Evaluating resumes is a process that might already be usual to you, or you may have just started working in this capacity. In either case, taking a look at how you review resumes can help you to be more efficient. You may have heard of a hard skills list, and might have an idea what they mean.
When it comes to your employees, you likely want them to bring a certain set of criteria to the table. Therefore, you begin new searches by looking for employees who match with those criteria. Some of the skills that you want are called hard skills, or soft skills.
What Hard Skills May Promise
While the line between hard skills and soft skills can become blurred at points, a lucid distinction generally exists.
- Hard skills are more tangible and demonstrable. Some of them are quantitative. For example, possessing a degree in a particular area or knowing how to use a specific program are hard skills. You could ask for proof of either of these features to be presented at an interview.
- Soft skills may include traits such as honesty and gregarious, which are more difficult to measure, particularly in a preliminary meeting.
Hard Skills List: 7 Key Points to Check on a Resume
Once you know what they are in general, you can make a hard skills list. Then, when you are reviewing resumes, you can check off the skills that each applicant has. That is an easy way to streamline the process.
Instead of estimating how many of your criteria the candidate meets, you can have a quantitative hard skills list available to immediately review.
1. Degree Requirements
On your hard skills list, you must include the degree requirements. If you will hire only those candidates who have graduated from a four-year institution, then you must put that requirement on your hard skills list. Also, you may prefer a candidate who has also attended graduate school. You can put that item on your hard skills list too. In fact, you may want to divide the list into two.
- On one side, you can place skills that the candidates absolutely must have to qualify for an interview.
- On the other, you can place skills that are preferred but not required.
2. Professional Experience
Some positions are crafted for individuals who have just finished college and do not have much or any experience in the workforce. Other positions are made for individuals who have a minimum number of years in a particular field. If that is a requirement of the job, then make sure it is on the hard skills list.
- You can go to the work section of the resume to see how many years the candidates have been working in the field.
- If their experience is under the minimum amount, you can stop reviewing the rest of the resume because you know the person isn’t the right fit.
3. Industry-Specific Skills
Depending upon the industry in which you work, you may require that your employees have a number of industry-specific skills. For example, you may need employees to know how to use a particular software program on the computer. In the job posting, make sure you note that.
- If you are hiring only those individuals who possess certain skills, the posting should include that information. Therefore, people will know how to fashion their resumes.
- When candidates do not have the industry-specific skills required, you can move on from the resume.
4. Language Abilities
Your company may have branches in another part of the world, or you may often have customers who speak a language other than English. As a result, you likely need to hire at least some employees who are multilingual.
- In the event that you prefer employees who speak a certain language, make a note of that on the job listing.
- Then, prospective employees with sharp resume skills will know to include the languages that they speak on the document.
5. Computer Skills
In the age of technology, most jobs require that employees have some sort of computer skills.
- Even if you just need employees to know how to use a basic word-processing program, you should include that in the job posting and put it on your hard skills list. It is possible that some people in the workforce do not have any computer skills at all, or they might be familiar with a different type of processor.
- You may also want to include a preferred typing speed on your hard skills list. That is often a necessity for positions that require secretarial or clerical work.
6. Internship Experience
Perhaps you are open to hiring candidates who have just recently graduated from college, but you want to make sure they have a specific type of internship experience.
- You can add that item to your hard skills list.
- In fact, you may even want to hire only those candidates who have had internship experience with your business or a sister company.
7. Certifications
Even if candidates have the right degree for the job, they might not have the proper certification. For example, you may be looking at a resume where the candidate graduated with a teaching degree from a college in another state. In order to transfer that degree to your state, the individual may have to take a certification test.
- Therefore, you would want to make sure that the certification has been completed before you call the person in for an interview.
To the Job
Even though you are assessing hard skills on the resume, you can also start to get a better sense of who the candidates are. For example, some candidates might not follow the directions. They may include information that you specifically asked them to eliminate. They might even erase information that you specifically asked them to include.
Here is an opportunity for you to figure out how good of a fit they might be for your office. You may want to add an item on your hard skills list that assesses whether candidates followed the directions or not.
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