Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills: What’s the Difference?

Key takeaways

Hard skills refer to technical skills, specialized knowledge you develop. Soft skills are workplace skills that describe how you approach your work.

• Examples of technical skills include computer programming, data analytics, UX design, and bookkeeping. Examples of workplace skills include empathy, flexibility, time management, and conflict resolution. 

• Employers continue to seek a mix of technical and workplace skills, including creative thinking, social influence, leadership, and flexibility. 

• You can get the most from your professional skills by continuing to learn and strengthen your abilities on the job, as well as working on cross-functional teams and putting them into practice during interactions.

Explore the difference between the two and ways you can keep developing in both areas. In the meantime, if you're interested in building a key technical skill used across roles, consider enrolling in the Excel Skills for Data Analytics and Visualization Specialization, where you'll gain confidence working with Excel and Power BI, while building skills in data presentation, cleansing, integration, and analysis. 

Hard skills vs. soft skills examples and definition

Hard skills (or technical skills) are specific to the type of work that you do, while soft skills (or workplace skills) are how you do your work. For example, to work as a sales representative, you need to have good customer service skills (a hard skill) as well as good communication skills (a soft skill).

Technical and workplace skills are complementary because you need a mix of both to perform almost any work. Employers typically look for candidates with a mix of technical and workplace skills because technical skills indicate that you are proficient in the practical aspects of your role. In contrast, workplace skills indicate that you can contribute to a positive and productive work environment.

Examples of technical and workplace skills include:

What are hard skills?

Technical skills are the practical know-how you need to complete a specific task. For example, a nurse learns how to administer a vaccine or a graphic designer uses a software program to complete a task. These skills range from learning a foreign language to forecasting analysis to predict the stock market.

Hard skills examples

Technical skills describe what you know how to do. Some examples include:

• Computer programming languages

• Data analysis

• Engineering

• Financial management

• Speaking a foreign language

• UX design

• Web development

• Writing and editing

What are soft skills?

Workplace skills relate to how you work and tend to be described qualitatively. Regardless of your job title, these attributes make you a good employee, colleague, and overall human. For this reason, they are often good transferable skills. 

Soft skills examples

Workplace skills describe your approach to or attributes of your work. Some examples include:

• Adaptability

• Collaboration

• Critical thinking

• Empathy

• Organization

• Problem-solving

• Strategic thinking

• Teamwork

What are the 5 C’s of soft skills?

The five C’s of soft skills are common workplace skills that many employers are looking for. The five skills include:

• Communication

• Collaboration

• Critical thinking

• Curiosity

• Creativity 

Workplace skills on the rise

Business leaders state that workplace skills, such as networking, enthusiasm, professionalism, communication, and critical thinking, are even more important than technical skills, according to the US Department of Labor [1].

As work becomes increasingly automated, social and emotional skills have become more crucial. The World Economic Forum reports that the skills most likely to rise in importance for employers in the years leading up to 2030 include creative thinking, flexibility, agility, resilience, curiosity, lifelong learning, social influence, leadership, analytical thinking, systems thinking, empathy, active listening, and more personal skills [2]. Moreover, data from the Manpower Group reveals that 72 percent of employers struggle to find skilled applicants, with communication, collaboration, and teamwork, along with professionalism and work ethic, and adaptability and willingness to learn among the skills most in demand [3]. Some jobs now require personality tests and other ways to evaluate workplace skills.

How to leverage your skills for career success

Both technical and workplace skills are necessary for career success, and you can develop your skills through professional development training, such as the programs you can find on Coursera, or through on-the-job training.

• Learn on the job: Approach your role as a potential learning experience and identify ways to build or strengthen your skill set through a variety of responsibilities.

• Work beyond your team: As a colleague, you can improve your teamwork and organizational skills by working with cross-functional teams, such as organizing an outing or team-building activity to foster a positive spirit.

• Practice effective leadership: As a manager or leader, you can enhance your workplace skills by getting to know your team members. This might include active listening and providing mentorship or support to create a culture of belonging.

Read more: The Secret to Using GenAI Tools Effectively: Insight from Coursera’s Former CEO

How to showcase your workplace and technical skills

You'll want to make sure you feature your full skill set when you apply for new jobs, adding them to your resume, demonstrating what you know in job applications, and lastly in interviews. Let's review each scenario.

1. Highlight hard skills vs. soft skills on resume 

Tailoring your resume to each job you apply for is considered good practice. When describing your previous responsibilities, match specific technical and workplace skills from the job description to those on your list. Learn more about adding key skills to your resume.

Explore this example where italics indicate a technical skill and underlined text refers to a workplace skill:

Waiter at Longhorn Grill, Houston, TX / October 2019–Present

• Completed comprehensive training for proper food handling, including equipment cleaning, proper freezer temperatures and placement, and executing employee handwashing rules

• Developed a new reward system for employees, resulting in improved attendance and increased employee satisfaction

• Assisted in training five new waiters, demonstrating strong attention to detail, leadership, and conflict resolution techniques

2. Demonstrate your hard skills vs. soft skills in a job application

Some job applications require a cover letter, which is a great place to expand your skills and offer more detail, like the impact you had at previous companies, thanks to your skill set.

For instance, if you are applying for a marketing manager position, you might describe a project in which you curated a team of Instagram and TikTok influencers to launch a new product that resulted in five times the projected sales in the first week. This example shows you can be innovative and have proficiency in using platforms to measure data.

3. Show your skills in a job interview

While you'll likely talk about your technical skills during an interview, you can also use it as an opportunity to demonstrate some workplace skills, like good communication and attention to detail. Polite etiquette, such as accepting a calendar invite and sending thank-you emails, makes a good first impression. The same goes for being on time, whether it is an in-person or Zoom interview.

During the interview, you may find the STAR method helpful for providing thorough responses. STAR stands for situation, task, action, and result.

Explore a similar example using italics and underlined text to demonstrate how the STAR method looks in an interview:

• Situation: At my former job as a sales associate, a coworker resigned just before a big deadline for their project.

• Task: I was asked to take over the project and complete weeks of work in just a few days. 

• Action: I asked my manager to dial back my responsibilities for the week and delegated the work to other members of the sales team. Then, I spent two days learning about the project and brushing up on Excel. My intern and I devised a strategy to finish the assignment within five days.

• Result: By dedicating time to the special project, I finished on time and with accuracy. My manager appreciated my dedication, and I was trusted with more projects after that.

Explore our free skill-building resources 

Keep up with the latest in-demand skills while gaining professional insights you can put to use with a subscription to Career Chat. Also, gain advice and tips you can use with resources like:

• Assess your skill set: Career Resource Hub Skills Assessments

• Hear from fellow learners: CU Boulder ME-EM faculty Director Christy Bozic on the Importance of Leadership Skills in Tech

• Watch on YouTube: 12 High-Income Skills to Boost Your Earning Potential

You can also build and strengthen your skills with Coursera Plus. Your monthly or annual subscription will give you access to more than 10,000 programs from over 350 universities and industry leaders. 

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