Hard Skills vs Soft Skills: Key Differences & Examples for Your Resume

You may have heard about hard and soft skills, but do you know what sets them apart?

If not, don't worry! We'll teach you the differences between soft skills vs hard skills so you can improve your resume and successfully communicate your qualifications to employers.

Here's what you'll find on this page:

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What Is the Difference Between Hard & Soft Skills?

The difference between hard and soft skills is that hard skills are teachable, measurable abilities, while soft skills are personal traits that shape how you work.

Think of it this way: Hard skills, such as technical abilities, allow you to perform very specific tasks. Meanwhile, soft skills, like communication, determine how you perform those tasks.

Hard vs Soft Skills at a Glance

Here's a quick comparison of hard skills vs soft skills, including how they're learned, measured, and applied in the workplace:

Hard Skills

Soft Skills

Now, let's jump into some examples of hard and soft skills to give you a better idea of how these skills work together to make you a strong candidate.

Hard Skills vs Soft Skills Examples

Examples of hard and soft skills show how technical abilities and personal traits work together on your resume. Explore key traits from each category below to understand their differences. 

Top Hard Skills for the Workplace

The top hard skills for the workplace vary from job to job. For some roles, you may need a technical skill, like proficiency with a particular computer software. For others, it might be a deep knowledge of AP Style or customer service training.

Some hard skills, however, are consistently in demand across industries because they support common business needs like communication, analysis, and digital proficiency.

Here are 10 highly sought-after hard skills employers look for:

Top Soft Skills for the Workplace

Top soft skills for the workplace are the personal attributes that influence how you work with others and handle challenges on the job effectively and efficiently. 

Just like with hard skills, there are thousands of options you could add to your resume. Read the job description to see if any are specifically called out, and include those if you possess them. If you need more inspiration, review our resume examples for more job-specific soft skills.

Here are 10 universally in-demand soft skills for the workplace:

Why You Need Hard & Soft Skills for Career Success

Hard and soft skills work together to determine your overall career success. Hard skills help you perform essential job tasks, while soft skills support collaboration and adaptability. 

Employers value candidates who possess both sets of skills, as this balance leads to stronger performance, better teamwork, and long-term professional growth in any role.

Hard Skills Improve Knowledge & Capabilities 

Hard skills provide the knowledge and technical capabilities needed to complete job-specific tasks accurately and efficiently. They prove you can handle core responsibilities and meet performance standards in your field. 

For example, computer skills, such as using spreadsheets, coding, or operating industry-specific software, demonstrate technical proficiency. 

Without soft skills to support communication and problem-solving, however, even strong technical expertise may be harder to apply effectively in real workplace situations.

Soft Skills Support Cultural Fit & Long-Term Success

Soft skills are key to fitting into a company's culture and building strong working relationships. 

Skills like communication, adaptability, and emotional intelligence help you collaborate effectively and navigate workplace challenges. 

Over time, these abilities support better teamwork, higher job satisfaction, and long-term career success within an organization.

How Employers Evaluate Hard & Soft Skills

Employers evaluate hard and soft skills by looking at both measurable qualifications and behavioral evidence. Hard skills are often assessed through resumes, certifications, tests, or work samples, while soft skills are judged during interviews and through past job performance. 

Measuring Hard Skills

Employers measure hard skills by reviewing tangible proof of ability, such as degrees, certifications, and skills on your resume. They may also use skills tests, job simulations, or portfolio reviews to confirm proficiency. 

In some cases, performance during probationary periods helps verify that you can apply your technical knowledge effectively on the job.

Assessing Soft Skills

Soft skills are harder to measure, so employers evaluate them through communication style and responses to behavioral interview questions. Past job performance and references also help employers understand how you work with others in real situations.

Hiring managers look for signs of teamwork, adaptability, problem-solving, and professionalism in how you answer questions during the hiring process and interact on the job. 

How to Develop & Improve Your Skill Set 

Developing and improving your skill set requires intentional effort to strengthen both hard and soft skills over time. Hard skills can be built through training, education, and practice, while soft skills improve through experience, feedback, and self-reflection. 

Learn New Hard Skills

Learning new hard skills involves building technical knowledge through structured education, hands-on practice, and real-world application. 

These skills are often job-specific and can be developed through courses, certifications, and consistent use of tools or software relevant to your field.

Ways to learn new hard skills include:

Cultivate Soft Skills 

Cultivating soft skills means intentionally improving how you communicate, collaborate, and respond to challenges in the workplace. 

Unlike hard skills, soft skills develop over time through experience, feedback, and self-awareness in everyday interactions.

Ways to cultivate soft skills include:

How to List Hard & Soft Skills on Your Resume

Any well-written resume includes an effective balance of hard and soft skills. List hard skills in a dedicated skills or technical section, and include soft skills either there or within your work experience.

The skills you decide to include must be relevant to the job, which means the balance between hard and soft skills on your resume can change from application to application.

Read Job Descriptions Closely

Reading job descriptions closely helps you identify the exact hard and soft skills employers are looking for, so you can tailor your resume effectively. 

Job ads contain relevant keywords, which are specific terms and phrases that employers use to describe the skills and qualifications they're looking for in a candidate.

By analyzing required qualifications and responsibilities, you can match your own experience to the role and highlight the most relevant skills. This increases your chances of passing applicant tracking systems (ATS) and getting noticed by hiring managers.

Here's an example job description with the skills bolded:

Review the job ad and highlight the skills that seem like keywords. You can use a pen or the bold function in your word processor. Then, add the relevant skills to your resume.

Create a Skills Section

Create a dedicated skills section on your resume to highlight your hard and soft skills. 

When writing the skills section of your resume, be sure to include the hard skills that are most relevant to your role. When mentioning technical skills, like Google Analytics, only include the skills you're highly proficient in.

Finally, use bullet points to make the section easier to scan.

Include Your Skills in a Summary or Objective

Including your skills in your resume summary or objective immediately highlights your most relevant hard and soft skills at the top of your resume. This section should briefly showcase your strongest qualifications and align them with the job description.

A resume summary should be between two and five sentences long and highlight your most relevant and impressive skills and accomplishments. If you're listing an accomplishment, highlight which skills you used to achieve success.

Similarly, a resume objective details your skills and enthusiasm for the position. Since a resume objective doesn't include work experience, it gives you ample space to include relevant hard and soft skills that make you a motivated candidate.

Include Skills in Your Work Experience

Including skills in your work experience section shows employers how you've applied both hard and soft skills in real-world situations. Instead of just listing abilities, demonstrate them through achievements, responsibilities, and results. 

By detailing your responsibilities and accomplishments, you can draw a direct connection to the impact your skills had and underscore your value as an employee.

Ultimately, your resume shouldn't pit your skills against each other—your hard and soft skills should work together in harmony to showcase your strengths.

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Don Sjoerdsma, CPRW

Career Writer

Don is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with more than 10 years' experience creating digital content, including four years helping job seekers develop their careers. He holds an M.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University.

Read more articles by Don Sjoerdsma, CPRW