We hire for hard skills. We fire for soft skills.
Rick Stephens, Senior Vice President of HR, The Boeing Corporation
Hard skills refer to what a person is capable to do practically according to one’s training in specific fields while soft skills describe one’s ability to communicate with other people, to persuade, to handle tasks and emotions or simply put- to have traits outside one’s area of study and work.
But are they both as important? Which of them helps the most? Can you make it in life without one or the other? As I have imagined that an array of questions arise when finding out about these two concepts, I will try my best to respond to each of them in the following paragraphs.
Hard Skills
There comes a time when each of us has to decide which path to follow in terms of the field of work. Our entire lives we are schooled for this very moment. We are made to believe that this sole decision is our whole purpose. So beginning from a small age, all subjects in schools are designed to teach from this perspective, improving, most of the time, our hard skills only.
Every profession that you can think of is based on specific requirements that can be achieved by developing your hard skills. They are the essence of each job, thus learning and assuming them may become the ultimate goal that you have in mind when deciding your field of study, your bachelor’s or your occupation.
What comes first when writing your curriculum vitae? Yes, these are the hard skills. There, you are expected to show your academics and experience. That means that you do not qualify for obtaining a job position without hard skills. They are absolutely vital.
Here is a list of the ten most looked for hard skills in this day and age, according to Forbes:
- Blockchain
- Cloud computing
- Analytical reasoning
- Artificial intelligence
- UX design
- Business analysis
- Affiliate marketing
- Sales
- Scientific computing
- Video production
You were expecting these, weren’t you? With the advent of the technological era, now that almost all aspects of our lives are affected by technology, it comes as no surprise that skills like blockchain and artificial intelligence are at the top of the list.
Don’t be discouraged if these aren’t your cup of tea, though. While these occupations remain very much appreciated, Aspire’s conception is that you should follow your dream, no matter how unusual it seems, to do it well and to always have a positive impact on the world regardless of your job.
Although the foundation built through hard skills is what will probably get you hired, it is not the only thing that matters for a well-rounded person, cause leaders and champions need far more than that. They have to possess some fundamental- drums, please!- soft skills.
Soft skills
Some will call it practice, some will call it luck, but either way you’re going to the history book.
Provided you are surrounded by various people your entire life, managing to work with yourself and with those around you is beyond important. Here come in handy the soft skills.
We, at Aspire, value interhuman connections and are thought a great deal about soft skills. For instance, we have the opportunity to take part in a course on media training or others such as public speaking, critical and design thinking.
The University of Europe for Applied Sciences issued that The seven soft skills that guarantee for success are:
- Resilience
- Enthusiasm
- Commitment
- Ability to work in a team
- Ability to communicate
- Analythical thinking
- Initiative
See, you amazing aspirer! You already have some amazing qualities so-called soft skills, even if you didn’t know the word for them. 😁 The traits mentioned above are crucial for jobs in the present and future, as boredom or routine at the workplace and individual work have become so commonly unwanted that employers endeavor to find enthusiastic and communicative people, passionate about their domain, ready to face challenges and solve problems.
Communication skills
If you wish to find out more about soft skills, check out our LinkedIn and Instagram posts regarding this subject following the correspondent links. Don’t hesitate to follow us there and drop any questions you may have in our DMs.
Have you known the difference between hard skills and soft skills before? Share your thoughts and experiences regarding the importance of the two in the comment section below and be prepared to read more articles in the weeks to come!