100+ IT skills for resume — technical support, networking, cybersecurity, cloud computing, Windows/Linux administration, Active Directory, SQL, automation, virtualisation and more. By IT specialisation and role, with evidence examples, certification guidance, and ATS tips for help desk technicians, sysadmins, network engineers, cloud engineers, and cybersecurity analysts.
100+ IT skillsBy specialisation & roleCertification guideNo-experience guidance
Quick Answer
The best IT skills for a resume match the specific role and the job description's technology stack. Core skills across most IT positions: technical troubleshooting, OS proficiency (Windows/Linux — name the version), networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP), Microsoft 365, IT ticketing (ServiceNow, Jira), and IT documentation. Add specialisation-specific skills: sysadmins add Active Directory and server administration; network engineers add routing, switching, and firewall management; cybersecurity analysts add threat monitoring and incident response. Only list technologies you have genuinely used — IT employers test technical claims in interviews and technical assessments.
IT skills are verified: Unlike many other resume skill categories, IT technical claims are routinely tested during interviews, practical assessments, and trial tasks. Never list a technology, operating system, programming language, or certification you have not genuinely used. Claiming CompTIA A+ without holding it, or listing AWS proficiency based on a 1-hour tutorial, are among the most common reasons IT candidates fail technical screening.
100+ IT Skills for Resume — by Specialisation
🖥️ Technical Support & Help Desk Skills
Technical support (Tier 1/2/3)Help desk supportDesktop supportTroubleshootingIncident managementTicket managementRemote support (RDP, TeamViewer)ServiceNowJira Service ManagementZendeskSLA managementUser account managementSoftware installation and deploymentIT documentation / knowledge base
🪟 Operating Systems & Windows Administration Skills
Windows 10 / 11Windows Server 2019 / 2022Active DirectoryGroup Policy (GPO)Microsoft 365 administrationIntune / Endpoint ManagerLinux (Ubuntu / RHEL / Debian)macOS administrationPatch management (WSUS, SCCM)OS installation and configurationSystem performance monitoringUser and permissions management
🌐 Networking Skills
TCP/IP networkingDNS and DHCPVPN configuration and managementLAN / WAN administrationWi-Fi / wireless networkingNetwork troubleshootingRouting and switchingFirewall administrationNetwork monitoringIP addressing and subnettingCisco IOS (if used)Fortinet / Palo Alto (if used)Network documentation
Technology names are the highest-value ATS keywords in IT job postings. Always be specific — list the platform, version, and describe what you do with it.
OS & Systems
Windows 10/11, Server 2019/2022
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS / Debian
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
macOS (Monterey, Ventura)
VMware ESXi / vSphere
Microsoft Hyper-V
Networking & Security
Cisco IOS / Cisco Meraki
Fortinet FortiGate
Palo Alto Networks NGFW
Wireshark
pfSense
Splunk / Microsoft Sentinel
Cloud Platforms
AWS (EC2, S3, IAM, VPC)
Microsoft Azure (VMs, Entra ID)
Google Cloud (GCP)
Microsoft 365 (Intune, AAD)
Terraform / Ansible
Docker / Kubernetes
Ticketing & ITSM
ServiceNow
Jira Service Management
Zendesk
Freshservice
ManageEngine
Remedy (BMC)
Monitoring & Analytics
Datadog
SolarWinds
Nagios / Zabbix
Grafana
PRTG
Microsoft Defender
Databases & Scripting
MySQL / PostgreSQL
Microsoft SQL Server
PowerShell
Python / Bash
Git / GitHub / GitLab
Jenkins / Ansible
How to list IT technology on your resume: "Networking" alone is weak. "TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VPN, LAN/WAN troubleshooting, Cisco Meraki Wi-Fi administration — managed network infrastructure for a 250-seat organisation; resolved 95% of network incidents within SLA" is specific and credible. Name the technology, describe what you do with it, and include scale where genuine.
IT Skills by Role
IT is a broad field with very distinct specialisations. Find your role and build your skills section from the right technical foundation.
Key metrics: team size, IT budget, SLA %, project delivery, cost savings
IT Skills — Evidence Examples
IT resumes are strongest when technical skills connect to the environment scale, tools used, and measurable outcomes. Here is the three-level progression.
