Examples of Skills: Job, Life, and Personal Skills

Okay, so we already mentioned there are different types of skills for jobs, parenting, life, school, or hobbies. But how do you know the difference? And can some skills work for your profession and your life at the same time?

Well, determining which skills are useful in particular areas of your life all starts with defining the differences between the two main types: hard and soft skills.

A hard skill is technical. It can be taught and measured. People usually build up their knowledge of hard skills through training, education, and experience.

Hard skills are usually closely aligned with careers, sports, and hobbies. These are also the types of skills that are featured on resumes or job applications.

Examples of hard skills include:

• computer programming
• data analysis
• accounting
• project management
• writing and editing

A soft skill is a personal attribute that creates a greater understanding of how to perform a job or task. It can also include presentation. communication, and leadership qualities.

Unlike hard skills, which are specific and teachable, soft skills are harder to quantify. However, they are just as important for career success as well as greater personal relationships. 

Soft skills are often developed through experience, personal relationships, and interactions with different cultures and social environments.

Examples of soft skills include:

• communication
• teamwork
• problem-solving
• adaptability
• leadership
• time management 
• emotional intelligence

It's also important to discuss the difference between the meanings of skills, talents, and abilities. These terms are fairly similar and are often listed as synonyms to one another, but they do have distinct meanings that can be helpful to know.

A skill, as mentioned above, is a great ability or proficiency; expertness that comes from training, practice, etc. It can also be defined as knowledge, understanding, or judgment. This is why hard and soft skills are both classified as, well, skills.

A talent is any natural ability or power; natural endowment. It's usually viewed as innate, which means you didn't have to learn or train to gain this talent.

Instead, it's just part of your personality or natural makeup. We often see professional athletes as having talent for their sport — it comes natural to them. Artists can also be defined as having creative talent. 

Lastly, an ability can be a skill or a talent. That's because an ability is really just the quality of being able to do something, especially the physical, mental, financial, or legal power to accomplish something. So, if you can physically or mentally do it, you have that ability. 

Now that we know what a skill is, we can look at examples that are helpful for most jobs. There are hard and soft skills needed for jobs that are not only desirable by employers but necessary in order to grow in your role or work well with others. 

• Advising
• Coaching
• Conflict resolution
• Decision making
• Delegating
• Diplomacy
• Interviewing
• Motivation
• People management
• Problem solving
• Strategic thinking

• Dedication
• Ethics
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Maturity
• Patience
• Presentation
• Reliability
• Self confidence

• Categorizing data
• Coordinating
• Goal setting
• Meeting deadlines
• Multi-tasking
• Prioritizing
• Project management
• Scheduling
• Strategic planning
• Time management

• Collaboration
• Communication
• Flexibility
• Listening
• Observation
• Participation
• Respect
• Sharing

• Critical thinking
• Data analysis
• Numeracy
• Reporting
• Research
• Troubleshooting

There are also many skills that contribute to someone's personal development. These skills can better your life and open you up to expanding and improving yourself in various ways, including developing personal relationships.

Personal skills include:

• Adaptability
• Compassion
• Common sense
• Cooperation
• Curiosity
• Effort
• Empathy
• Flexibility
• Friendship
• Humility
• Initiative
• Integrity
• Organization
• Patience
• Perseverance
• Problem solving
• Responsibility
• Sense of humor
• Stress management
• Verbal and nonverbal communication

There are a wide variety of skills needed for different sports: running, passing, throwing, and so on. 

Some other sport-related skills include:

• Concentration
• Coordination
• Dealing with pressure
• Flexibility
• Footwork
• Performing repetitive drills
• Power
• Precision
• Tactics
• Teamwork