It is often said, “Skills are the new professional currency of the 21st century”.
For these job candidates, the world we live in today is a ‘show me, don’t tell me’ culture. Recruiters want solid evidence. They want to see tangible value and benefit in hiring a new employee.
Recruiters today, are looking for actual and quantifiable hard skills.
Not all skills are created equal. They can be categorised into different subsets, each holding more importance than the other. The same is true for hard skills.
What are hard skills?
Hard skills refer to a specific set of competencies required to execute the roles and responsibilities of a specific job. Quite simply, hard skills allow you to perform the job.
If you are an engineer for example, your set of hard skills include performing mathematical calculations, equations and testing. Hard skills are not confined to heavily technological positions though.
People-oriented positions, such as sales involves hard skills such as product knowledge, research analysis, lead generation, data mining, managing customer information. These classified hard skills enable both the engineer and salesperson to perform their respective job duties.
Types of Hard Skills
Hard skills apply to and fall into multiple categories:
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People-oriented
Professions such as teaching, administration, project management and banking, often have distinct methodologies and systems that govern how they perform their responsibilities. Hard skills for such people-oriented roles include building lesson plans, project budgets, filing systems, risk assessment policies and financial management.
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Research & Analysis
Hard skills can also be analytical in nature, where they can be used to extract, interpret and present information. Translating, statistical analysis, transcribing and word processing are such skills where data is used to generate relevant ideas or solutions.
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Manual Skilled Labour
These hard skills can include electrical, plumbing, woodwork, construction, manufacturing and carpentry.
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Professional Services
These hard skills usually take intensive study and training to develop over time. The professionals with these competencies can specialised and open their own practice. Or, they may be certified or licensed to work as professionals in various corporations and institutions. Professional hard skills include legal work, healthcare, dentistry, accounting, computer programming and engineering.
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Creative Hard Skills
These are skills employed by animators, sculptors, chefs, copywriters, graphic designers, photographers and musicians to create their respective forms of art as per their job or client specifications.
Hard Skills for Your Resume
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Computer/Information Technology Skills
The modern workplace is a computerised environment. Many company systems and even jobs have already been automated. Therefore, modern job seekers are expected to have atleast an intermediate skill level of Microsoft Office, search engine navigation and cloud computing. Recruiters would anticipate candidates to have working knowledge of relevant software pertaining to their industry and proficiency in data storage, management and presentation.
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Communication Hard Skills
Communication may not be universally regarded as a hard skill. However, depending on the job description, specialised communication capabilities may be required. Marketing, sales or communication jobs for example may ask for copywriting, speechwriting or content marketing skills. Ability to speak foreign languages or creating User Experience (UX) designs would be valuable skills to list on your resume for a sales position.
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Agile Project Management
Modern workplaces value efficient project management. Agile project management principles such as teamwork, flexibility, collaboration and resource management would be exceptional skills to list on your resume.
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Digital Marketing
Digital marketing covers a range of abilities such as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Google Analytics, data mining, content creation, measuring Return on Investment (ROI) and email marketing. Being skilled in these lucrative practices would distinguish your resume from other candidates.
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Web/App Development
With apps streaming movies, navigating geographic locations and even finding a local doubles man nearest to you, this hard skill is tailored for the 21st century. Consumers in Trinidad & Tobago can perform their banking, order food, watch entertainment and browse company catalogues through websites or apps.
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Security control/Risk Management
With a high crime rate in Trinidad & Tobago, and the increasing threat of viruses, hacking and online theft, recruiters would value skills such as risk assessment, building firewall security systems, anti-virus and anti-hacking software to preserve the integrity and safety of their data and premises.
How to Make Your Hard Skills Stand Out on Your Resume?
On your resume, create a skills section, preferably at the top or at the side, that demonstrates clearly the hard skills you have developed. In this section, you should also state certifications, licenses and specialised trainings you would have completed to reinforce the hard skills you claim.
Remember, this is a ‘show me, don’t tell me’ culture. Your skills must be actionable in your resume. To make them actionable, each skill must illustrate an achievement. For example, did you use your knowledge of SEO to create an online campaign that acquired 5,000 new subscribers?
Were you instrumental in building a company’s app that would allow customers to conduct transactions and reduce cashier waiting lines? In your work experience, state concisely how you used a skill you’ve listed to perform a task, achieve a result or solve a problem.
Common Interview Questions about Hard Skills
To determine your problem-solving ability, recruiters typically ask for examples. A time you would have used your marketing skills to generate revenue or explain how your programming skills were able to rectify a technical issue. Recruiters need solid evidence to back up your claims.
Employers also ask about irate customers, disgruntled team members or manager and employee conflicts when you highlight your communication skills. They can also look at the responsibilities in the job description and ask how you will handle a random situation or task. The solution you provide illustrates to them if you are the candidate, they’re looking for their team.
How To Improve Your Hard Skills in The Workplace?
Depending on the type of hard skill you’re attempting to improve determines which method is best.
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Personal Investment
Manually skilled, professional, creative and research skills can be learnt and improved through specialised training, coursework or vocational programs. To improve your skill set for the workplace, you can enrol in multiple programs, some of which are government funded, throughout Trinidad & Tobago. Business schools, universities – UWI & UTT, as well as training agencies such as MIC Institute of Technology and National Training Agency of Trinidad & Tobago, are some resources that offer additional training for skill improvement.
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Practice makes Perfect
Some skills such as people-oriented hard skills need to be practiced in order to be improved. Practicing a skill such as content creation or graphic design allows a candidate to develop new techniques, become more proficient and allow their work to be more effective.
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Find a Coach
Often, guidance from a seasoned professional allows us to gather in-depth knowledge about a particular skill and mirror their success. Coaching can offer first-hand, practical advice and may allow you to learn new things at a faster rate.
