What Are Technical Skills?

Technical skills are the specialised knowledge and expertise required to perform specific tasks and use specific tools in real-world situations. Diverse technical skills are required in almost every field and industry, from IT and business administration to healthcare and education.

Many entry-level positions across industries require basic technical skills, such as cloud computing in Google Drive and navigating social media platforms. Examples of more advanced technical skills that a job might require include programming languages, technical writing, or data analysis. 

Unlike workplace skills, also called soft skills, such as communication and time management, technical skills often require specific education and training to acquire. 

Technical skills examples

Technical skills, sometimes called hard skills, involve the practical knowledge you use to complete tasks. Some examples of technical skills are:

• Data analysis

• Web development

• Computer programming languages

• Financial management

• Bookkeeping

• UX design

• Graphic design

• Writing

• Cooking

What technical skills are employers looking for? 

As a term, “technical skills” often appear in the context of job searching or career advancement. Some of your current skills can transfer to other jobs, and others you may need to achieve your career goals. It’s important to monitor how your field or industry evolves and which new skills will help you enter the workforce, perform better at your current job, find new career opportunities, or explore a new field. 

Consider these examples of in-demand industries and their related technical skills:

Cybersecurity

To get hired as a cybersecurity analyst, you may need skills in:

• Incident response

• Operating systems

• Data security

• Endpoint protection 

With these and other cybersecurity technical skills, you could help protect a company’s networks from cyber attacks and investigate security breaches.

Data science 

To get a job as a data scientist, some organisations may require you to be skilled in:

• Machine learning

• Statistics

• Programming languages like Python

With these and other data science technical skills, you could build machine learning models, analyse data patterns and trends, and recommend courses of action that help companies achieve their goals.  

It’s important to note that data skills are valuable in various careers, from marketing and sales to human resources and finance.   

Finance 

To work as a financial analyst, some organisations may require you to have skills in:

• Financial modelling

• Modern portfolio theory 

With these and other financial, and technical skills, you could help a company track its financial performance and stay abreast of investment regulations and policies. 

Marketing 

To get a job as a social media marketer, some organisations may require that you know how to:

• Create advertising campaigns on Facebook and other platforms

• Develop paid ad assets

• Design content 

With these and other marketing technical skills, you could help a company build a social media presence and brand recognition and increase the effectiveness of paid ads.

User experience

To get a job as a UX designer, some organisations may require that you be able to:

• Navigate Adobe Creative Suite

• Conduct UX research

• Create wireframes 

With these and other UX design technical skills, you could help companies improve their users’ experiences when navigating websites, mobile apps, and other platforms.  

Healthcare

To get a job as a medical assistant, some hospitals or doctor’s offices may require that you be able to:

• Operate medical equipment

• Administer injections

• Take vital signs

• Record patients’ health history 

With these and other healthcare technical skills, you could help medical facilities operate smoothly and deliver excellent patient care. 

Education

To obtain a job as an early years teacher through to a secondary school teacher, some schools may require you to have skills like:

• CPR and first aid

• Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) 

• Video conferencing

• Online education platforms, like Seneca

With these educational technical skills, you could help students bridge language gaps, advise parents and teach classes from anywhere in the world, and manage class assignments online.

How to improve your technical skills 

To improve your technical skills, plan your next steps so that you prioritise the skills you most need and find the right training programmes. Follow these steps to streamline the process:

1. Identify your career goals.

Write down what you’d like to experience in your career. Whilst the job market can be unpredictable and there are no guarantees, gaining clarity can help you achieve your goals faster. Start with these career goal examples and add your own details:

• Enhance performance in my current job.

• Get a promotion within the organisation I work for.

• Pursue a career in a new field with better pay.

• Pursue a career that supports the lifestyle I want.

2. Identify the technical skills you need.

Once you know your goals, you’ll need to find out which technical skills can help you achieve them. Search career-building sites like Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and Indeed for job postings in your desired field. Pay close attention to each job description:

• Which tasks, projects, and responsibilities would you love to take on in your current job or a new one?

• What kind of lifestyle would these jobs support? 

• What are the required skills, education, and other qualifications that show up in job listings? 

You might find it useful to create a spreadsheet to track the technical skills employers require and gauge which ones you should prioritise.  

3. Review your current skills and look for opportunities to improve. 

For this step, get into a reflective and exploratory state of mind and ask yourself: 

• Which of these skills matches the requirements of the jobs I want? 

• Which required skills do I need to get?

• How can I rank them in order of importance?

4. Build new technical skills.  

You can build career-specific technical skills in various ways, from taking a course or training programme to getting certified in a particular skill or pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree. Find the programme that best fits your goals and lifestyle by investigating each programme’s details:

• Course syllabus: What are the required readings? Will you get to complete any career-focused, hands-on projects, gain experience in real-world situations, and explore what it would be like to work in your desired field? 

• Expected outcomes: What specific skills does this programme teach? 

• Career potential: How do the programme’s expected outcomes relate to the skills and qualifications employers in your field require? Does this programme offer certifications or credentials that employers ask for?

How to list technical skills on a CV

As you build new technical skills and improve existing ones, update your CV with your latest information. This section goes over how to describe your technical skills so that you feel confident you are presenting your technical strengths most advantageously.

Adopt these standard CV best practices: 

• Tailor your CV to each job you’re applying for by lining up your technical skills and experience with job requirements. 

• Use action words, such as “managed,” “implemented,” or “developed,” to describe the tasks you performed or projects you completed in previous roles.

• Emphasise quantifiable outcomes.

• List the names of specific training, courses, and certifications you’ve completed, along with the topics and skills each one covered.

For listing your technical skills, consider these three career-focused examples:

Cybersecurity analyst

• Implemented a backup system to add a layer of security company data

• Reduced data loss from cyber attacks by 20 percent

Social media marketer

• Increased Facebook conversion by 30 percent 

• Designed visual content to increase brand awareness

UX designer

• Increased user satisfaction by 23 percent

• Created intuitive user interfaces 

Keep learning with Coursera

Technical skills are vital for various careers. From cybersecurity to education, possessing the right ones makes you a competitive candidate. By defining your career goals, researching sought-after skills, and pursuing targeted learning or training, you can bridge skill gaps and position yourself for success. Remember to showcase your technical strengths strategically on your CV. Use action verbs and quantifiable achievements to impress potential employers. You can develop the technical skills needed to flourish in today's job market with focus and dedication.

Continue working on your technical skills with Coursera. You'll find popular Professional Certificates in social media, project management, data analysis, and more from leading companies. Sign up for a free seven-day, all-access trial and start learning today.

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