What Are Technical Skills?

Written by Coursera Staff • Updated on Sep 16, 2024

Grasp what technical skills are, which technical skills employers are looking for, how to improve your technical skills, and how to list them on a resume.

Featured image: A man wearing a white shirt looking at a laptop screen and typing.

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

In fact, 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 referred to as hard skills, involve the practical knowledge you use to complete tasks. Examples of technical skills include:

The demand for AI skills has transcended the tech industry, growing in nearly every sector in the US [1]. You can stay ahead of the curve and learn to use AI productively and effectively in your role by enrolling in the online program Microsoft Copilot: Your Everyday AI Companion.

Technical skills tend to be things you can learn in traditional educational or professional settings. If you want to enhance a specific technical skill, consider signing up for an online course or completing hands-on projects related to that skill.

What technical skills are employers looking for?

Some common technical skills that appear across job roles include:

Spreadsheet software, like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, can be used in roles that require organizing information, tracking projects, analyzing data, or creating charts.

Project management is valuable in any role that requires developing and executing projects.

Writing is beneficial for roles that rely on communication, whether that's via email or social media, or longer form reports, analyses, or projects.

Scheduling and calendar management is important for roles with heavy collaboration, relationship management, or administrative support.

Budget management can be important for roles that develop, monitor, assess, and work within budgets, for example in business, project, or people management settings.

Often, the specific technical skills employers are looking for depend on the job role. 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.

Let's take a closer look at some examples.

Technical skills examples for in-demand jobs

Here are some guides outlining in-demand technical skills for specific job roles:

To provide examples of industry-specific technical skills that employers are looking for, we researched job postings and general career insights. Here are some 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 actual security breaches.

Data science

To get a job as a data scientist, some organizations 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, analyze 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 a range of careers, from marketing and sales to human resources and finance.

Finance

To get a job as a financial analyst, some organizations may require you to have skills in:

Financial modeling
Modern portfolio theory

With these and other financial 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 organizations 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 paid ad effectiveness.

User experience

To get a job as a UX designer, some organizations 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.

How to improve your technical skills

Now that you have a better idea of the technical skills that are in demand across industries, you may be thinking about how to improve your skills or learn new ones to enhance your career. It’s important to plan your next steps so that you prioritize the skills you most need and find the right training programs.

Follow these steps to streamline this process:

1. Identify your career goals.

Write down exactly what you’d like to experience in your career. While 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 your current job
Get a promotion within the organization you work for
Pursue a career in a new field with better pay
Pursue a career that supports the lifestyle you 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 actual job postings in your desired field. Pay close attention to each job description:

Which tasks, projects, and responsibilities would you love to take on, either 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 keep track of technical skills that employers require and gauge which ones you should prioritize.

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.

There are several ways you can build career-specific technical skills, from taking a course or training program to getting certified in a particular skill or pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree. Find the program that best fits your goals and lifestyle by investigating each program’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 program teach?
Career potential: How do the program’s expected outcomes relate to the skills and qualifications that employers in your field require? Does this program offer certifications or credentials that employers ask for?

How to list technical skills on a resume

As you build new technical skills and improve upon existing ones, a very important thing to do is to update your resume with your latest information. This section goes over how to describe your technical skills, so that you feel confident that you are presenting your technical strengths in the most advantageous way.

Adopt these standard resume best practices:

Tailor your resume 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.
Emphasize quantifiable outcomes.
List the names of specific training, courses, and certifications you’ve completed, along with the topics and skills each one covered.

Examples of technical skills on a resume

For listing your technical skills, follow 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

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Article sources

1. Lightcast. "The 2023 Stanford AI Index Report, https://lightcast.io/resources/blog/demand-for-ai-skills-continues-climbing." Accessed September 13, 2024.

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Updated on Sep 16, 2024

Written by:

Coursera Staff

Editorial Team

Coursera’s editorial team is comprised of highly experienced professional editors, writers, and fact...

This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.