SOFT SKILLS’ AND ‘HARD SKILLS’, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
If you are in today’s world of work you will have often heard the expressions Hard Skills and Soft Skills; what do they mean, and what is the difference between the two expressions? Surprisingly, despite the great importance of these skills for success in the labour market, the difference between the two is largely unknown.
A lack of skills is what, today, is already worrying eight out of ten CEOs in our country. Leadership and assertiveness have become important variables in selection processes. Although it is not yet widespread, many companies pay more attention to personal skills than to technical skills.
If you want to find out what the difference between hard skills and soft skills is, stay tuned and we’ll tell you below.
‘Soft skills’
The most remarkable thing about soft skills is that they are difficult to quantify. Why? The main reason is that they are interpersonal and social skills possessed by the person applying for the job. These soft skills manifest themselves in the different ways in which someone relates and interacts with others.
These competences are not learned in the academic environment, but are acquired throughout a person’s life, in their day-to-day life. Moreover, they are directly related to the concept of emotional intelligence and are conditioned by the person’s personality and the development of their social skills. These are social or psychological skills that allow the employee to be more productive, adapt better and contribute more to the company. And, in the case of managers, to be more efficient when it comes to managing teams.
Soft skills are valued more or less depending on the business culture. Recruiters and HR managers know that “soft skills” are the hardest to find, but that soft skills are also the most important for their business. 92% of employers believe that a good attitude is key.
‘Hard skills’
When we first hear the concept of ‘hard skills’ we ask ourselves two questions: What are they? What are my ‘hard skills’? Let’s answer that question. When we talk about hard skills we are referring to all those skills that we have acquired through educational training as well as through professional experience. In short, they are those skills that have been taught in academia.
If you are wondering what hard skills are for, you will be interested to know that they are the skills that enable you to carry out a particular task or job. We learn them in class, in books, through exercises or through constant repetition of the task. Hard Skills are related to general intelligence.
These skills are easy to quantify, so they are the ones that tend to be highlighted in CVs and cover letters. They are also easily recognisable by recruiters. Among the most important “hard skills” are academic degrees or certificates, language skills, computer programming skills and knowledge…
What skills do you need in your company?
One of the moments in which these skills are given most importance is in the selection process. The difference between soft skills and hard skills is not so obvious, and for the recruiter both usually carry the same weight. What is undeniable is that soft skills are often more difficult to detect during a job interview.
Through an interview, you can find out whether the person has the ‘hard skills’ that he or she has presented in his or her CV or not. On the other hand, to find out if the candidate has the necessary resilience to fit into the company’s project, the HR person will have to go deeper. Researching how this person reacts to stressful situations or the use of role playing can be of great help.
But the big question we all ask ourselves is: which ones are more important for a company? While ‘hard skills’ are more important for technical roles, ‘soft skills’ are useful for any position in the hierarchical structure. Ideally, you should possess both technical knowledge and soft skills to be able to perform all kinds of complex tasks.
The soft skills of your employees can be worked on and improved. At Classgap for Enterprise we work by customising our courses 100% to adapt them to the main needs of your company. We have developed a totally new and revolutionary training methodology where, through our “Virtual Classroom” platform, student and teacher can have a totally bidirectional communication as if it were a face-to-face class.
Although soft skills are innate to each person, they can be worked on in the same way as hard skills. Every company has its own unique situation, so it is best to opt for a customised soft skills training course. Training your employees in and improving their soft skills can make a huge difference, both in the individual’s job and in business development in general. If you don’t want to be left behind, contact us today and take the opportunity to train your employees in soft skills.
