You might have heard this before, but employers are as invested in looking for soft skills just as much as they’re interested in hard skills. However, getting the right proportion of these skills is greatly neglected among people who are looking for jobs.
Remember, during the process of looking for work, the recruiters don’t know you. What they’re looking for is any manifestation of the skills they need. Whether you display your abilities through the resume or during the interview is up to you. However, you do need to get the right balance.
What’s the Difference Between Soft and Hard Skills?
Hard skills are specific teachable sets of skills that are easy to identify. They’re often technical and can be gained through structured education. For example, if you’ve taken foreign language courses and have documentation to prove it, that can be a solid hard skill.
Your formal education and any diplomas you have also form part of your hard skills. Your past work experience also shows the employer what kinds of skills you’ve developed during your career. Hard skills are easier to pin down because you’ll usually have some documentation for it.
Soft skills, on the other hand, are not teachable and therefore are harder to identify. Think of soft skills as abstract rather than concrete. Time management is an essential soft skill that all jobs require. However, there’s no real way to prove that someone can manage time properly.
Why Is A Balance Necessary?
Creating a balance between the two is what makes the best candidate for any job.
Hard skills are essential because every job position has to have some core functions that require a technical understanding. For example, if you’re working as a warehouse manager, hard skills for you are inventory management, first aid knowledge, and knowing how to use the machinery.
However, those hard skills can’t be put to good use without soft skills. A warehouse manager’s soft skills should be delegating abilities, employee safety management, and intuition about space planning. There aren’t necessarily any metrics for measuring these skills.
How Do I Show Recruiters I Possess These Skills?
Recruiters need to know that you’re an individual who has the ability to learn more than just what can be found in textbooks. It’s easy enough to showcase hard skills! Your university transcript and work experience can speak for itself.
However, just listing soft skills isn’t enough. The best way to show them off is through actions that supplement what you’ve written on your resume. Confidence can be illustrated through body language, for one, and you can show that you manage time well by being punctual.
However, remember that each company you apply to probably has different soft and hard skills that they’re looking for. A top staffing agency like ours can probably help you with figuring out how to tailor your skills to the job.
At Superior Staffing, we help people find the right Temporary staffing in NJ they’ve been waiting for in Paterson, NJ. Call us at (973) 866-5166 to schedule a consultation with our expert team.
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