Technical Support / Help Desk
❌ Weak
"Technical support experience"
⚠️ Better
"Provided Tier 1 and Tier 2 technical support for Windows users and documented incidents in ServiceNow"
✅ Strong
"Delivered Tier 1/2 technical support for 75+ Windows 10/11 users — hardware, software, and network issues — managed in ServiceNow; maintained 87% first-contact resolution rate and 95% SLA compliance over 12 months"
Active Directory / Windows Administration
❌ Weak
"Active Directory experience"
⚠️ Better
"Managed user accounts and permissions in Active Directory for the company's Windows environment"
✅ Strong
"Administered Active Directory for a 300-user organisation — account provisioning and deprovisioning, Group Policy configuration, OU structure management, and security group administration; reduced onboarding setup time from 4 hours to 45 minutes via standardised GPO deployment"
Cloud Administration (Azure)
❌ Weak
"Cloud computing skills"
⚠️ Better
"Managed Azure virtual machines and cloud resources for the organisation's cloud infrastructure"
✅ Strong
"Administered Microsoft Azure environment for a 150-user hybrid organisation — VMs, Azure Entra ID, Intune endpoint management, and Azure Blob storage; led migration of 12 on-premises servers to Azure IaaS, reducing infrastructure costs by £28k annually"
PowerShell / Automation
❌ Weak
"PowerShell skills"
⚠️ Better
"Used PowerShell to automate routine tasks and improve IT workflows across the team"
✅ Strong
"Developed and maintained a PowerShell script library automating 14 routine AD, M365, and Windows tasks — new-hire provisioning, licence assignment, mailbox setup, and group membership; reduced manual admin time by 6 hours per week across the IT team"
IT Skills by Experience Level
Entry-Level / No Professional IT Experience
What to list and how
IT skills with no professional experience can come from home labs, coursework, certifications, personal projects, or volunteer technical support. "Built and administered a home lab with Windows Server 2022, Ubuntu Server, and pfSense — configured Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, and a site-to-site VPN" demonstrates genuine technical capability. CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, Microsoft AZ-900, and AWS Cloud Practitioner are widely recognised entry-level credentials that significantly strengthen an IT resume with no professional experience. Always describe what you did and what environment scale you worked with. Never claim enterprise-scale administration based on home lab work alone.
Early-Career IT Professional (1–4 years)
What to emphasise
Add specific environment scale to every technical skill. Replace "managed Active Directory" with "administered Active Directory for 300 users." Replace "cloud experience" with specific services (EC2, Azure VMs, S3, Entra ID) and the workload type. Include every ticketing system used by name. Highlight any automation work, process improvements, or efficiency gains — IT managers at this level are particularly interested in evidence that you improve operational efficiency, not just maintain it. Relevant certifications earned (AZ-104, CKA, CompTIA Security+, CCNA) should be listed with the issuing body and date obtained.
Mid-Level to Senior IT Professional (5–10 years)
What to highlight
Shift from task execution to infrastructure ownership and technical leadership. Emphasise: environment complexity and scale, architectural decisions made, major infrastructure projects delivered (cloud migration, data centre refresh, security programme implementation), and automation programmes built. Include advanced certifications (CISSP, CISM, AWS Solutions Architect Professional, CCNP, RHCE). Quantify infrastructure impact: "Led migration of 40 physical servers to Azure IaaS — reduced annual infrastructure cost by £185k and improved recovery time objective from 8 hours to 15 minutes." Scope and outcome define senior IT resumes.
IT Manager / Director / CTO
What to shift toward
Lead with IT strategy, team leadership, and business outcomes. Emphasise: team size and structure, IT budget managed, technology transformation programmes delivered, vendor relationships and contract management, security and compliance posture, and measurable business impact of technology investments. "Led a 12-person IT team supporting 1,800 users across 6 sites — delivered a £2.4M infrastructure modernisation programme on time and 7% under budget, achieving 99.97% system availability and zero critical security incidents in 2024" demonstrates IT leadership at the appropriate level. Individual technical skills are assumed at this seniority — lead with business and organisational outcomes.
Job Description → IT Skills Translation
Job Description Says
Resume Skill
Evidence Format
"Provide Tier 1/2 IT support"
Technical support (Tier 1/2) / Ticketing (ServiceNow)
IT job postings are among the most keyword-specific of any industry — platform versions, tool names, and protocol names are all common ATS filter terms. Here is how to optimise your IT resume:
Name OS versions specifically: "Windows Server 2022" not "Windows Server." "Ubuntu 22.04 LTS" not "Linux." "RHEL 8/9" not "Red Hat." Version specificity signals genuine recent experience and is a common ATS filter.
Name cloud services at the component level: "AWS EC2, S3, IAM, VPC, CloudWatch" not "AWS." "Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Entra ID, Intune" not "Azure." Recruiters and ATS systems match against specific service names — not just the platform name.
