Skills play a prominent role in our lives, and they drive us. The Performance, Efficiency, and Development in your Professional and Personal life are carved by the skills we develop and possess. We have all crossed the stage of attending interviews, a crucial step in our lives. Exposing our skillset and potential is vital in an interview process, and acing it is a task!
Your skillset can be split into two major categories – Hard Skills and Soft skills! Yes, we are gearing you back to your good old college days, where at the end of the final semester, all you have to do is develop your Hard skills and Soft skills.
Let me further refine it for you. Your Hard skills are nothing but the Technical skills you develop through the transfer of knowledge during your college and professional life. For Example, learning a programming language, learning how to use Microsoft Excel, a certification in your specialization, handling a piece of machinery, designing your thinking, Mastering a foreign language and so on. There is a set of rules you abide by, and with formative years of experience, you achieve the skill. Most importantly, you welcome instant gratification here as your team sees you achieve it.
Some of the Hard Skills are:
- Mastering a foreign language
- A certification/degree in your specialization
- Learning a Programming Language
- Analytical Skills
- Handling a Machinery
- Learning a specialized tool in your industry
- Working on a Software
- Marketing Skills
- Marketing Campaign Management
- Network Security
- Mobile App Development
But what are Soft skills?
Going by its name, they nurture your character gently and benefit your personal and professional life. Your existence can be felt by you, and you can pat yourself at the end of the day for being the better person out there. Soft skills can be effective communication, exemplary Leadership, Team Management, Behaviour, Self-confidence, Stress Management, Problem-solving and Work Ethics. An overnight inculcation? Definitely not! This is a gradual process that adds value to your character, and you reap the fruits at the end.
Some of the Soft Skills are:
- Leadership skills
- Team Management
- Stress Management
- Effective Communication
- Teamwork
- Creativity
- Adaptability
- Work Ethics
- Time Management
- Decision Making
- Attitude
How to develop Hard Skills and Soft Skills?
Hard Skills are often developed by involving yourself in productive years of experience in a domain/industry. Further interacting with your peers and sharing the knowledge will improve your technical knowledge.
Soft Skills are developed through your professional and personal life experiences. These traits are gained only through years of learning and dedication. For Example, an SEO Analyst, with the help of tools and procedures, knows how to bring in more visitors, but only a creative Copywriter can make the visitors buy the product.
Now let us see, Hard Skills Vs Soft Skills
Undoubtedly, both skills are required and equally essential for cracking your interviews and performing even better in your professional life. But let us deep dive and explore the ratio of both in every aspect.
1. Time-Bound:
Hard Skills are completely time-bound, as you take up a goal and accomplish it in a specified time. You continuously update your Hard Skills along with Technological advancements.
On the contrary, Soft skills do not have a set time limit. You widen your circle of exposure and take initiatives to improve your soft skills.
2. Measurable:
Hard Skills are measurable, of course, that decides the Performance in the workplace. You learn the Advanced MS Excel concepts to sharpen your skills and handle the process more efficiently. This doubles up your performance and reaps the rewards.
Soft Skills are a possession where you continuously learn to improvise and grow as a better individual. For Example, a Business Development Representative with good communication skills can explain the benefits of a product to the client and close the deal.
3. Projection of Skills:
The projection of skills in your Interview is something significant today. Hard Skills are easily predicted with your years of experience or a certification in your specialization.
Whereas, Soft skills are hard to toss in an interview, as they’re not written on paper. You display the Soft Skills by citing actual incidents where you used the skill and solved a particular problem in your previous company.
Which one is more important? Hard Skills or Soft Skills?
Both the skills are equally important to lead a content personal and professional life. Say you’re an excellent individual performer but lack transferring the knowledge to your team, which does not complete you.
But there are areas where your Hard Skills alone pays you off! For example, if you’re a freelance Video Editor and you are not a pro at making the most out of the Video Editing Software. That needs to be mended!
Equally, there are areas where your Soft Skills play a major role. Professions like Customer Service Executives and Sales Representatives need to have a deeper understanding of the customers they handle and ensure they are satisfied with the service/product offered.
How to display the Hard Skills and Soft Skills in an Interview:
Attending an Interview is a part where you give your entirety to explain why you’re an eligible candidate to get employed. Hard Skills are projected at the initial rounds of interviews like preliminary tests and assignments. But Soft Skills are inexplicable.
Soft Skills can be explained by letting the Interviewer know about the achievements you have accomplished with a particular skill. For Example, things like ‘With effective team management, you drove the team to achieve the ‘Best Team of the Month’ Award consistently’. And ‘My creative copywriting on the Social Media post bagged higher conversions’.
Further, the Soft Skills can also be highlighted in the Interview process by
- Active Listening throughout the Interview
- Good and Positive Body Posture
- Energetic Interaction
- Staying in the moment
- Answering confidently
Hard Skills vs Soft Skills – The Differences. They both are essential to grow, lead, develop, and improvise as individuals and organizations. With a practical understanding of the required potential and knowing the need of the hour, cracking the Interview is a cakewalk! Upskilling is a must if you wish to improve your skillset, be it hard skills or soft skills. Great Learning offers a pool of online courses that you can choose to upskill from. Happy Learning!
