Hard skills Vs soft skills – Understand the difference

Do you know, almost the majority of the new hires (48%) fail in their job responsibilities within 18-months? Amongst those failures, nearly 11% is because of lacking hard skills, and the remaining 89% is due to the lack of soft skills.

Aren’t these statistics shocking?

A job description often demands a candidate to have a combination of hard and soft skills. Hard skills relate to specific technical knowledge, whereas, on the other hand, soft skills are related to personality attributes like time management, leadership, communication skills, etc.

Both the skills are equally important to outshine in the respective profile. However, it is very crucial to understand the difference between these two skills.

We have our in-depth research and analysis presented in this article to help you understand the basic difference between these 2-much needed skills.

What are hard skills?

Hard skills are those skills that can be learned and mastered with time. Hard skills learning is quantifiable and thus, can be easily measured through experience, skill tests, etc. These skills are observed to identify how proficient the candidate is for a particular job profile or role.

The hard skills are quite helpful for the recruiters to find the right and deserving candidate for the job position. Moreover, it can be learned and upgraded with frequent training and educational sessions.

For example – if your job demands in-depth SEO knowledge, you can learn the same through online courses, training, and education sessions to master the skill.

What are soft skills?

On the other hand, soft skills are the candidates’ personality traits, helping them to collaborate, cooperate, and develop valuable relationships at the workplace. These skills represent the candidate’s behaviour, habits, nature, character, personality, etc.

Unlike the hard skills, the list of soft skills cannot be learned with any training or educational sessions. These skills can only be enhanced with an improved lifestyle and habits for their benefit.

For example – if you are an introvert, you cannot learn to change it. However, you can enhance your personality by improving your communication skills and expertise.

The vital difference between soft and hard skills –

Here is a sneak peek at some of the vital differences between soft and hard skills:

Attribute	Hard skills	Soft Skills
Purpose	Defines suitability for a particular job role	Defines your personality
Analysis, observation, and measurement	Easy to measure	Difficult to measure or analyze
Nature	Specific to the job role	General personality traits
Learning	Through training, education sessions, webinars, etc.	Enhanced only with lifestyle and personality development
Reach	Limited to a job profile	Universally identified
Showcased through	Experience, certifications, skill tests, portfolio, and technical knowledge	Behaviour, habits, verbal and non-verbal communication style, emotional quotient

Are both the skills equally important?

If you are thinking about why soft skills are needed and hard skills, you should be aware that both skills play an important role. Your learned hard skills train you for the job responsibilities, while the soft skills are essential to execute your job efficiently without emotional breakout.

It won’t be wrong to say that a perfect blend of soft skills and hard skills is the perfect recipe to get hired without any hassles.

How can you gain hard and soft skills?

Generally, the fundamental difference between these skills depends on gaining them. Hard skills learning often depends on the education and specific training sessions. This can also include short classes to learn how to use some software, machine, or program.

Amongst the possible list of soft skills, all of them are personality traits developed. They are reflected in our habits or abilities to handle specific work situations which demand management and practicality.

Overall, it can be said that hard skills are the ones that you can learn or develop at any age, whereas soft skills are the ones you develop with your way of living.

Can you showcase hard and soft skills in your resume?

Yes, of course! Just mentioning 5-10 relevant skills on your resume can do the trick to showcase your talent, ability, and expertise. It creates a positive impression to list your hard skills and soft skills clearly on your resume.

To find suitable candidates portraying a mix of both hard and soft skills, Mount Talent Consulting is your one-stop destination. Our strategic expertise ensures finding an ideal candidate.

You can try:

• Mention the skills relevant to the employer – when applying for a job; identify and mention the soft and hard skills essential for the employer
• Mark the skills using bullet points – it ensures providing a glance at the skills
• Use soft skills to narrate your previous work experience – it shows how efficient you were towards the assigned tasks, duties, and responsibilities of your last job.
• Prepare a relevant list of the skills – it just takes 7-seconds to scan your skills through your resume. Thus, mention only the ones relevant to the profile.

Conclusion:

It is important to understand why soft skills are needed with hard skills to make a lasting and impactful presence in a job interview. Knowing the difference between these skills will help you to use them for your benefit in the best possible manner.

We hope this article is of the best help to understand hard skills Vs soft skill differences. If you still have doubts, write to us in the comment section.

Do you know, almost the majority of the new hires (48%) fail in their job responsibilities within 18-months? Amongst those…