Health and Human Services Professional Development

Hard vs Soft Skills and Employment by   Elizabeth Shuff And Julia Mackenzie, Guest Authors   on   June 7, 2014   Employers have long been focused completely on the technical skills that future employees bring to the table, which are often termed “hard skills.” Research, however, has shown that more and more employers are looking for people with good “soft skills” to complement their work-related knowledge. So, what’s the difference? Hard skills are what you would list on your resume. Obviously, hard skills will always be an important factor in employment. Employers want to hire someone with excellent content-specific knowledge and skills; the importance of soft skills, however, is becoming clearer. Soft skills are not easily taught, rather they are qualities a person has acquired. Research has shown that two of the most important soft skills are good communication and integrity. Employers are looking for people whose hard skills compliment their soft skills...