Job Searching: Hard Skills and Soft Skills

Posted on by Jay Wren

Hard skills get you the interview.   Soft skills get you the job.

When interviewers read your resume, they are looking for hard skills.  Your experience shows your hard skills.  Here are some examples.

    1. Accounting
    2. Analysis
    3. Brand Development
    4. Computer Programming
    5. Data Management
    6. Education
    7. Financial Management
    8. Internet Programming
    9. People Management
    10. Planning
    11. Mathematics
    12. Research and Development
    13. Software knowledge (e.g., word processing, spreadsheet, image editing, database, etc.)
    14. Selling
    15. Typing
    16. Writing

You show your soft skills in an interview.   Your interpersonal skills and your character skills are soft skills.

  1. Flexibility
  2. Integrity
  3. Listening
  4. Motivation
  5. Negotiation
  6. Patience
  7. Positive Attitude
  8. Self-initiative
  9. Sociability
  10. Speaking
  11. Teamwork
  12. Trustworthiness

Some people list soft skills in their resume.  If you find that you are having trouble keeping your resume from getting too long, remember that interviewers are not looking for soft skills when they read a resume.  They are looking for hard skills that show your qualifications for a job.  Therefore, put hard skills on your resume and practice your soft skills for your interview.