Top 12 Support Analyst Skills to Put on Your Resume

Resumes get skimmed fast. Skills do the heavy lifting. If you want a support analyst role to land with a thud, your toolkit needs to be sharp, current, and visible. Below, twelve skills that punch above their weight in daily support work and make a recruiter pause for a second look.

Support Analyst Skills

1. SQL
2. Python
3. Salesforce
4. Zendesk
5. Jira
6. Excel
7. Power BI
8. Tableau
9. Linux
10. Active Directory
11. AWS
12. SharePoint

1. SQL

SQL (Structured Query Language) is the backbone for working with relational databases—querying, joining, aggregating, and shaping data for investigation and reporting.

Why It's Important

Support lives on data. SQL lets you trace issues, validate fixes, build ad‑hoc reports, and give stakeholders answers without waiting.

How to Improve SQL Skills

Get comfortable with how data hangs together and how queries scale. Focus on:

1. Understand the schema: Tables, keys, relationships, constraints. Map it mentally before you write.
2. Nail the fundamentals: SELECT, WHERE, JOINs, GROUP BY, HAVING. Window functions and CTEs elevate your game.
3. Tune performance: Indexes, execution plans, sargable predicates, avoiding SELECT * and N+1 queries.
4. Go advanced: Views, stored procedures, functions, transactions, isolation levels.
5. Analytics patterns: Cohorts, rolling sums, deduping with ROW_NUMBER, pivot/unpivot.
6. Practice relentlessly: Real tickets, sandbox datasets, kata on challenge platforms.

Speed matters, but accuracy matters more. Balance both.

How to Display SQL Skills on Your Resume

2. Python

Python is a clean, readable language that thrives on automation, data wrangling, and quick tooling—perfect for reducing repetitive support toil.

Why It's Important

Automate the boring bits. Parse logs, call APIs, stitch reports, validate configs—faster and with fewer mistakes.

How to Improve Python Skills

1. Solid core: Data types, control flow, functions, modules, virtual environments.
2. Data work: pandas and NumPy for transforms, merges, time series, and quick analysis.
3. Scripting for ops: CLI tools (argparse/typer), file I/O, CSV/JSON handling, scheduling.
4. APIs and integrations: Requests, authentication patterns, pagination, rate limits, retries.
5. Debugging: Logging, exceptions, stack traces, pytest for confidence and speed.
6. Keep learning: Small projects tied to real support tasks—ticket triage helpers, report generators, health checks.

How to Display Python Skills on Your Resume

3. Salesforce

Salesforce is a cloud CRM platform—think case management, knowledge, automation, analytics, and integrations under one roof.

Why It's Important

Support analysts live in queues. Centralized customer context, robust workflows, and reporting keep issues moving and trends visible.

How to Improve Salesforce Skills

1. Customization: Design fields, objects, and page layouts that mirror your support process.
2. Automation: Prefer Flow over legacy Process Builder to route, escalate, notify, and update records.
3. Data hygiene: Deduplicate, validate, and set guardrails so reports don’t lie.
4. Integrations: Email, chat, CTI, incident systems—connect the tools agents already use.
5. Knowledge and Service Cloud: Build articles, deflection paths, and omni‑channel routing that make queues saner.
6. Dashboards: SLAs, backlog, reopen rates, first contact resolution—make performance visible.

How to Display Salesforce Skills on Your Resume

4. Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service platform for ticketing, help center, messaging, and analytics.

Why It's Important

It turns chaos into queues. Structure requests, answer consistently, and track what’s slipping.

How to Improve Zendesk Skills

1. Automations and triggers: Time‑based nudges, SLA escalations, smart assignments.
2. Macros: Fast, consistent responses with placeholders and conditional text.
3. Help Center: Tight, searchable articles; close the loop with feedback and deflection metrics.
4. Skills‑based routing: Send the right ticket to the right person the first time.
5. Analytics: Use Explore to spot bottlenecks, spikes, and agent workload imbalances.
6. Apps and integrations: Pull in CRM context, bug tracker links, alerts—reduce tab‑switching.
7. Training: Short enablement loops; document workflows and edge cases.

How to Display Zendesk Skills on Your Resume

5. Jira

Jira is work tracking for issues, requests, and projects. For support, it shines in triage, prioritization, and visibility.

Why It's Important

Clear ownership and status. Faster handoffs. Solid reporting. Less mystery.

How to Improve Jira Skills

1. Dashboards: Surface SLAs, unresolved counts, blockers, and recent escalations at a glance.
2. Automation: Auto‑assign, label, transition, and comment based on triggers and fields.
3. SLAs: Define, measure, and report. Breach alerts should be unmistakable.
4. Issue templates: Capture required details up front to avoid ping‑pong.
5. JQL mastery: Filters, subscriptions, and trend queries that actually answer questions.
6. Service portals: In Jira Service Management, build simple request types and knowledge links.
7. Knowledge links: Tie related Confluence articles or runbooks to issues for instant context.
8. Continuous tidy‑up: Archive old fields, prune workflows, standardize labels.

How to Display Jira Skills on Your Resume

6. Excel

Excel is the everyday workhorse for data cleanup, analysis, and presentation.

Why It's Important

When you need answers now, Excel lets you crunch, chart, and share without ceremony.

