Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills: What They Are and How to Use Them to Your Advantage

Hard skills and soft skills, undeniably crucial for your success, not only clearly demonstrate your suitability for the role you're applying for but also form a significant element of your professional image. In today's complex world of behaviors, where diversity and dynamics prevail, a simple division into two broad categories of skills may seem insufficient. Nevertheless, a harmonious combination of technical and interpersonal skills of an employee is essential for their achievements and concurrently contributes to strengthening teams and entire organizations.

The Key to Success: How the Combination of Hard and Soft Skills Distinguishes Candidates in the Job Market

Understanding the difference between hard and soft skills is not only important but crucial for job seekers, as employers often look for candidates equipped with both. It's noteworthy that specific required skills may vary depending on the position and the specifics of the industry. Therefore, the ability to demonstrate both types of skills not only can but often does make a professional distinction of a candidate against the competition. Effective utilization of these skills improves your chances of landing the dream job.

How to properly combine required hard and soft skills in your resume?

This article will explore the topic in more detail, considering key issues such as the differences between hard and soft skills. We'll discuss the characteristics of soft skills and what distinguishes hard skills. We will also address ways to effectively develop both types of skills. In the context of resumes, we'll focus on how to effectively present both hard and soft skills.

It’s important to note that hard and soft skills do not function in isolation but are often used together.

What is the difference between hard skills and soft skills?

Hard skills are technical skills necessary for work, developed through education and training. Soft skills, encompassing personality traits, facilitate collaboration and success at work, shaped through experience.

What are soft skills?

Soft skills, being personality traits, impact job performance and team interactions. These are attributes developed over time at work, allowing effective response in various situations. Employers value them as they can contribute to increased productivity. Examples of important soft skills include:

Resourcefulness

You never know what fate may bring – what challenges or obstacles you'll encounter. Developing imagination is key, as it helps you navigate through difficulties. Thus, when you face challenges, don't give up, but look for solutions. Move forward, using wit and creativity to achieve your goal.

Positive Attitude

You might assume that a positive attitude is a constant character trait, but in reality, many soft skills are linked to optimism. Moreover, mental resilience and calm optimism are crucial. Persistence and the ability to finalize tasks stem from the motivation to act. Furthermore, positive thinking allows transforming every failure into success.

Collaboration

Achieving the best results often comes from effective collaboration and striving towards a common goal, which is a key soft skill. At the same time, directing a diverse team to unanimous action is a challenge. It's also essential to have empathy towards people with different views and the ability to resolve conflicts, especially in emotional situations.

Examples

• Teamwork
• Leadership
• Empathy
• Interpersonal skills
• Tolerance
• Conflict resolution
• Adaptability

It's crucial to adjust actions to the situation. How do you cope when the situation becomes unstable? Can you manage stress and communicate ideas clearly when anxiety arises? As a flexible thinker, you're seen as a leader in uncertain times, to whom others turn for advice.

Examples

• Flexibility
• Following instructions
• Stress management
• Communication
• Customer service
• Work ethic

Striving for goals is invaluable, as it develops perseverance. Transforming obstacles into challenges, not barriers, becomes a habit that effectively strengthens our motivation. Moreover, viewing difficulties as opportunities, not threats, is a key soft skill. Additionally, developing productivity brings remarkable benefits.

Examples

• Determined
• Motivated
• Focused
• Deadline-oriented
• Time management
• Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is crucial, as it allows us to make informed choices, especially when there are multiple options. By welcoming external opinions and meticulously examining facts, we often reach the best solution. Moreover, critical thinkers effectively influence the project and contribute to leading the team.

Examples

• Observation
• Negotiations
• Persuasion
• Analytical skills
• Strategic planning

What are hard skills?

Hard skills, or technical and practical skills, are essential for employees to perform tasks effectively. They are acquired through work and developed via practice and education. The absence of these skills can hinder job search, even though employers also value appropriate soft skills. These skills, including technical, sales, and marketing abilities, are becoming important in various professions.

Technical Skills

Technical skills play a crucial role in many professions, and their growing popularity stems from their ability to simplify processes. Moreover, these skills connect companies with customers and effectively optimize outcomes. The path to acquiring these skills is not only proven but well-documented. Since technical skills are easy to measure, they provide a concrete goal for professionals striving for excellence in their field.

Examples

• Network security
• Programming
• Data science
• Cloud computing
• HTML
• AI – Artificial Intelligence
• Others

Mastering various hard skills can significantly increase your value in the workplace, for example, knowing an additional language opens doors to unique opportunities, and the ability to write clearly saves time that would otherwise be lost on unnecessary explanations. Meanwhile, mastery in effective project execution often remains a challenge for many. Regardless of the job performed, the right hard skill can significantly improve your outcomes.

Examples

• Languages
• Computer graphics
• Copywriting
• Project management

How can you develop hard and soft skills?

Hard skills are acquired and developed through participation in courses and higher education, then refined and perfected in professional practice. This requires mastering specific skills and their effective application.

Soft skills develop through experience and reflection. The unpredictability of situations requires flexibility, and the assessment of the consequences of actions comes over time. Lessons learned from mistakes and awareness of the impact on others are key to developing these skills.

Employers assess soft skills through behavioral and situational interviews. They simulate situations, asking about problem solutions, and your reactions shape their image of your suitability for the role.

Emphasizing practical and soft skills in the resume

In your resume, you should demonstrate the development of practical and soft skills. Identify and present competencies that are key to the role, ideally matching your experience. Additionally, share achievements where these skills were decisive.

Where to present hard skills and soft skills

You don't need to separate hard from soft skills in the resume; both can be supported with examples of achievements. Therefore, feel free to combine them, mentioning both types. You can present these skills in sections such as:

Summary

The summary section should be reserved for the most significant stories from your professional career. If you possess a rare, specialized technical skill, this is where you should share it. Rarely is any soft skill unique enough – they are harder to concisely express in quantities, so consider leaving them for later in the resume.

Skills Section

The skills section is crucial to highlight your hard and soft skills; however, caution is needed. While you might want to list a unique soft skill that distinguishes you professionally, such skills without the context of achievements may seem worthless. On the other hand, hard skills and qualifications impress and are worth mentioning if they give you a competitive edge. However, avoid long lists, as common hard skills are often shared among many candidates.

Employment History

The employment history section is where both your hard and soft skills can be presented in practice. Assuming your resume will be read by an expert in your field, sometimes you don't even need to explain which skills were involved in a particular achievement. Make a list of the most important hard and soft skills required for the position, find the most matching achievements from your career, and let your history speak for you.

Key Takeaways

Providing information about your hard and soft skills is essential to land the dream job. Recruiters often overlook soft skills, as they are difficult to measure. However, during the interview, every word you say will matter. So, ensure your resume creates a cohesive story about how your skills contribute to making positive changes.

Choose matching competencies, both hard and soft, according to the role's requirements. Show how you developed them through short career examples. Present them in the appropriate sections of the resume and cover letter, maintaining uniqueness to stand out.