Understand everything about hard skills and soft skills

In the ever-changing professional world, hard skills are the key to standing out and excelling, whether you are a job candidate or a recruiter. For the former, these technical skills, acquired through training and practical experience, are essential to master specific tools, software, or techniques specific to a sector of activity.

For recruiters, identifying profiles with solid hard skills is crucial to ensure the success of the company. Soft skills, these human and behavioral skills, are just as essential. They allow employees to work effectively as a team, manage projects, and communicate with empathy. In this article, find out why combining hard and soft skills is essential for a successful career and for strengthening skills within your company.

1 - Understand the fundamental difference between hard skills and soft skills

Hard skills and soft skills represent two categories of essential skills, distinct in their nature, method of acquisition and evaluation criteria. Let's explore their particularities.

1.1 - What are hard skills?

Hard skills, or technical skills, are essential to exercise a profession. They vary according to the sector and the position. Thus, a financial analyst must master specific software while a carpenter knows the use of special machines, while in the field of digital marketing, social media management skills are particularly in demand.

These skills are acquired through training, degrees, certifications, or work experience and can be assessed through competency tests or reviews. For example, mastering a foreign language or computer skills are often hard skills acquired over time and necessary in many jobs.

1.2 - What are soft skills?

Soft skills, or behavioral skills, refer to personality traits and social and emotional skills that influence workplace interactions. Although often considered innate, these skills can be developed through a variety of experiences and training.

Qualities such as emotional intelligence, active listening and the ability to resolve conflicts are particularly sought after to strengthen team cohesion and improve professional relationships. Skills such as communication, leadership, and creativity also play a crucial role in many professions, contributing to success and efficiency within the company.

Their evaluation is complex, as it depends largely on the context and the people involved. Fortunately, after several years of R&D with researchers in Psychology and Neuroscience, we imagined, Yuzu : one New Generation Assessment Center, specialized insoft skills assessment (soft skills).

With Yuzu, talents are immersed in scenarios developed with the latest technologies of the Video game.

The evaluations, on the other hand, are accessible to all profiles thanks to simplified orders and cloud technologies (all you need is a computer and an internet connection to be evaluated).

Evaluate the soft skills of your candidates with Yuzu

The advantages of our solution:

• One candidate experience exceptional to boost your employer brand ;
• One accessible solution to everyone to ensure equal opportunities;
• A decision support tool to detect and promote interpersonal skills.

Whether it's for your recruitment process Or of internal mobility, we are transforming the assessment of Soft Skills in a strong and fun moment.

1.3 - Common examples of hard skills and soft skills

Here are concrete examples that illustrate the complementarity of hard skills and soft skills by sector of activity:

DomainHard SkillsSoft SkillsMarketing and DesignContent Creation, Graphic Design, SEOTeamwork, Listening, CreativityEngineering (Technical) Cloud Computing, Data AnalysisCuriosity, Critical thinkingAccounting and FinanceAccounting standards, graphic design, SEOTeamwork, listening, creativityEngineering (technical) Cloud computing, data analysisCuriosity, critical thinkingAccounting and FinanceAccounting standards, financial analysis toolsReliability, professional ethics

This overview demonstrates the importance of mastering both types of skills in order to succeed in the professional world.

2 - Why both types of skills are crucial in the professional world

In the professional world, hard skills and soft skills are much more than just theoretical concepts - they prove to be the cornerstones of your success. From getting a job to advancing your career and working as a team, these skills play an indispensable role at every stage. Let's explore why these skills are so essential and how they help each other out.

2.1 - The role of hard skills in the recruitment process

Hard skills are often considered to be the main criterion in selecting for a job, especially in technical fields like IT where each function requires a specific set of technical skills. For employers, these skills offer a clear measure of a candidate's ability to meet the technical requirements of the job. The Matching in recruitment precisely makes it possible to ensure that the skills of candidates correspond perfectly to the technical and cultural requirements of the company.

For candidates, it is essential to fully understand and highlight their hard skills. These skills should be clearly mentioned in your resume and your cover letter in order to match the criteria listed in the job offer. Recruiters and HR managers, on the other hand, use tests, practical exercises, or specific interview questions to assess these skills. Having solid and relevant hard skills is therefore crucial to make a good impression and stand out in the recruitment process.

2.2 - The growing importance of soft skills in the workplace

In the workplace, the demand for soft skills (also called transversal skills) is constantly growing and they are increasingly valued. These skills enable employees to adapt to change, solve problems, communicate effectively, and collaborate with others. They also play a crucial role in personal development and professional well-being.

