill sets and operational requirements.”—Forbes, “Data and Analytics Maturity,” David Mariani
“How to Develop Your Skill Set to Advance Your Career”—Indeed.com, Indeed Editorial Team
A Final Word on Skill Set
Are you writing a cover letter, resume, or article?
Are you editing someone else’s work? Whatever the case, if you must use the term, spell it skill set.
Though you may find examples of published work that uses skillset, those examples represent a significant minority, and many would still count that spelling as an error.
The bottom line is this: you won’t go wrong with skill set. That version always represents a correct spelling.
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When you are invited to interview for a new job, your interviewer may ask you how your abilities will improve the company in your potential new role.
Interviewers gain a lot of useful information from your answers to these questions, but they are mainly interested in your perception of your own skill set. Or is it skillset?
These are two spelling variants of the same term, one of which is widely preferred and the other is rarely used in professional writing. If you have had a lot of job interviews in the past, you might already know the correct spelling.
But, for those who aren’t as familiar with this term, we want to go over which is which and which is better. Word choice is important, and if you are tailoring your résumé to maximize your chances in the job market, you will want to choose the best version of this term.
What is the Difference Between Skillset and Skill Set?
In this post, I will compare skill set vs. skillset. I will use each of these words in an example sentence, so you can see them in context.
Plus, I will show you a mnemonic device that you can use to decide whether skill set or skillset is better for your needs.
When to Use Skill Set
What does skill set mean? Skill set refers to a person’s abilities in a given area.
Skill set is a noun phrase; skill is technically an adjective that modifies set, a collective noun. One person could have many different skill sets, for instance, as an athlete, as a professional, and as an artist.
Here are some example sentences for skill set,
- Julianne looked over her resume and decided that she had used the phrase skill set too many times.
- Ben Zobrist’s unique skill set as a hitter leads to fewer strikeouts, even against elite pitchers.
- An all-American at Gonzaga, Wiltjer had offers to sign elsewhere last summer but thought the Houston system was a good fit for his unique skill set. –The New York Times
The two-word skill set is the standard spelling that is found in dictionaries. Many spellcheckers will even list the one-word skillset as a spelling error. As you can see from the graph below, skill set is the preferred spelling.
When to Use Skillset
What does skillset mean? Skillset is a variant spelling of the two-word skill set. As mentioned above, many people consider it a spelling error, as skill set is properly written as two words.
Since skill set itself is a jargon word, many dictionaries do not list either term, skill set or skillset, but for those who do list skill set as a word, they list it as the sole or preferred spelling.
Given this fact, the two-word skill set predominates in popular usage—by a huge margin. This is especially true in published English—where skill set appears roughly 50 times as frequently as skillset.
Here is a graph that charts skillset vs. skill set over the last 200 years,
Neither term was widely used before 1980, but the two-word skill set quickly became the established, predominant spelling.
The same goes for the plural words, skill sets and skillsets.
If you are writing a cover letter, a résumé, a job listing, etc., you will definitely want to use the two-word skill set.
That said, Skillset is the name of a software company specializing in test prep for information technology certification. In this usage, it is a proper noun and should always appear as a single word.
Trick to Remember the Difference
The decision between skill set and skillset is quite simple. The one-word skillset is so infrequently used compared with skill set that it approximates zero. The ratio is roughly 50:1.
In other words, you should always choose skill set, since it will be more recognizable to your readers.
A trick you can use to remember this is that a skill set is a set of skills, both of which are more than one word.
Summary
Is it skillset or skill set? Skillset and skill set are two variations of the same term, which refer to a person’s abilities in any given area.
- Skill set is the correct spelling.
- Skillset is a misspelling.
Contents
- 1 What is the Difference Between Skillset and Skill Set?
- 2 When to Use Skill Set
- 3 When to Use Skillset
- 4 Trick to Remember the Difference
- 5 Summary
Be in trend easier than drink a glass of water
Is skill set one or two words?
Is skill set one or two words?
The word skill set consists of two words: the nouns skill and set. However, “skill” acts as an adjective because it modifies the “set,” creating one word to represent one noun.
How do I write an exchange resume?
Formatting
- Try to keep your resume as short as possible.
- Use easy to read fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri.
- Separate your resume into relevant headings such as education, working experience, etc.
- Do not clutter information; use bullets.
- Include contacts through different platforms (email, phone, LinkedIn)
How do you put languages on a resume?
How to List Languages on a Resume
- Give your language skills its own section.
- Add the language skills section after the core resume sections (heading, experience, skills, and education).
- List languages with your level of proficiency using one language framework.
What is your skill set interview questions?
Sample Communication Skills Interview Questions:
- “Tell me about a difficult client/manager/teammate you had to deal with.”
- “Describe a time when you were asked to make a speech or presentation at the last minute.”
- “Tell me about a time when you had to be very careful in communicating sensitive or delicate information.”
How do you write a personal statement for Erasmus?
7 tips for writing an Erasmus cover letter
- Be brief and concise.
- Be polite, but not overly so.
- Make sure it’s well structured.
- Don’t use the language as the only reason you want to do an Erasmus exchange.
- Try not to make it too emotional.
- The main thing is that you make it clear Erasmus is going to help you in the future.
- Write a concluding statement.
What is the difference between hard skills and soft skills?
What is the difference between hard skills and soft skills? Hard skills refer to the job-related knowledge and abilities that employees need to perform their job duties effectively. Soft skills, on the other hand, are the personal qualities that help employees really thrive in the workplace.
English is a complex language with compound words like playground. Compound words combine two words together to form one, and one word many believe is a compound word is skill set. How do you spell skill set? Is it skill set, or skillset?
The proper way to spell skill set is with a space in between. If you combine the words skill and set to make skillset, that is incorrect. A common misspelling of skill set is skillset due to how it sounds like a compound word. However, if you use skillset, it’s incorrect and will look very strange.
The rest of this article will cover what skill set means, and how to use it in a sentence.
What Skill Set Means
Skill set is a phrase referring to an individual’s abilities. This can be technical writing, programming, proofreading, or any skills that are valuable in a working environment. These skills can also fall under certain categories, like communication or research and organizing.
Also, skill set can refer to your overall career since your career comes with abilities. For example, you can say an athlete has many different skill sets due to their experience with physical labor. You can say the same about trainers and similar positions.
Skill set is the only correct spelling of the word. Contrary to popular belief, skill set is not a compound word and therefore needs a space. Also, it cannot be spelled with a hyphen like this: skill-set. The only correct spelling is the one with a space.
How To Use Skill Set In A Sentence
Now since you know the meaning of skill set, you can use it in a sentence. It is a noun phrase, and the word “skill” is an adjective in this case. Although overall it’s used as a phrase, “skill” is an adjective that modifies the word “set”. So, you should use skill set as a noun phrase.
Here are a few examples:
“Once I became an athlete, my skill set broadened.”
“Her skill set is impressive.”
“If you look at my about me section, you can view my skill set.”
“Ally’s skill set is impressive because she is an engineer.”
All of those sentences are ways you can use the phrase skill set. It can be placed anywhere in the sentence, so try to experiment with how you use it.
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Conor is the main writer here at One Minute English and was an English teacher for 10 years. He is interested in helping people with their English skills and learning about using A.I tools at work.