A well-written resume is the key to landing your dream job. While highlighting your work experience and education is important, another essential addition to your resume is hard skills. These skills are specific, measurable abilities that are typically acquired through hands-on experience, education, and training. Understanding what hard skills are, and effectively demonstrating them on your resume, will help you stand out amongst the sea of candidates applying for the same job as you. It’s essential to learn what hard skills are and how to use them on your resume.
What Are Hard Skills?
You will also hear hard skills referred to as technical skills. They are quantifiable abilities that are relevant to a particular industry or job. In general, they are not natural abilities, they are taught and can be verified through demonstration or assessment. Hard skills are important because they determine whether you will be capable of effectively performing tasks, completing projects, and excelling in your role. Hard skills are categorized into different groups, here are some examples:
Analytical Skills: Analytical skills involve your ability to solve complex problems, analyze data, and make swift decisions. Skills such as financial analysis, statistical modeling, and data analysis are examples of analytical skills.
Technical Skills: Technical skills are specific to certain technologies, software, or tools. For example, proficiency in Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Excel, or coding languages like Python.
Project Management Skills: Competencies such as project planning, budgeting, and time management demonstrate your ability to lead teams effectively and handle complex tasks.
How to Use Hard Skills on Your Resume
To get the attention of hiring managers, including hard skills on your resume is essential. Here are some tips:
Add a Skills Section: While you can incorporate hard skills throughout your resume, adding a skills section makes it easier for employers to focus on them. You can categorize them under headings such as ‘certifications,’ ‘language skills,’ or ‘technical skills.’
Use Action Verbs: Action verbs get right to the heart of the matter and lets recruiters know what you are capable of. Strong action verbs demonstrate your expertise in specific hard skills. For example, ‘developed an e-commerce website using Magento.’
Quantify Your Achievements: Quantifying your achievements gives hiring managers insight into how successful the project that you were responsible for was. For example, ‘Increased organic views by 40% through search engine optimization.’
Provide Certifications: Although your certifications will need to be verified by your potential employer, it’s still worth putting them down. Certifications related to your hard skills provide evidence that you are proficient in that area.
Relevant Skills: While all hard skills are important, there is no point in highlighting hard skills that are not relevant to the job. Read through the job description to find out what skills your potential employer is looking for and tailor them to the position.
Don’t shy away from highlighting hard skills on your resume; they serve as a valuable tool to assist you in gaining a competitive advantage over the other candidates applying for the same job.
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