Soft skills are often assessed through behavior-based interviews, feedback, or self-assessments. Possessing a range of developed soft skills, such as empathy, which is fundamental to human interactions, is a definite advantage for integrating into a team and excelling in a collaborative digital environment.

2.3 - How do hard and soft skills complement each other?

Hard skills and soft skills are not in opposition, but complement each other. Together, they form a coherent and harmonious set of skills, which is essential for achieving your professional goals.

While hard skills equip you with the knowledge you need to do your job, soft skills influence how you do it. The former establish your credibility and the trust of your employers, while the latter promote sympathy and collaboration with your colleagues. Hard skills specialize in your field while soft skills open you up to new perspectives.

In contexts such as project management, the combination of technical and interpersonal skills is essential. In short, hard skills and soft skills are the two essential components of your professional success.

3 - How to develop your hard and soft skills?

In the professional world, mastering both hard and soft skills is essential to move forward successfully. You may be wondering how to improve them? Fortunately, there are a variety of methods for acquiring and perfecting them. After which you can also valorize your skills on your resume and in an interview.

Here are some tips and effective approaches to help you make progress in these two critical areas.

3.1 - Tips to improve your hard skills

Hard skills, or technical skills, require motivation, curiosity, and perseverance. It is also important to stay up to date with the latest trends and technologies in your sector. Here's how you can strengthen your technical skills:

• Take part in training courses, online or in person, adapted to your needs and your schedule. Many sites offer courses, tutorials, webinars, or MOOCs covering a wide range of topics. This may include learning new software, mastering a computer language, or expanding your knowledge in a specific niche.
• Get certifications or diplomas that validate your expertise. This can enhance your resume and strengthen your professional credibility. Exams, tests, or validations of acquired experience (VAE) are ways to obtain official recognition of your hard skills.
• Practice your technical skills regularly, whether in the context of your work or through personal projects. This will solidify your knowledge, build confidence, and prepare you to solve potential problems. Challenge yourself by setting goals, or by participating in contests or hackathons.

3.2 - Strategies for the development of soft skills

To cultivate your soft skills, adopt an open, receptive and flexible attitude. It is also crucial to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses, as well as the influence of your behavior on others.

Here's how you can improve your behavioral skills:

• Seek feedback from your colleagues, managers or customers to better understand their perception of your interpersonal skills. This will help you take a step back from your practices and identify areas for improvement. Also, seek support from mentors, coaches, or peers who can guide and encourage you.
• Take part in training courses or workshops focused on strengthening soft skills. Many of them aim to develop communication, leadership, creativity, or stress management. Reading books, articles, or listening to podcasts on these topics can also provide you with practical advice.
• Expose yourself to new situations that take you out of your comfort zone. This will allow you to stimulate your interpersonal skills and adapt them to different contexts. Engage in transversal projects, test a temporary role change, or participate in volunteer activities.

3.3 - Integrating hard and soft skills into a personal development plan

The combination of hard skills and soft skills can be optimized by drawing up a personal development plan. This document helps you assess your current skills, define your short and long-term career goals, and organize actions to be taken to achieve them. Follow these steps to create your plan:

1. Evaluate your current hard and soft skills by identifying your strengths and weaknesses. Rely on your resume, diplomas, certifications, certifications, feedback, or self-assessment tests.
2. Define your professional goals by considering your aspirations, motivations, and opportunities, drawing on the SMART methodology that aims for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound goals.
3. Choose the technical and interpersonal skills to be developed that are relevant and priority in relation to your goals. Refer to job offers, market needs, or sector trends.
4. Identify the means at your disposal or necessary to acquire or improve these skills, such as training, certifications, projects, or activities.
5. Put in place an action plan detailing steps, deadlines, indicators and success criteria. Project management tools, like Asana, can make it easy to organize and track your progress.
6. Regularly monitor your results by measuring the impact of your actions on your skills and goals, using tests, demonstrations, feedback or self-evaluations.

To remember

Essential to success in the professional sector, skills fall into two categories: hard skills and soft skills. The former correspond to the technical knowledge and skills needed to hold a position or get a job, while the latter refer to the behavioral abilities that influence social interactions.

Hard skills and soft skills differ in terms of nature, learning and measurement. However, they are complementary and mutually reinforcing. To develop them, consider taking training courses, getting certifications, practicing regularly, soliciting feedback, opening yourself up to new experiences, and establishing a personal development plan. We hope that this article gave you a better understanding of these concepts and motivated you to improve these skills.