Recruiters look for both soft and hard skills when selecting the candidates. It is necessary to put both the skills in your resume when applying for a job. So, let’s begin by defining what are hard skills and what are soft skills.
Hard skills are basically the skills and knowledge that you learn from books, in schools and colleges, training programs and on the job. These skills are quantifiable and can be proven by your grades and certificates. Similarly, soft skills can be defined simply as “people skills”. These are interpersonal skills that shows the person’s personality, behavior and attitude. It includes communication skills, Communication, flexibility, leadership, motivation, patience, problem solving abilities, teamwork, time management and work ethic among others. These skills cannot be proven as easily as hard skills with grades and reports. Just mentioning that you have a soft skill isn’t enough. So how can you highlight your soft skills in your resume?
Incorporate skills in the resume
First you can search the soft skills on the internet and then select all the skills that you have. Then you can list out all the skills that you have and that are relevant to the job that you are applying for.
Include skills in the cover letter
Demonstrate your soft skills in your cover letter and also add an instance where you used those skill in your previous employment or in any other place. This will work as an evidence of your soft skills.
Mention skills in the interview
When you are in an interview, try to show off your skills as much as you can. You can talk about how you increased the sales in 3 months, how you led your team to success and the results that you gave the previous company. Similarly, you can also show your personality and attitude during the interview through your gestures and the way you present yourself. This way you can highlight your soft skills to the hiring manager.