Hard Skills [70+ Examples to Put on Your Resume ]

What are hard skills?

Hard skills are job-specific knowledge or abilities acquired through work experience, education or on-the-job training. Employers prize hard skills because they take time and effort to teach. Hiring someone who already knows how to do something is easier than getting them up to speed.

They’re just as important as soft skills. After all, hard skills provide the technical foundation necessary to perform job-specific tasks, while soft skills enhance how those tasks are executed and how one interacts with colleagues.

Let’s take a moment to explain that difference in more detail.

How do hard skills differ from soft skills?

Most jobs require a mix of hard skills and soft skills. Understanding the difference between the two is essential to presenting a well-rounded skill set to employers.

Here’s how they differ:

• Hard skills are abilities and knowledge, usually tied to a specific industry or job, that are acquired through education, on-the-job training or professional development.
• Soft skills are the qualities and personality traits you possess naturally or through years of interpersonal experience that help you excel at your job.

Still not 100% sure you see the difference? Here’s a chart to help:

Notice how the hard skills are specific to certain jobs and would require training and support?

Ultimately, both skill sets are essential to furthering your career, whether you work in a highly technical field or a service-oriented one.

Now let’s review some examples.

Best hard skills to list on a resume [70+ examples]

The best way to brainstorm hard skills is to consider the different types that exist. We’ve collected 10 skill categories featuring more than 70 hard skills, all of which would make great additions to a resume. While the list is not exhaustive, we’re confident you’ll find more than a few professional skills relevant to your job.

If you need more inspiration, check out our resume examples library, which lists actual resumes categorized by job title. You can also take a look at our resume templates, which are a great way to see your skills emphasized by different styles.

Analytical skills

In the modern workplace, analytical skills are foundational. Whether you’re analyzing the latest consumer data or trying to navigate office politics in a digital space, these skills help you make informed decisions and solve complex problems. Here are a handful of examples:

Computer skills

In today’s digital age, computer skills are essential for almost every job. They encompass a range of abilities that enable you to perform certain tasks much more effectively. Here are some key computer skills you might want to include on your resume:

Design skills

Design skills are key for creating visually appealing and effective communications. Whether you’re working on print or digital projects, these skills help you to convey messages in a visually engaging manner. Here are some examples of important design skills:

Language skills

When adding language proficiency to your resume, consider this — this is the only hard skill that allows you to communicate across different cultures and expand your professional opportunities around the world. Here are language-related hard skills you can add to your resume:

Management skills

Even if you aren’t a manager, the skill set associated with the role can come in handy. From project coordination to team leadership, management skills are the hard skills that keep the modern office thrumming. Here are a few to add to your resume:

Marketing skills

While there are many soft skills in marketing, the hard, technical skills are just as important. Possessing any of the marketing skills below can give you an advantage over other applicants:

Medical skills

If you work in medicine, you have undoubtedly developed a range of specialized abilities that are essential for patient care, including critical nursing skills that ensure the well-being and recovery of patients. Here are a handful to consider:

Construction skills

Construction skills build and maintain the infrastructure around us. These skills combine physical capabilities with technical know-how to ensure projects are completed safely and efficiently. Here are some key hard skills in this category:

Project management skills

Could you oversee projects from inception to completion, ensuring they meet goals, deadlines and budgets? Then you have good project management skills. These skills are highly valued in many industries and involve both strategic planning and day-to-day management. Here are some to highlight on your resume:

Writing skills

In today’s fast-paced digital world, writing skills are more important than ever. With the rise of AI and automated content creation tools, the ability to craft clear and engaging content that doesn’t sound too robotic is a valuable asset. Here are some writing skills to highlight on your resume:

Create Your Resume

How to put hard skills on a resume [Tips with examples]

After you understand hard skills and arm yourself with examples, it’s time to add them to your resume. But how?

There are four methods for filling your resume with hard skills. Let’s review each one.

Study job ads to identify hard skills relevant to the role

Every job listing includes a raft of hard and soft skills. You’ll commonly find skills peppered throughout the ad with section headers like “job description,” “responsibilities” and “qualifications.”

Comb the listing for skills and highlight the words you’ll need to add to your resume. These are your keywords. Adding these to your application will help you make an ATS-friendly resume.

Take a look at this listing for a computer programmer role. We’ve pulled a couple of bullets from each section, bolding the hard skills that are resume-worthy:

When you sit down to write your resume, use the skills from the job listing as a guidebook and checklist of hard skills to put on your resume.

Mention your level of proficiency

You can add a skill to your resume even if you aren’t an expert in that particular skill set. For example, let’s say you have extensive experience writing budgets, some experience tracking performance and minor experience overseeing the hiring process.

Here’s how you might showcase your varied experience levels in a resume skills section:

There are other ways to specify experience levels. You could add visual flair with color coding or utilize special graphics/design features. Only attempt the latter if you’re a skilled designer or have a resume template to help you.

Provide examples in your work experience section

Hard skills should be sprinkled throughout your resume, not simply listed inside the skills section.

Let’s review an example of hard skills adequately implemented in a candidate’s job history. This is a nursing assistant resume, and the skills are in bold:

Notice how the candidate above includes at least one skill in every work experience bullet point. Additionally, they use action words — like manage, maintain and safeguard — to make their work history more energetic and action-oriented.

Utilize your entire resume

Okay, you’ve got a great work experience section! What about everything else? Hard skills should be integrated throughout the document, including your resume profile — whether a professional summary or resume objective.

What would this look like? Here’s an example resume objective for a restaurant manager with hard skills in bold:

Keep reading to find out how you can learn new hard skills and continue to develop the skills you already have.

4 ways to improve your hard skills

Improving your hard skills requires time, energy and resources. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to find free help developing your skill set. You just need to know where to look.

1. Take free online courses

Today there’s no shortage of free online classes to help you build your skill set. First, find free classes on Udemy and Coursera. Then, look to see which colleges and universities offer free classes that might suit you. Here is a handful of the respected schools with online classes:

2. Watch YouTube and other tutorial videos

YouTube remains one of the great resources for free learning. The best advice is simply to search for what you’d like to learn. For example, the keyword “how to code python” turns up several courses ranging from one to 12 hours, alongside many videos offering advice to entry-level programmers.

Dig deeper with more targeted keywords and you’ll find countless tutorials on solving specific coding problems. This exercise could be done for (virtually) any technical skill set.

3. Consider in-person classes

Some subjects lend themselves better to in-person learning. Sites like Groupon, TakeLessons and Meetup are excellent resources for finding learning opportunities in your area. You can also search for a local college or university online with the keyword “free courses” to see if they offer anything that meets your needs.

4. Practice using your hard skills

Ultimately, your hard skills must be put into practice. However, job seekers trying to acquire a new skill that isn’t already part of their day-to-day duties and responsibilities will have to think outside the box. You should try the following strategies: