Differences Between “soft Skills” And “hard Skills”
During a personnel selection process , the professionals in charge of choosing the right person for the position carry out a complete evaluation of this person. To do this, they are based on analysis of their resume and the interview with the candidate for the position.
But this evaluation is not only reduced to their training or professional experience, but also the skills that differentiate this person from the rest are increasingly important. They are known as “hard skills” and soft skills But what do these skills consist of and are they different?
“Soft skills” and “hard skills” in the world of work
Although both “hard skills” and “soft skills” are acquired throughout life and not only in educational or formal training settings, they become relevant in the world of work, specifically in the processes of personnel selection and in the development of work tasks.
1. “Hard skills”
By “hard skills” we understand all the knowledge acquired through regulated educational training, as well as through professional experience. These skills can be taught in academic settings.
Generally, the person learns “hard skills” in the classroom, through the use of books or other materials , or at work by constantly repeating your task. We can say that hard skills are all those specific skills that allow you to carry out a certain task or job.
Finally, these skills are easy to quantify, so they are the ones that tend to be highlighted on resumes and cover letters. In addition, they are easily recognized by the people who carry out personnel selection.
Among the “hard skills” we find:
2. “Soft skills” or soft skills
Besides, “soft skills” are much more difficult to quantify and refer to interpersonal skills and social characteristics of the person applying for the job. These soft skills manifest themselves in the different ways in which someone relates and interacts with others.
These skills are not learned in the academic field, but are acquired throughout the person’s life, in their daily life. Furthermore, they are directly related to the concept of emotional intelligence and are conditioned by the person’s personality and the development of their social skills.
Some examples of “soft skills” are:
Key differences between them
Although with just the description of these we can already get an idea of the main differences between “soft skills” and “hard skills”, There are three key differences between them that make them more or less important depending largely on the position for which they are chosen and the type of career you want to develop.
1. Each of them requires different intelligences
Traditionally, being good at hard skills is associated with the level of general intelligence or intelligence quotient (IQ), while being good at soft skills requires greater training or emotional intelligence.
2. “Hard skills” are considered equally in all companies
“Hard skills” are skills in which the rules or consideration tend to be the same in most companies that require them On the contrary, soft skills are abilities or skills that are considered differently depending on the company culture and the people with whom you work.
3. They require different learning processes
As we already mentioned, “hard skills” can be learned in schools, academies and universities. That is, they start from regulated training and there are different levels of competence, as well as a pre-established path to learn each of them.
Compared, There is no standardized route or procedure for the acquisition of interpersonal skills typical of “soft skills”. Most soft skills must be learned in contexts of human interaction and almost always by trial and error.
However, there are a large number of books and guides that allow people to know and practice the basic aspects of social skills, although they will always be conditioned by the personality of the subject.
Which ones are more important?
The answer to this question will depend, to a large extent, on the job you aspire to and the career you intend to develop.
There are three different types of races that can be classified into the following categories:
1. Careers that require high “hard skills” and few “soft skills”
Such as, for example, careers within the world of theoretical research. In this environment Those people with brilliant knowledge but who may not work well in a team or with other people tend to fit
The majority of jobs fall within this category In them, workers must have knowledge related to their field, but also have social skills that allow them to carry out their work effectively. An example of these careers are law, clinical psychology or business administration.
3. Careers that require more “soft skills” than “hard skills”
Within this group we can find jobs such as salespeople, salespeople or customer service ; since their work depends more on the abilities to communicate and connect with people, as well as persuasion skills and quick problem solving.
