Hard Skills: Definition, Examples, and Comparison to Soft Skills

What Are Hard Skills?

Hard skills are technical skills required for a job. They are learned abilities acquired and enhanced through education and experience. Hard skills are important for your resume, as employers look for them when hiring.

Hard skills alone don’t translate into success, as employees also need other skills, such as soft skills. Unlike soft skills, hard skills can be quantified. For example, a hard skill might be proficiency in a second language, while a soft skill could be the ability to work well on a team.

Understanding Hard Skills

Hard skills are technical skills needed to perform a job or land a new one. They are typically industry specific. For example, a financial analyst would need a different set of hard skills from a carpenter. But hard skills can also be valuable across industries. For example, fluency in a second language could potentially benefit both the analyst and the carpenter.

Employers and recruiters look for hard skills listed on your resume and during the interview process. It’s best to back up your hard skills with a certificate, degree, or other qualification that shows a level of achievement. Experience is also seen as a qualification that validates expertise in hard skills. Some prospective employers test the hard skills of job candidates. Someone interviewing for an editing job, for example, might have to take an editing test.

Hard skills focus on practical abilities and skills, whereas soft skills focus on behaviors and personalities, such as social and communication skills. Soft skills are less tangible and harder to teach.

Employers typically look for a hybrid of hard and soft skills. Soft skills are more intrinsic to personality and more difficult to judge quickly, but they may be as important on the job over time.

Types of Hard Skills

The types of hard skills needed to be qualified and successful in a job depend on the industry. Employers typically list hard skills required in job descriptions. Common hard skills include:

Common Hard Skills

• Computer software knowledge
• Graphic design
• Data analysis
• Project management
• Marketing
• Copywriting
• Computer programming
• Foreign languages
• Search engine optimization (SEO)

 According to data published by LinkedIn in September 2022, the top trending hard skills are:

Top Hard Skills in 2022

• Customer service
• Sales
• Accounting
• Business development
• Marketing
• Digital marketing
• Sales management
• Finance
• Social media
• Sales and marketing
• Financial analysis
• Engineering
• Social media marketing
• Structured query language (SQL)
  

Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills

Hard skills generally have rules that remain the same regardless of the business, industry, or even culture in which they are practiced. The rules of soft skills can change depending on company culture and the expectations of colleagues. For example, the rules for how a programmer creates code are the same regardless of where the programmer works. However, a programmer may communicate effectively to other programmers about technical details but struggle when communicating with senior managers about a project’s progress or support needs.

Hard skills can be learned via education, training, or apprenticeships, and on the job. The levels of competency can be defined, and there is a direct path for achieving them. For example, in the field of accounting, you can take basic and advanced accounting courses, earn a degree, gain work experience, and pass the certified public accountant (CPA) exam.

Soft skills are not often found in the curriculum of a school or college. But they are taught in programs that help people develop communication skills, teamwork, or people-management skills. Some common soft skills include:

• Communication
• Teamwork
• Adaptability
• Problem solving
• Conflict resolution

Example of Hard Skills

Accounting is a profession that requires a relatively rigid set of hard skills. Proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite, especially Excel, is a given. Familiarity with industry-specific software, such as tax preparation software and Intuit’s QuickBooks, is also required.

Accountants need to know how to prepare and interpret financial statements and other accounting reports, develop efficient financial reporting mechanisms, and plan and implement accounting controls.

Some of the other skills that accountants need might be categorized as soft skills. They must be able to communicate effectively with clients and be diplomatic when dealing with external auditors.

The Bottom Line

Every job, from firefighting to being a marketing executive, calls for a specific skill set often made up of a combination of hard and soft skills. Whether you are considering a new job or applying for your first job, knowing which hard skills are needed, and obtaining those skills, means you will have a better chance of being hired or promoted in your field of choice.

Some hard skills—such as being proficient in using a computer, analyzing data, or understanding at least the basics of using social media—will often be useful in many different jobs and careers. Many trades call for particular hard skills that are required for employment in construction, architecture, plumbing and electric, and engineering.

To get hired and be successful in the workplace, you’ll need a combination of hard and soft skills, both of which you can continually build on and develop.