It’s a given that, when hiring a hairdresser, employers will look for someone who knows how to cut and style hair. During the job search process, though, you’ll find that employers are actually looking for candidates who possess both hard and soft skills. But what exactly do these words mean? Here, we’ll take a look at hard skills vs. soft skills, why they’re both important, and how you can incorporate them into your resume!
Hard skills
Hard skills are technical skills that you can learn. They’re quantifiable, easy to define, and relevant to the job you’re applying for. Essentially, they’re the things you learned when getting trained for this particular career (either in the classroom, on the job, or through self teaching) — and in some cases, employers will require a degree, license, or certification. Some examples of hard skills include:
- Certification in back-end engineering
- Proficiency in Photoshop
- Possession of a commercial drivers license
- Fluency in Spanish
Soft skills
While hard skills are what you know how to do on the job, soft skills shape the way you do your job. They’re interpersonal skills that aren’t specific to any one field and are much less easy to quantify. While they don’t relate to you knowing the technical aspects of how to do your job, they’re still crucial to your career — they affect how you interact with coworkers and customers, how dependable you are, and the kind of environment you create at work. Some examples include:
- Communication
- Adaptability
- Decision making
- Willingness to ask questions
Because these are much harder to measure (there aren’t many certifications you can get in “willingness to ask questions!”), you’ll want to find a way to showcase these in your resume and interviews. Share times you’ve used them, and actively use them in the interview. For more tips on important soft skills and how to include them in your resume, click the link below!