List certifications with exact names and issuing bodies: "CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701)" not "security certification." "Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104)" not "Azure certification." Exact certification names with exam codes are specific ATS keywords in IT postings.
Include networking protocol terms: "TCP/IP," "DNS," "DHCP," "BGP," "OSPF," "VPN" are specific networking terms that ATS systems scan for in network-related postings. Spell them out in full at least once where relevant.
Use standard IT terminology: "Patch management" not "keeping software updated." "Incident response" not "dealing with security issues." "ITSM" not "IT management system." Field-specific terms signal genuine IT experience to both ATS and technical hiring managers.
List IT skills that directly match the job description and your actual technical experience. Core skills across most IT roles: technical troubleshooting, OS proficiency (Windows/Linux — name the specific version), networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP), Microsoft 365, IT ticketing (ServiceNow, Jira Service Management), and IT documentation. Add specialisation-specific skills: sysadmins add Active Directory and server administration; network engineers add routing, switching, and firewall management; cybersecurity analysts add SIEM tools and incident response. Only list technologies you have genuinely used — IT employers routinely test technical claims during screening, interviews, and practical assessments.
Yes — always list specific operating systems rather than generic terms. "Windows 10/11 and Windows Server 2019/2022" is more credible than "Windows." If you use Linux, name the specific distribution(s): "Ubuntu 22.04 LTS," "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8/9," or "Debian 12." For administrators, describe what you do with the OS: "Windows Server 2022 — user and group management, Group Policy administration, patch management via WSUS, and performance monitoring across a 200-endpoint environment." Version specificity is an ATS keyword match and a credibility signal to technical hiring managers who know what version is current.
IT skills with no professional experience can come from home labs, coursework, certifications, personal projects, volunteer work, or internships. Describe specific technical work: "Built and administered a home lab with Windows Server 2022, Ubuntu Server 22.04, and pfSense — configured Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, and a site-to-site VPN." CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, Microsoft AZ-900, and AWS Cloud Practitioner are widely recognised entry-level credentials that significantly strengthen an IT resume without professional experience. Always describe what you configured and what scale you worked at. Never present home lab work as enterprise-scale administration.
Replace "troubleshooting skills" with specific technical outcomes: "Diagnosed and resolved hardware, software, and network connectivity issues for 75+ Windows 10/11 users — maintained 87% first-contact resolution rate and 95% SLA compliance across 12 months." This tells the employer what you troubleshot (hardware, software, network), on what platform (Windows 10/11), at what scale (75+ users), and how effectively (FCR and SLA metrics). Include the ticketing system used: "managed and resolved 25–35 daily tickets in ServiceNow." Troubleshooting without a resolution metric is a claim without evidence — add the number.
List specific cloud services, not just the platform name. "AWS" alone is a weak entry that tells the employer nothing. "AWS — EC2 (compute), S3 (storage), IAM (identity), VPC (networking), CloudWatch (monitoring); administered workloads for a 3-tier web application in a production environment" is credible. For Azure: "Microsoft Azure — Virtual Machines, Azure Entra ID (formerly AAD), Intune endpoint management, Azure Storage, and Azure Monitor — hybrid identity for 200 users." Cloud-specific certifications (AZ-104, AWS SAA, AZ-500) in a separate Certifications section strengthen cloud skills claims significantly.
List IT certifications in a dedicated Certifications section with the exact credential name, issuing body, and year obtained (or expiry date where applicable). High-value certifications by specialisation: Support (CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+), Networking (Cisco CCNA, CompTIA Network+), Cybersecurity (CompTIA Security+, CISSP, CISM, CEH), Cloud (Microsoft AZ-104, AWS SAA, Google ACE), Systems (Microsoft MCSA, Red Hat RHCSA/RHCE), and ITSM (ITIL 4 Foundation). List only certifications you currently hold. Exam codes where relevant (e.g. CompTIA Security+ SY0-701) are additional ATS keywords. Expired certifications should note their status — do not list as if current.
Computer skills typically refer to general end-user proficiency: Microsoft Word, Excel, email, internet browsing, and basic file management. IT skills are a significantly more specialised category covering: system administration, network configuration, server management, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, database administration, scripting and automation, and technical support at enterprise scale. Knowing how to use Microsoft Office is a computer skill. Administering a Microsoft 365 tenant, configuring Conditional Access, and managing Intune endpoint policies are IT skills. See our computer skills guide for the full breakdown of end-user technology proficiency.