5 ms·

Perhaps I'm definitionally-challenged, but none of the skills listed strike me as "hard" skills. I see a hard skill as being one for which a person receives dom

Perhaps I'm definitionally-challenged, but none of the skills listed strike me as "hard" skills. I see a hard skill as being one for which a person receives domain-specific training, e.g. CS major at $SCHOOL learning to program in Rust. In contrast, the soft skills are those obtained in the process of achieving the hard skills, e.g. aforementioned CS major developing teamwork and time management skills while working on a group project. In this vein, none of the skills listed in this article (grant-writing, data analysis, information synthesis, data presentation) are domain-specific.

tpoacher 5y ago
It is a rather soft definition of hard, yes.
- whatshisface 5y ago
  It borders on saying, "it takes general intelligence to do this, and it takes general intelligence to have a job, therefore people who can do this often can do a job."
humanistbot 5y ago
The hard/soft distinction is a bad metaphor that we should stop using, especially when talking about science. Both soft and hard have other meanings that come with so many implicit cultural assumptions. Domain-specific vs domain-independent is far more precise. And if you want to refer to social/communication skills, why not just say that?
- Jensson 5y ago
  Hard means it is easy to measure as they have rigid shape and form. Soft means it is hard to measure as soft items doesn't have shape or other properties similar to hard items. So a hard skill could be "this person knows how to code basic programs that works". A soft skill could be "this person knows how to write code that others find easy to understand and modify". The first is much easier to test and measure, the second is really hard to test but is still valuable. Note that hard/soft has nothing to do with how difficult they are to acquire. Thus the hardest of skills are when the job requires licensing or similar. If you want to hire a doctor then you need someone who is licensed for it. This requirement is 100% rigid and it is very easy to test if they have a licence, the candidate absolutely needs it so there is no compromise to be done.
  - humanistbot 5y ago
    This definition would mean that law and psychology are "hard" because they are highly-licensed professions.
    - hiptobecubic 5y ago
      Yes. I think the point is that the hard skills required to be a lawyer (e.g. case review, brief writing, contract interpretation, knowledge of the bar exam) are different from the soft skills required (e.g. client management, arguing at trial...). But not that one is more difficult to acquire than the other.
mcguire 5y ago
"Specific training", as in learning to program in $LANG, is essentially worthless, and if that's all you got from a CS degree, I'd recommend asking for a refund. Teamwork and time management may well be skills that you learn while getting a CS degree, but they're not the focus and not going to be taught.

tpoacher 5y ago

It is a rather soft definition of hard, yes.

whatshisface 5y ago
It borders on saying, "it takes general intelligence to do this, and it takes general intelligence to have a job, therefore people who can do this often can do a job."

humanistbot 5y ago

The hard/soft distinction is a bad metaphor that we should stop using, especially when talking about science. Both soft and hard have other meanings that come with so many implicit cultural assumptions. Domain-specific vs domain-independent is far more precise. And if you want to refer to social/communication skills, why not just say that?

Jensson 5y ago
Hard means it is easy to measure as they have rigid shape and form. Soft means it is hard to measure as soft items doesn't have shape or other properties similar to hard items. So a hard skill could be "this person knows how to code basic programs that works". A soft skill could be "this person knows how to write code that others find easy to understand and modify". The first is much easier to test and measure, the second is really hard to test but is still valuable. Note that hard/soft has nothing to do with how difficult they are to acquire. Thus the hardest of skills are when the job requires licensing or similar. If you want to hire a doctor then you need someone who is licensed for it. This requirement is 100% rigid and it is very easy to test if they have a licence, the candidate absolutely needs it so there is no compromise to be done.
- humanistbot 5y ago
  This definition would mean that law and psychology are "hard" because they are highly-licensed professions.
  - hiptobecubic 5y ago
    Yes. I think the point is that the hard skills required to be a lawyer (e.g. case review, brief writing, contract interpretation, knowledge of the bar exam) are different from the soft skills required (e.g. client management, arguing at trial...). But not that one is more difficult to acquire than the other.

mcguire 5y ago

"Specific training", as in learning to program in $LANG, is essentially worthless, and if that's all you got from a CS degree, I'd recommend asking for a refund. Teamwork and time management may well be skills that you learn while getting a CS degree, but they're not the focus and not going to be taught.