Employers are looking for two kinds of skills: interpersonal skills and hard skills.
Solid skills show that you are great for a particular job. Nobody is born with them.
Three examples of complex skills: programming, budgeting, and mixing drinks.
Soft skills prove you’ll fit in just about anywhere. They are part of your personality, but you can learn them.
Three examples of soft skills are interpersonal skills, communication, and leadership.
To get a job, you need to show the right mix the right hard and soft skills and the right way.
This guide will show you:
- The difference between hard skills and soft skills – soft skills vs hard skills.
- Lists of both types of skills that employers want the most.
- Why you need to choose slightly different soft and hard skills for every job you apply for.
- How to show hard and soft skills on your resume to get a job faster.
There are two types of skills recruiters look for on resumes: job skills and social skills. When used correctly, they work together to form a powerful resume that gives the hiring manager a comprehensive understanding of a job seeker’s capabilities.
What are hard skills?
Hard skills are taught skills. They are quantifiable and are often learned in school through certificates, or through previous work experience. Hard skills are specific to each job and are often the basis of job requirements.
Recruiters look for complex skills on your resume to gauge how well you can perform in your job. These job skills are especially important because of the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) algorithms used to rank and filter job applications.
Solid skills are also referred to as “resume keywords” which recruiters use to find candidates in candidate tracking systems. For a resume to be easily searchable, it must include the exact skills listed in the job description.
List of hard skills
Here are some skills examples:
- technical skills
- Data collection
- Analytics
- HTML
- Data analysis
- SaaS in the cloud
- Coding
- AI
- Machine learning
- Big data design skills
- Python
- JavaScript
- Java
- Apache Hadup
- Apache Spark
- excel
- Computer science
- Data visualization
- Sales and marketing skills
- SEO/SEM marketing
- Mark _
- Social media
- Coverage
- Inside sales
- Outgoing call
- Strategy
- Forecasting
- CRM
- Accounting and finance skills
- Mathematics
- Accounting
- THIS
- Quick Books
- GAAP
- Analytics
- Audit
- Cash flow management
- Microsoft office
- Risk analysis
How can you find difficult skills for your resume?
A resume of complex skills should be tailored to each job. To find skills that will grab the attention of recruiters and help you get through the ATS, job seekers should analyze the job description. Pay particular attention to the required skills when writing your proceed. These are the skills that are mentioned first, or the skills that are listed more than once, as they are likely to have a high priority for the hiring manager.
When choosing hard skills to include, keep in mind that ATS is hard work. Be sure to use the exact form of the word used in the job description.
Where should you display difficult skills on your resume?
Including a skills section on your resume will allow recruiters and hiring managers to see at a glance that you have the skills needed for the job. You can also include difficult skills in a copy of your work experience section, although you may find that these types of skills are most impressive when listed.
Tip: Include important professional skills in both your work experience and skills section. You can also include highly desirable skills in your cover letter.
Optimize difficult skills (keywords) on your resume
It can take a long time to analyze each job description, but it’s important. A job scanner can help by automating the process of finding difficult skills. Simply upload or copy and paste your resume next to the job description of your choice and Jobscan does the rest.
What are soft skills?
Soft skills are generally interpersonal skills or desirable personality traits that are related to character, teamwork, communication, time management, and work ethic. Soft skills tend to carry over between jobs or industries, but are harder to quantify on a resume than professional skills.
- List of soft skills
- Communication
- Leadership
- adaptability
- Problem solving
- Listening
- Team Oriented
- Team player
- Strong work ethic
- decision maker
- strategic thinker
- Qualified employee
- Time management
- self-motivated
- multitasking
- Conflict resolution
- Responsible
- Flexible
- Organized
- Work well under pressure
- Competitive
- Entrepreneurial
- Honesty
- Hands up
- Innovation
- Consistent
- creative
- Vigorous
- enthusiastic
- Slave
- Attention to detail
How to Use Interpersonal Skills on Your Resume
The fact that soft skills are not technical does not mean that they cannot be turned into measurable achievements. In fact, they should be. Soft skills become more tangible and believable when combined with achievement and measurable results.
For example, if you have a closing statement on your resume, try incorporating soft skills into it, such as:
Product Manager, Problem Solver and Super Communicator with 15 years of product strategy development experience. I have run over 20 successful products from start to finish.
This summary statement uses “problem solving” and “super communicator” soft skills, and includes measurable metrics as evidence of experience. When working with soft skills, the applicant should always try to combine soft skills with a measurable result.
Another way to include interpersonal skills in the form of achievements is in the experience section of your resume. For example:
Using my strong organizational skills, I created a new file system for over 300 patient files.
Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills
The combination of hard skills and soft skills creates a well-rounded job candidate. Although hard skills are very different from soft skills, their combination creates a good balance between knowledge and interpersonal qualities. Hard skills show mastery and craftsmanship, while soft skills show communication and relational abilities.
For example, a software engineer might have the following skills on their resume:
- javascript
- Java
- CASE
- Linux
They may also have the following soft skills on their resume:
- Attention to detail
- Excellent time management
- Work well under pressure
This candidate’s skills demonstrate a very different, very specific competency compared to their interpersonal skills. Solid skills help the applicant pass the ATS while demonstrating the level of experience and qualifications for the position. Soft skills make the applicant human by demonstrating leadership, empathy and character.
During the job application and interview process, employers look for candidates with professional and flexible skills. Successful candidates will definitely demonstrate both sets of skills. To do this effectively, it’s helpful to understand the difference between these two types of skills.
Learn about the differences between hard and soft skills, what employers are looking for, how to highlight your skills, and examples of each skill type.
What are hard skills? Define hard skills
Hard skills are trainable abilities or sets of skills that are easy to measure. Typically, you learn complex skills in the classroom, through books or other learning materials, or at work. These important skills are often listed in your cover letter and resume and are easily recognized by an employer or recruiter. Difficult skills include:
- Foreign language proficiency
- Degree or certificate
- Print speed
- Machine operation
- Computer programming
- What are soft skills?
Soft skills, on the other hand, are subjective skills that are much more difficult to quantify. Also known as “social skills” or “interpersonal skills”, social skills refer to how you relate to and interact with other people. Soft skills include:
- Communication
- Flexibility
- Leadership
- Motivation
- Patience
- Belief
- Problem Solving Ability
- Teamwork
- Time management
- Work ethic
Unlike hard skills, it’s hard to provide concrete evidence that you have soft skills. If an employer is looking for someone who knows a programming language, you can share your grade in class or point to a program you’ve created using that language. But how can you show that you have a work ethic or any other soft skill?
Write down your soft skills and point out some specific times you have used them.
Just saying you have the skills doesn’t make much sense. Instead, it’s best to demonstrate that you have this quality by sharing examples of times you’ve used it.
The Best Skills Employers Are Looking For
While certain job skills are required for any position, employers are increasingly looking for job candidates with certain soft skills. This is because it is generally easier for an employer to teach a new employee hard skills (such as how to use a certain computer program) than it is to teach an employee soft skills (such as patience).
Analytical skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills and leadership qualities are some of the top skills that employers expect from potential employees.
Employers are increasingly looking for candidates with hybrid skills, which are a combination of social and technical skills. Candidates with this skill set are highly competitive in an ever-evolving technology-driven economy.
If you have the best skills that employers are looking for in job applicants, include them on your resume and cover letters and mention them during interviews.
