As a self selling document, your resume must really highlight your key skills with a potential employer whether you’re applying for an internship or a job. The skills you include – and the way you include them – can make the difference between moving to the next step or landing in the discard pile. We always hear about technical and soft skills, but what does that mean and how should you present these skills on your resume? We will take a look in this article.

What are soft skills?

Non-technical skills or as everyone else calls them “soft skills” are those that can apply to many different jobs in any sector, because they are not specific to a particular role. General skills are related to personal traits or character that can be transferred to any position, such as teamwork, communication and problem solving. You will need to include non-technical skills on your resume so that recruiters can understand how you fit into the role and culture of the company.

What are the technical skills?

Technical skills or hard skills are job-specific and related to the knowledge or skills required to do so. For example: Data analysis, Budgeting or Computer Programming. Technical skills are generally not well transferred from one role or sector to another. They are essential to your resume because they allow a recruiter to see if you are able to play the  role for which he is recruiting.

Soft skills VS technical skills?

“Which of these types of skills are the most important in my resume?”

It is generally easier to train a new recruit with technical skills than soft skills. Make sure your resume reflects the soft skills that will help you succeed in a role. That said, it is unlikely that you will get a job based on your non-technical skills only, so it is essential that your resume reaches the right balance. You will need to include both, but their proportion will vary depending on the roles for which you are applying.

A freelance developer, for example, will have to focus on his technical skills. It is important for him to prove that he has the needed knowledge to do the job well. Soft skills, such as public speaking and teamwork, are less important in this situation. On the other hand, a call center employee will have to focus on his communication skills as this is essential to his ability to do this job. He can be trained in product knowledge, so his CV should put more emphasis on the relevant non-technical skills.

Start by writing a list of the skills you need to do the job well, and then list those skills on your resume.

How should I include soft skills on my resume?

After identifying the list of soft skills that you need to include, you should now think about how you will present them. The simple act of listing “teamwork,” “problem solving,” and so on. really does not make much sense, so it is not likely to impress.

To improve your resume, you need to show how you use these skills rather than simply setting them. Choose a concrete example each time you have successfully used each soft skill and try to present it as an achievement. For example, instead of “teamwork”, say “Increasing the level of customer satisfaction by sharing knowledge of new products with the team” or “Improving team spirit and communication by organizing regular informal team luncheons “. Specific examples make your resume much more credible than simply writing a list of dry skills.

Make sure your general skills match the level of the role you want to reach. While it is sufficient to demonstrate the ability to communicate in a professional and articulate manner at the beginner level, a senior executive will need to demonstrate superior interpersonal skills. For example, as part of “communication” at this level, you will need a list of skills including engagement, negotiation and influence of stakeholders.

Soft skills should be included throughout your career. They are not as necessary in your professional profile, where the focus should be on role-specific skills.

How should I include technical skills on my resume?

Because technical skills are related to the specific tasks you have done, you will probably find them easier to include. Cross-reference your list of technical skills with a few job postings that interest you (and even your current job description) to make sure you’ve included everything that’s relevant. Once again, concrete examples will help you build a great job. CV stronger. Put skills in context rather than simply writing a list so that employers can understand how you applied them in a practical way. Try to quantify your claims as much as possible.

For example, rather than simply saying that “Training” is a technical skill, you can say “Crisis Management Training for an Audience of Up to 20 People”. Instead of saying “monitoring and evaluation”, say “monitoring and evaluation of a portfolio of 20 simultaneous projects and reporting to inform funding decisions”.

In addition to including technical skills in your experience section, your key skills section should also focus on technical skills so that you have the right keywords right at the beginning of your resume. This will ensure a good score for human recruiters and ATS.(Automatic tracking systems) and helps you pass to the interview stage.

Click here for more knowledge on soft and technical skills and tips to include them on your resume.

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