About Veritas

The Difference Between Hard And Soft Skills

Hard skills are skills people learn, such as engineering or anthropology. These skills show up on resumes and are often learned through books, school, training, and on-the-job experiences.

Soft skills are skills we use to navigate people and relationships. We use soft skills every day in meetings, communication, and the everyday management of people. Soft skills are those hard-to-define elements of a person that are necessary to develop for success. Things like successfully managing employees, giving new clients a positive first impression, or presenting effectively in a large meeting.

Discovering Your Soft Skills

Discovering your soft skills is a process that involves asking yourself questions, discussing your strengths and possible weaknesses, and completing a variety of assessments.

Questions surrounding soft skills might include:

• Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
• Do you have a “Type A” personality?
• What is your Enneagram Number?
• What are your top five Clifton strengths?
• Are you analytical?
• Are you creative?
• Are you academic?
• Are you time-sensitive?
• Are you detail-oriented or more focused on the big picture?
• What generational attributes do you identify with?
• What is your communication style and how do you prefer others to communicate with you?

Veritas Professional Development frequently uses both the Enneagram and Gallup Clifton Strengths to customize coaching programs for our clients. Our coaches are also trained to adapt coaching programs to include other assessments you’re familiar with.