What are Technical Skills?
Technical skills are any skills directly relevant to a specific task, situation, or role that you learned through education. These skills require you to have a high level of understanding and proficiency in specific activities, including methods, processes, procedures, or techniques. They are also known as hard skills or core competencies.
Technical and essential skills differ in the ways they are developed and utilized in the workplace. Technical skills often require education or specific training to learn a certain competency. They include the knowledge required to use a certain machine, software, or another tool. Technical skills are often utilized when completing technical tasks such as surveying, data review, or engineering. On the other hand, essential skills are often seen as personality traits you may have developed over the course of your life.
Research the industry you would like to enter or a job description within the field. What technical skills are important to them? Which skills appear most frequently in job posts? Answer these questions, then make sure to include those skills you identified in your resume.
Here is a list of some of the most in-demand technical skills broken down into individual categories from indeed.com:
Communication skills
- Copywriting
- Being able to speak more than one language fluently
- Editing
- Researching and reporting
- Translation
- Transcription
- Word processing
- Various forms of digital communication
Computer technology
- Social media
- Pivot tables
- Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access)
- HTML/CSS
- WordPress
- JavaScript
- Content management systems (CMS)
- Adobe Suite
Data analysis
- Data engineering
- Database management
- Data mining
- Data visualization
- Web analytics
- Research
Accounting
- IBM Cognos Analytics
- Microsoft Excel
- ERP knowledge
- Microsoft Visual Basic
- Hyperion
- QuickBooks and other accounting software
- Big data analysis
- Intuit QuickBooks
- Sage 50 Accounting
- Intrax ProcedureNet
- Microsoft Dynamics
- SAP
- ERP systems
- Cost and trend analysis
- GAAP and FASB knowledge
- Auditing
Marketing
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Google analytics
- Search engine marketing (SEM)
- Content management systems
- Email marketing
- Web scraping
- Copywriting
- Social media marketing
- CRO
- A/B testing
- Project management
- Website design
- Content development
- Digital advertising
- Mobile marketing
- Social marketing
Data Management
- Amazon Web Services
- Cloudera
- Commvault
- Ataccama
- Oracle Product Hub
- DataStax
- Google BigQuery
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Ensuring data integrity
- Database design and planning
Business Analysis
- Amazon Web Services AWS software
- Microsoft Access
- Oracle JDBC
- Transact-SQL
- Eclipse IDE
- Apache Groovy
- Operating systems like Oracle Solaris, UNIX, and Microsoft Windows Server
- C#
- Python
- Ruby
- Data analytics
- Data modeling
- BI tools and applications
Project Management
- Scrum and Agile proficiency
- Technical reporting
- Work scheduling software
- Information technology
- Data analytics
- Kanban
Engineering
- Computer science fundamentals
- CAD Software
- Data modeling
- System design
- Statistics and probability
- Technical reporting
- The MathWorks MATLAB
- Visual Basic
- Trimble SketchUp Pro
Medicine
- Advanced lifesaving training (ACLS)
- Diabetic care and wound monitoring
- Phlebotomy
- Dialysis
- Traction management
Coding or Programming
- HTML
- CSS
- Javascript
- C
- C++
- Python
- XML
- Ruby
- SQL
- PHP
- Visual Basic
- Perl
- Front-end development
- Backend development
- Mobile development
- Cloud computing
- Network structure and security
- Debugging
- Network architecture
Graphic Design
- Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe CS, and InDesign
- HTML
- UI/UX
- Print design and typography
- Branding
Productivity Software
- Microsoft Office Suite
- Google Drive (Sheets, Docs, etc.)
- Conference calling software (Zoom, Skype, GoToMeeting)
- Evernote
- Trello
- Slack
- Prezi