Not sure what “hard” skills are? You better find out! (And learn how to use them on a resume to score interviews.) Good news? You’ve come to the right place.
What makes you good at your job?
Recruiters will assume it’s years of professional experience, a solid diploma, and a well-established certificate.
But these all represent something much more important:
Your skills. The ones that get the job done—
This guide will show you:
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It’s not about how difficult they are, it’s all about how process-oriented such abilities might be.
Hard skills are abilities learned on the job, through training, apprenticeships, formal education, or courses. Hard skills are teachable, quantifiable, and related to a specific job. Typical examples of hard skills include computer software, marketing, writing, accounting, finance, or legal skills.
In contrast, soft skills are your traits and abilities not unique to any job—think collaboration, time management, empathy, or leadership.
Which kind of skill set is more important? A LinkedIn study suggests that a slight majority (57% vs 43%) of employers value soft skills over hard skills.
But is this really an either/or situation?
Not really. The best way to think about it that hard skills get interviews, soft skills get jobs.
(Not to mention the thin line between definitions—how soft a skill is time management?)
If the hard-vs-soft-skills contrast isn’t quite clear to you, see our guide: The Difference Between Hard and Soft Skills Explained
We’ve done our research so you don’t have to. Below you’ll see a list of hard skills. Just click on any of them and jump to a dedicated section.
Better yet, scroll down to see all options and pick the best for you.
Top 11 Hard Skills List
Below, you’ll see more specific examples of hard skills in each category. Before we get to that, though, two crucial things:
For more strategies of highlighting your job skills, see: Crucial Skills to Put on Your Resume 2020
Now, let’s explore some of the most important and sought-after hard skills:
Technical skills include specialized knowledge and expertise in fields such as IT, engineering, or science. Typical technical skills are abilities to use specialized software or equipment.
Here are some examples of technical hard skills:
Now, here’s a few samples extracted from resumes:
For a dedicated guide to putting technical hard skills on a resume, see: The Best Technical Skills for Resumes
Computer skills are your abilities to use software and hardware: from basic and general, to highly specialized.
On today’s job market, computer skills are a must in any industry. Be sure to include list them on your resume especially if you’re applying for office jobs and if the job ad requires specifics.
Here’s a list of some basic computer skills:
And here you’ll see some typical programming skills:
This is how you can make them work on your resume:
Need more information? Here’s a must-read for you: Key Computer Skills to Put on a Resume in 2019
If you want to laser-in on MS Office skills, see: Microsoft Office Suite Skills for the Workforce
Analytical skills are the skills of gathering data, analyzing it, deciphering the meaning, and presenting it.
No matter what job you’re pursuing, if you’re able to show that you’re good with data analysis, the recruiter will score you some bonus points.
Here are some analytical skills to put on a resume:
Analytical skills proven on your resume:
Learn more: Analytical Skills/Data Analysis Skills to Boost Your Resume
Marketing skills include the general knowledge of sales, advertising, and consumer research, as well as a plethora of highly technical, digital skills required for success in modern-day online marketing.
Marketing hard skills are of greatest value to candidates in media, advertising, social media, e-commerce, and product management.
Some examples include:
The list could go on, and on, and on. But what marketing skills are most relevant today?
According to a 2018 report by ADMA, this is the top 7:
Not sure how to make your resume show your marketing expertise? Get inspired by these samples of hard marketing skills on resumes:
Marketing ability highlights:
Hungry for more? Check this out: Top-Level Marketing Skills for Your Resume & How to List Them
Wait, what? Aren’t presentation skills a soft skill?
Not exactly. Sure, you need certain soft, transferable skills to deliver a good presentation: confidence, adaptability, self-awareness, or stress management. But—
To facilitate your presentation or report, you’ll need at least a few of these hard skills:
And here’s how to prove you’re a savvy presenter on a resume:
See more: How to List Presentation Skills on Resumes
Again, you might feel like people skills are in the core of good management and leadership. Again…
That’s just half-right.
To be a good manager, you also need some job-specific skills such as these:
And here’s how to convey your management expertise on an exec resume:
For more examples and step-by-step tutorials see: Managerial Skills List (Not Only For Managers!)
In short, project management skills guarantee that things get done.
More than that, actually: done in time and within budget. If you’re skilled in project management, it will be a plus for any sort of job where you need to coordinate processes or people’s work.
Project management skills include general managerial expertise as well as proficiency in certain frameworks and software. Here are some examples of PM hard skills:
And these samples will show you how to present your PM expertise on a resume:
For more tips on showcasing your PM hard skills, head over to Project Management Skills Crucial for Your Career (And Resume!)
A solid grasp of writing techniques will give your career a boost if your job requires any sort of writing (think typing up quarterly reports, onboarding documents, presentations for clients, sales pitches, etc.).
Check out these examples:
Now, an ultimate writing assignment… Conveying your writing skills on a resume. This is how to do it:
We’ve written a super detailed piece on writing skills, give it a read: 150+ Writing Skills for Jobs & How to Boost Them
Another somewhat obvious point on our list. But that doesn’t make it less important.
Knowing more than one language will set you apart from your competition for any job in a company that deals with international customers or stakeholders.
First of all, create a section for languages. List all foreign languages you know and indicate your proficiency level.
But you can also emphasize your multilingual skills in other parts.
Need more information? See: How to Show Off Your Language Skills on a Resume
If you’re a skilled illustrator, modern employers will fight one another for who gets to hire you. No, not only if your niche is graphic design. The ability to create polished visual materials is a great asset in all work environments.
Here are some graphic design skills examples.
Now, here’s a few samples from other resume sections:
Need more inspiration to highlight your creative powers? While we don’t have a dedicated piece on design skills, I’m sure you’ll find this one useful: How to Write a Head-Turning Graphic Design Resume
If you have certifications that back up your skills, list them in a separate resume section. Include the name of the certificate and the year you received it.
Learn more: How to Include Certifications on Resumes
Here’s everything you need to know about putting hard skills on a resume:
Got more questions? Need assistance in picking the right hard skills for your resume? Drop me a line in the comments, I’ll get right back to you.
How to email a resume to get more job offers? Writing a great resume might not be enough. You have to know how to send it! Check out a sample email to send with a resume, see great resume emailing hacks and get tips from HR pros. Learn the best strategy to send a resume email and start getting more interviews!
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