How to Improve Excel Skills

1. Modern functions: XLOOKUP, FILTER, UNIQUE, INDEX/MATCH, IF, TEXTSPLIT. Use dynamic arrays.
2. PivotTables: Summaries that slice by priority, product, or channel in seconds.
3. Power Query: Clean, merge, and transform repeatedly with reproducible steps.
4. Power Pivot: Data models and DAX measures for richer reporting.
5. Dashboards: Controlled inputs, clear visuals, minimal clutter, consistent scales.
6. VBA/macros (when needed): Automate repetitive reporting and formatting.
7. Data validation: Drop‑downs, input rules, and error checks to keep data honest.
8. Shortcuts: Muscle memory saves hours. Practice them.

How to Display Excel Skills on Your Resume

7. Power BI

Power BI turns scattered data into interactive reports and dashboards built for the business to explore.

Why It's Important

Support teams spot trends sooner—spikes, regressions, noisy releases—and act with evidence.

How to Improve Power BI Skills

1. DAX fluency: Measures, time intelligence, filter context—where the magic happens.
2. Power Query (M): Clean and shape data at the source so models stay lean.
3. Data modeling: Star schemas, relationships, calculated columns vs measures, surrogate keys.
4. Visualization craft: Appropriate charts, bookmarks, tooltips, and drill‑throughs that tell a story.
5. Service know‑how: Workspaces, sharing, row‑level security, refresh schedules, lineage.
6. Performance: Vertipaq analyzer habits—reduce cardinality, avoid heavy calculated columns.

How to Display Power BI Skills on Your Resume

8. Tableau

Tableau is a visual analytics platform for crafting interactive dashboards and fast ad‑hoc exploration.

Why It's Important

It surfaces patterns you can’t see in raw tables—outliers, hotspots, seasonality, drift.

How to Improve Tableau Skills

1. Foundation: Dimensions vs measures, granularity, extracts vs live connections.
2. Calculated fields: Table calcs, LOD expressions, parameters, and actions for interactivity.
3. Design discipline: Consistent color scales, minimal ink, clear annotations, responsive layouts.
4. Performance: Optimize data sources, reduce marks, and pre‑aggregate where it counts.
5. Storytelling: Sequence views to answer who, what, when, where—then why.

How to Display Tableau Skills on Your Resume

9. Linux

Linux underpins servers, containers, and appliances across the stack. Stable, secure, scriptable.

Why It's Important

Support analysts meet Linux everywhere—logs, services, permissions, networking. Knowing your way around shortens outages.

How to Improve Linux Skills

1. Shell comfort: ls, grep/rg, awk, sed, find, xargs, tar, permissions, ssh/scp.
2. Scripting: Bash fundamentals, quoting, exit codes, traps, cron/systemd timers.
3. System services: systemd units, journald logs, service lifecycle, cgroups.
4. Networking: ip/ss/nmap, DNS resolution, routing, firewalls, TLS basics.
5. Monitoring: top/htop, iotop, vmstat, df/du, disk SMART, log rotation.
6. Security: Users/groups, sudo, SSH hardening, SELinux/AppArmor fundamentals.
7. Practice: Spin up VMs or containers and break things—then fix them.

How to Display Linux Skills on Your Resume

10. Active Directory

Active Directory (AD) is Microsoft’s directory service for identities, access, and policy in Windows environments. Often paired with Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) in hybrid setups.

Why It's Important

Central control of users, groups, devices, and permissions. Fewer doors left open, fewer surprises during audits.

How to Improve Active Directory Skills

1. Hygiene and patching: Keep domain controllers and dependencies current.
2. Identity security: Strong password and lockout policies, MFA where possible, conditional access in hybrid.
3. Least privilege: Role‑based access, tiered admin, just‑in‑time elevation.
4. Monitoring and audit: Baseline events, alert on atypical changes, protect privileged groups.
5. Group Policy: Organize OUs cleanly; test GPOs in staging; document intent.
6. Backup and recovery: System state backups, forest recovery plans, regular drills.
7. User education: Phishing awareness and credential hygiene reduce noise and risk.

How to Display Active Directory Skills on Your Resume

11. AWS

AWS is a broad cloud platform covering compute, storage, databases, networking, and a long list of managed services.

Why It's Important

Many apps you support run there. Understanding the pieces shortens triage and improves uptime.

How to Improve AWS Skills

1. Core services: EC2, S3, RDS, VPC, IAM. Know what they do and how they fail.
2. Observability: CloudWatch metrics/logs, alarms, X‑Ray traces, Health Dashboard.
3. Security: IAM policies, least privilege, key rotation, guardrails with SCPs.
4. Resilience: Multi‑AZ patterns, backups, autoscaling, load balancing, lifecycle policies.
5. Networking: Subnets, routes, security groups vs NACLs, peering, PrivateLink.
6. Infrastructure as code: CloudFormation or Terraform exposure helps with repeatability and drift control.
7. Hands‑on practice: Sandboxes, labs, and small projects beat theory.

How to Display AWS Skills on Your Resume

12. SharePoint

SharePoint powers document management, intranets, and collaboration—on‑prem or, more commonly now, SharePoint Online in Microsoft 365.

Why It's Important

Support teams need clean knowledge, controlled access, and workflows that don’t depend on memory.

How to Improve SharePoint Skills

1. Performance and structure: Logical site architecture, content types, metadata, and views for fast discovery.
2. Security and governance: Permissions by group, audit trails, retention labels, and regular reviews.
3. Automation: Power Automate flows for approvals, routing, and notifications.
4. Documentation quality: Clear, versioned, search‑friendly articles; sunset stale content.
5. Maintenance: Updates, health checks, storage quotas, and alerts for growth hot spots.
6. Feedback loops: Collect user input and iterate—small tweaks pay dividends.

How to Display SharePoint Skills on Your Resume