It’s essential to include technical skills on your resume. Now you may ask, what are technical skills? Technical skills — also known as hard skills — are the abilities and knowledge needed to perform specific job duties. These skills are often used in many fields such as programming, data analysis and graphic design. They’re highly valued by employers, as they demonstrate your ability to perform specific tasks and contribute to the company’s success.
Whether you’re looking for a new job, switching careers or just upskilling for a promotion, having technical skills on your resume is more important than ever. As technology continues to advance, companies are seeking employees who can keep up with the latest trends and tools. Including relevant practical skills on your resume shows employers your willingness to learn and grow in your industry. Regardless of your current position, having a strong set of technical skills can make the difference in landing the job you want.
Technical Skills in Demand
With technical skills, there are many in high demand across various industries. These skills show employers you can perform the tasks listed in the job posting. Just keep in mind, technical skills can vary widely between industry and job type. So, it’s important to tailor your resume to the job description (we talk about this a lot!) by highlighting the skills most relevant to the industry. Here are some of the technical skills that you should learn and add to your resume if it makes sense for your career aspirations.
Programming Languages
If you’re in tech you probably don’t need the overview, but just in case you’re not, programming languages are coded languages that provide a set of instructions to a machine.
The machine interprets and then completes the task provided by the instructions. These languages are versatile and have a wide degree of application. Some common uses include developing software, websites, and mobile applications.
In any case, these days even a basic understanding of programming languages is a must-have technical skill for many jobs. Some of the most in-demand programming languages include:
- Java
- Python
- C++
- JavaScript
- PHP
For instance, you could use languages such as Java, Python and C++ to build desktop and mobile applications, web scrape, automate repetitive tasks, and much more. If you’re creating or editing a website, JavaScript and PHP are used to make interactive webpages and server-side scripting.
This can be useful for Content Creators designing dynamic content and web developers working on websites. Whether you’re a software engineer, web developer or digital content producer, learning these programming languages can enhance your resume and make you stand out to potential employers. And because these languages are so widely used, there are lots of resources available for learning, both free and paid.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of different services through the Internet. This includes data storage, databases, networking, software and more. It involves storing and accessing data and programs over the internet rather than on a local server or personal computer. Cloud computing has become increasingly popular in recent years, with more companies moving their operations to the cloud. In response, the demand for professionals with cloud computing skills has increased dramatically. Some of the most valuable cloud computing skills include:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
- Cloud Security
- Cloud Architecture
Many companies are looking to shift their operations to the cloud or are already using cloud services. They’ve realized the benefits to cloud computing which includes a reduction in operating costs, greater performance, and general reliability.
Moving to the cloud eliminates the expense in setting up and maintaining hardware, software, and data centres. Not to mention, it also gets rid of the costs of renting property space, electricity expenses, and the salary for a dedicated IT staff. Moving to the cloud allows companies to better focus their time and resources on other projects rather than general upkeep. Given their value to business operations, including these skills on your resume can make you a much more attractive candidate to companies.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting networks, systems, and programs from a digital attack. These attacks can come in the form of hacking, phishing, social engineering, and malware. To prevent this, cybersecurity experts are needed to protect and educate companies on the dangers of these attacks. To that end, this industry is a growing field that requires specialized technical skills. Employers in this industry are looking for candidates with knowledge of:
- Network security protocols and infrastructure
- Penetration testing and vulnerability assessments
- Security information and event management (SIEM) tools
- Web application security
- Cloud security
In today’s world, everything is digitally connected. As a result, the need for cybersecurity companies is essential. Without them, there will be more and more cyber attacks resulting in everything from data leaks, loss of data, identity or bank account theft, and even entire infrastructures and systems shutting down. These skills serve an important role in not only protecting company interests, but public interest too!
Having certifications such as CompTIA Security+, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), or Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) can also be highly valuable in this field. Consider studying and adding these certifications to your resume to show off your qualifications for a cybersecurity position.
Data Analysis and Management
Data analysis is the act of analyzing data and from those learnt insights, providing actionable recommendations for business decisions. It involves using statistical methods and software to extract insights from data.
On the other hand, data management also includes the act of collecting, organizing, protecting, and storing a company’s data for analysis. Either way, data is the lifeblood of most companies today, and the ability to analyze and manage data is an important technical skill. In a data driven world, it is essential to learn skills that involving understanding and interpreting data. Some of the most valuable data analysis and management skills include:
- SQL
- Excel
- Tableau
- Python
- Data Warehousing
As companies are increasingly becoming data driven, data analysis and management skills will only get more important. These skills are in high demand across many industries, including finance, healthcare, and technology. With that, learning data skills will be helpful no matter what industry you are in.
SQL is used to store, access, and manipulate data stored in a database. This is helpful as many companies have large amounts of data that need to be stored in a database. This makes SQL an important skill for companies.
Excel is a tool that is not only used by companies but is also widely used by regular consumers. This is a spreadsheet tool that also has data visualization capabilities. When working with small amounts of data, Excel is a powerful tool that has a multipurpose usage.
If you need a more powerful visualization tool, Tableau is a popular option. It focuses on crafting aesthetic graphs, charts, and plots that captures the attention of any viewer.
Python has many statistical packages used to analyze data. This skill reveals insights from data and shows companies an objective measure and the value of whatever is being analyzed.
In short, data analyst and management skills are important as they are widely used by various industries and easily show your impact to a company’s bottom line.
UI/UX Design
User Interface (UI) is the process of designing and focusing on the visual elements of the product. These graphical features include the screens, buttons, layouts, menus and more. User Experience (UX) is the process of designing and focusing on the entire interaction and experience a consumer has with a product.
The goal of this process is to make the product more functional, accessible, and enjoyable for the user. Especially in customer centric businesses, User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design are important technical skills. Employers in this in the digital design industry are looking for candidates with knowledge of:
- Wireframing and prototyping tools such as Sketch or Figma
- Responsive design principles
- Visual design principles such as color theory and typography
- Front-end web development languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
- User research and testing methodologies
UX design skills are important as they improve user satisfaction, usability, and brand perception. People with UI/UX skills have a better understanding of user needs and preferences. This leads to creating a product carted to their users which increases their overall satisfaction. While knowing these skills is important, it is also essential to have a way to showcase your skills and abilities. Having a portfolio of design work that showcases your skills and experience can prove your competency to employers.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has quickly become the next big thing. At a basic level, it is a field of computer science that focuses on building machines that can solve problems or perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.
From the use of AI language models like ChatGPT to the development of self-driving cars to the use of AI in medicine and beyond, this field will inevitably affect all of our lives. Given the many possibilities of AI, positive and negative, it has become a rapidly growing field that requires technical skills such as:
- Machine learning algorithms and models
- Natural language processing (NLP)
- Computer vision
- Deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch
- Big data tools such as Hadoop or Spark
With AI, most of our lives are going to be changed forever in ways we probably don’t even know yet. Many careers will be rendered obsolete, but others will emerge. So why not get ahead of the curve? Learning these skills can put you in a better position to switch to a safer career path.
Also keep in mind that knowledge of a programming language can be highly beneficial in the world of AI. Having experience with programming languages such as Python, R, or Java can prove invaluable in this field.
Final Thoughts…
In 2023 and beyond, for many jobs technical skills will continue to be a critical component of a successful resume. As technology continues to advance and shape our world, employers will continue to seek out candidates with the necessary technical skills to keep up with these changes. In some cases, having some of these skills may prove beneficial even if they’re not central to your professional skills or the job you’re applying for.
For this reason, it’s important for job seekers to not only highlight their technical skills on their resumes, but also to continuously develop and update these skills to remain competitive in the job market.