Have you heard before that your resume should highlight both Hard and Soft skills? Those don’t mean Difficult and Easy skills! Let’s talk about these categories and some ways to recognize the full range of skills you have.
Hard vs. Soft Skills
Hard skills might be better described as concrete or technical skills. These are skills that typically are learned through education or training. Hard skills are typically more measurable than Soft skills.
For example, computer coding is a hard skill that includes specific coding languages. In food services, cooking is a hard skill that includes preparing specific dishes and using the right methods and tools.
Soft skills, on the other hand, are inter-personal skills or transferable skills. They are often gained through life experience and can be more difficult to measure.
Leadership or Problem Solving are both soft skills that might be used very differently by people in different roles. Though cooking is a hard skill, Management is a soft skill. A strong kitchen manager likely needs both.
Check out this brief video on the difference between Hard and Soft Skills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FFLFcB9xfQ
Strengthening your Resume
In any job, you use both Hard and Soft skills! The Hard skills you use may be easiest to think of when writing your resume, but including your Soft skills will take you to the next level.
Here are some possibilities if you don’t know where to start. Let’s imagine the skills that landscaping crew members might use at work as an example:
Teamwork – If your job involves working alongside others then you have experience with teamwork. A landscaping crew all use Hard skills to complete the landscaping job, but they might also divide work between the team members, help each other with tasks, and update each other about progress or challenges.
Working independently – Once the landscaping crew divides their tasks, they might work independently. Being able to stay focused, completing your part of the work in a timely manner, and knowing when to get help are all parts of working independently.
Customer Service – Having a pleasant and professional approach with customers is a positive trait, even if most of your job doesn’t involve customer interaction. Anyone on the landscaping crew might be asked a question by a customer or the public.
What makes Soft Skills Special
The magic of Soft Skills is how transferable they are between different types of roles. Even if your new job doesn’t involve mowing lawns or planting flowers, the teamwork or customer service skills you learned can be just as handy. Showcasing them in your resume helps connect the dots between the work you’ve done and the roles you’re hoping for.