What are Technical Skills

Technical skills are the specific knowledge and proficiency required to perform tasks using specialized tools and programs. This article details the types of technical skills, their importance, and how to showcase them on a CV.

By Douglas Wade, Attorney

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Examples of Technical Skills

3. What technical competencies are in demand by companies?

4. Examples of technical skills for jobs in high-demand

5. How to sharpen your technical abilities

6. How to include technical skills in a resume

Introduction

Gain an understanding of technical skills, including what they are, what employers seek, ways to develop them, and the best ways to highlight them on a CV.

The specific knowledge and proficiency needed to carry out particular activities and make use of particular equipment and programs in practical settings are known as technical skills. Nearly all professions and sectors, including IT, business administration, healthcare, and education, demand a wide range of technical abilities.

Actually, a lot of entry-level jobs in a variety of industries call for a foundational understanding of technology, such as using Google Drive for cloud computing and social network platform navigation. Programming languages, data analysis, and technical writing are a few examples of advanced technical abilities that a job may need.

In contrast to soft skills, or professional competencies like time management & communication, technical skills may rely on specialized training and education to acquire.

Examples of Technical Skills

Technical skills are the applied knowledge you need for successful jobs. They are also frequently called hard skills. Technical skills include, for instance:

Data analysis
Programming languages
Web development
Financial management
UX design
Bookkeeping
Writing
Graphic design

Technical skills are knowledge-based, thus you can typically acquire them in conventional school or professional environments. Enrolling in a course conducted online or working on practical projects linked to a certain technical skill can help you improve it.

What technical competencies are in demand by companies?

Several technical competencies that are relevant to several job roles are as follows:

Spreadsheet Software: It is frequently used in tasks that need information organization, project tracking, data analysis, or chart creation, similar to Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.
Project Management: It is useful in any position where creating and carrying out projects is necessary.
Writing: It is useful for jobs requiring a lot of communication, such as those involving long-form reports, studies, or projects, as well as communication via social media or email.
Scheduling & calendar management: For positions requiring a lot of administrative support, relationship management, or collaboration, scheduling & calendar management are crucial.
Budget Management: Roles that create, oversee, evaluate, and adhere to budgets, such as those in project, business, or personnel management contexts, may find value in it.

Employers’ requirements for particular technical abilities can vary depending on the position. It’s critical to keep an eye on the way your sector or area develops and to identify the new abilities that will enable you to advance in your current position, launch a new career, or consider other options.

Allow us to examine a few examples more closely.

Examples of technical skills for jobs in high-demand

The following resources list the technical abilities that employers value for particular employment roles:

Customer service
Data analyst
Cybersecurity analyst
Data scientist
Data engineer
IT skills
Health care
Machine learning
Marketing skills
Management skills
Software developer
Project management
UX design

We looked at job listings and generic career insights to give examples of technical skills relevant to the industry that companies are seeking. Here are some instances of in-demand sectors and the corresponding technical talents for them:

Cybersecurity

Some of the skills that you could need to become a cybersecurity analyst are:

Incident response
Data security
Operating systems
Endpoint protection

You could assist in defending an organization’s networks against cyberattacks and looking into real security breaches if you have these along with other technical talents in cybersecurity.

Data Science

Some companies might need you to have the following skills to hire you for the role of data scientist:

Machine learning
Programming languages (example: Python)
Statistics

You may create machine learning designs, examine trends and patterns in data, and suggest actions that assist businesses in reaching their objectives if you have these and additional technical skills in data science.

It is noteworthy that having data skills is beneficial for a variety of professions, including human resources, finance, marketing, and sales.

Finance

Some companies might want you to possess the following abilities in order to get hired for the role of financial analyst:

Modern theory of portfolios
Financial Modeling

Possessing these and additional financial technical abilities, you might assist an organization in monitoring its financial health and remaining current with investment laws and guidelines.

Marketing

Some companies could demand the following skills in order for you to be hired for the role of social media marketing professional:

Develop Facebook & other platform ad campaigns.
Create sponsored advertising materials.
Create content

You may assist a business in establishing a presence on social media, boost paid ad efficiency, and raise brand recognition with these and additional technical marketing abilities.

User Experience

To secure a position as a UX designer, certain companies could demand that you possess the following abilities:

Using the Adobe Creative Suite
Carry out research on UX.
Make wireframes.

Possessing these and additional technical abilities in UX design, you might assist businesses in enhancing the user experience that their customers have when using their websites, mobile applications, and additional platforms.

How to sharpen your technical abilities

You may be considering how to develop new talents or strengthen your current ones to further your professional life now that you’ve acquired a better understanding of technical abilities that are currently sought after across industries. Making a strategy for the next stage can help you choose the educational courses that will best suit your needs and rank the abilities that are most important.

To expedite this process, take the following actions:

1. Decide on your professional objectives

Jot down all of the specific experiences you hope to have in your work. Clarity may help you reach your goals more quickly, even though the employment market is uncertain as there are no guarantees. Take a look at these samples of career goals & add your very own details:

Boost output at your present position.
Obtain a rise in your position in the company.
Go after a profession in an area that pays more money.
Go for a job that will enable you to live the kind of life you desire.

2. Determine the technical skills required

After you have identified your objectives, you must ascertain which technical competencies will enable you to reach them. Look for genuine job openings in the field of your choice by visiting career-building websites such as Indeed, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor. Study every job description carefully:

Which assignments, projects, and roles—whether they come from your current employer or an entirely fresh one—would you most like to embark on?
What sort of lifestyle are these professions going to support?
Which schooling, training, and other credentials are necessary, according to job listings?

Make an Excel sheet to track the technical skills businesses demand and determine what skills should take precedence.

3. Evaluate your present abilities and seek out opportunities to get better

Enter a contemplative and investigative mindset for this phase and question yourself:

What skill set best suits the demands of the positions I’m interested in?
Which necessary competencies must I acquire?
In my opinion, how should I prioritize them?

4. Learn the latest technical skills

Gaining certification in a certain skill, enrolling in a training program or course, obtaining a graduate or undergraduate degree, and learning a specific ability are all viable options for developing technical abilities relevant to a given vocation. Examine every program’s specifics to determine which one best suits your objectives and way of life:

Syllabus: Which books are necessary to be read for this course? Will you be able to experience working in real-world scenarios, finish any practical tasks that are career-focused, and learn what it’s like to be employed in your dream field?
Anticipated results: Which particular skills is this program teaching?
Potential career path: How do the course’s anticipated results align with the abilities and credentials needed by companies in your industry? Are there any credentials or certificates offered by this course that employers require?

How to include technical skills in a resume

A crucial step in developing new technical abilities and honing those you already have is updating a CV with the most recent details. To help you feel certain that you’re showcasing your technical skills in a particularly favorable light, this section covers how to effectively convey your technical skills.

Adhere to these common resume recommendations:

Make sure your experience and technical skills match the requirements of every position you are looking for by customizing your CV for each one.
When describing the duties or tasks you performed in past roles, use action phrases like “managed,” “developed,” or “implemented.”
Prioritize measurable results.
Name the individual training programs, certifications, and courses you have taken, and describe the subjects and abilities they each addressed.

Technical skill examples for a resume

Use the following three instances from a career perspective when you list your technical skills:

Cybersecurity Analyst

Installed a system for backing up to provide an extra degree of protection for corporate data
20% less data loss due to cyberattacks

Social media marketing manager

30 percent higher Facebook conversion rate
Created visual content that is intended to raise brand awareness

UX Designer

A 23 percent rise in user satisfaction
Made user interfaces that are easy to navigate through

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