Don’t Neglect Your Job Search Hard Skills

Job search hard skills are job-specific abilities that can be learned through education and improved by using them in your day job. They form the foundation of your competency at work. Softer (personality-led) skills help to enhance your performance.

IT expertise, languages, marketing and technical know-how are all examples of hard skills.

When you are interviewing for a new role, demonstrating continuous improvement in your hard skills base is an excellent way of showing that you possess a thirst for learning. Your quest for self-improvement will translate into improved results for any future employer. Hard skills are easy to quantify, and their impact is equally easy to measure.

If you are moving roles within the same industry or function, you shouldn’t spend too much resume space (or interview time) on your job search hard skills as they will be expected. However, if you aim for a more considerable change in your career, explaining your relevant skills is vital to put a future employer’s mind at rest. Many technical skills are transferrable from one job to another. You should make it clear that you have what it takes.

Function-specific job search hard skills

Here are just a few function-specific hard skills, but there are countless more:

IT Skills: cybersecurity, cloud computing, mobile development, virtual reality, networking, UI/UX design, machine learning, blockchain

Analytical Skills: data science, research, mathematical skills, critical reasoning, data processing, database management

Marketing Skills: SEO, SEM, content marketing, CRM expertise, data visualisation, social media, copywriting, video editing, graphic design

There are layers of expertise within each of these skills. It is crucial to share accomplishments from your career where you have had to push the limits of your expertise. You need to position yourself as not afraid to learn from failure and who values practical experience over theory. Skills only improve when you practice them.

When have your hard skills helped you to achieve astounding results? 

Share hard skills

Share the job search hard skills on your CV in the skills section. Sprinkle them within the accomplishments in your employment history. Mention any particularly significant ones in the summary section at the top of your resume. 

As mentioned, your blend of hard skills will not impress enough on its own to get you the job, but it will keep you in the running. A candidate who has ticked every box (and there will be many) will still be considered more favourably than a candidate who has omitted a few. In the cast of your career story, technical skills are the supporting actors and production crew rather than the shining stars. But without them, you would fail fast.

One last (boring, sorry) consideration about job search hard skills is the importance of including them as keywords on your CV and in your LinkedIn profile. ATS software is becoming increasingly sophisticated. It will notice the absence of specific mandated skills. Equally, a recruiter will often include hard skills within their Boolean search streams, so omit them at your peril.

You will likely share your hard skills set with most of your job-hunting rivals. That is no reason to neglect them. They are your job search bread and butter – keep them in the mix.

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists. 

Written by former recruitment ghostwriter Paul Drury (not AI).