What are Hard Skills?

Hard skills are learned abilities acquired and enhanced through practice, repetition, and education. Hard skills are important because they increase employee productivity and efficiency and subsequently improve employee satisfaction. However, hard skills alone don't translate into business success as employees also need to employ other skills, such as soft skills, that contribute to customer satisfaction.

In business, hard skills most often refer to the basics of accounting and financial modeling. In a broad sense, hard skills may refer to proficiency in any complex task. Fluency in a second language, knowledge of Photoshop or PowerPoint, or expertise in carpentry are all hard skills that can be learned and improved upon with practice.

Employers and recruiters most often look for these hard skills in professional resumes. Any hard skill that a person cites is best backed up with a certificate, degree, or other qualification that shows a level of achievement. Experience in the subject, such as years of working with quickbooks, are also seen as qualifications that validate expertise in hard skills.

Hard skills focus on practical abilities and skills, whereas soft skills focus on behaviors and personalities, such as social and communication skills. Soft skills are less tangible and harder to teach. Getting along with others, listening well, and engaging in small talk are soft skills. A person's soft skills are more intrinsic to personality and more difficult to judge quickly, but they may be as important on the job over time. They might include an ability to work on a team, flexibility, patience, and time management ability.

Hard skills are easier to teach than soft skills, given a certain aptitude and enthusiasm. That's why employers often look for job applicants with soft skills rather than hard skills.

Scientists once believed that hard skills required the use of the left brain, or logic center, while soft skills were associated with the right brain, also referred to as the emotional center. Recent studies by neuroscientists indicate that mental processes can't be categorized that neatly.

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