As a fresh graduate, you want to become an IT Support Portland specialist in your dream company, which offers IT services to large businesses in the city. However, you are quite mistaken if you only need your IT skills to be considered an applicant or a future employee. You need a set of skills that are in part related and not related to how you deal with computers or the internet. And in this article, we will explain the skills that you need to have truthfully, and of course, you need to include those in your resume.
Difference between soft skills and hard skills
First of all, there are two kinds of skills, and with the right blend of these skills, you are on your way to becoming a new IT Support Portland professional. These skills are what we called hard skills and soft skills.
Hard skills
Hard skills are from your training as a student in IT or the technical expertise you have acquired while you were in college and throughout your life as a student. The hard skills focus mainly on software, equipment or machine operation, and foreign languages.
These skills are:
Database management
Network security
Statistics analysis
Multilingual or bilingual
Adobe software suite
User interface design
Programming languages
SEO/SEM marketing
Data mining
Storage systems
Cloud storage management
Mobile development
Hard skills are what you can learn from others and ones you can force to learn by yourself. These are teachable to you by your future employer and superiors.
Soft skills
Soft skills are traits, characteristics, or personal habits that help mold you into the kind of IT professional and you can be while working on your own or while you work with a team. These kinds of skills are commonly known as social skills or people skills. They are mostly focusing on communication, problem-solving, leadership, time management, and customer service. Example of soft skills are:
Effective communication
Integrity
Teamwork
Critical thinking
Empathy
Organization
Open-mindedness
Dependability
Willingness to learn
Creativity
Problem-solving
Adaptability
Soft skills can not usually learn but can be developed. It is harder to teach you these skills because they mostly about your personality and how you will groom from infancy to adulthood. And as a potential IT Support Portland specialist, you need to mellow down on your negative attitudes and exercise the good soft skills to be recognized as a potential IT employee.
Essential skills to include in your resume
Employers are very particular with the kind of skills that the applicants possess. And the initial way to check if you have the combination of hard skills and soft skills they need will look into your resume. And so you must include the essential skills in your resume.
Active listening
This skill is your capability to concentrate on the people speaking and comprehending their meaning and respond accordingly. Active listening is critical in ensuring that you can get whatever instruction is given to you by your bosses and understand what your clients want for their network, systems, and cybersecurity. This skill is an absolute must for all IT Support Portland professionals. Active listening is also vital for better communication with your colleagues and a harmonious relationship throughout the IT support company. This skill is also related to other skills like asking questions, note-taking, organization, verbal & nonverbal communication, and punctuality.
Communication skills
Your communication skill is essential in the efficiency and success of your work. Your superiors will look into how you communicate with them, your clients, and your teammates, so it essential to display the best communication skills during your application process. And of course, include this skill when you write on your resume. This kind of talent involves empathy, speaking, listening, and observing. It is related to the following abilities as an IT Support Portland professional: constructive criticism, active listening, written communication, public speaking, interpersonal communication, and verbal or non-verbal communication.
Computer skills
Of course, you need computer skills included in your resume. But even though you are a graduate of an IT or computer course, you still need to make sure that you can cope with the demands of the IT service company you are applying to. Get ready to be tested during your application process, and be confident about your skills to handle any hardware or software tests given to you.
Customer service
Though your job mostly includes facing computers, you still need to have customer service skills to address whatever technical issues your clients have. You need to know how to handle people, especially when they are at a loss on what to do. Patience is very crucial in this skill, and that is what you should possess. Customer service skills like active listening, reliability, empathy, and problem-solving are connected.
Leadership skills
You are applying for a regular IT job, but you must not limit yourself to that position forever. Aim for a higher position, and to do that, you must also possess leadership skills as an IT Support Portland specialist. Include this skill in your resume, and of course, during your interviews. This skill is often associated with team management, mentoring, risk-taking, flexibility, and team building.
Management skills
This skill allows your future employers to know that you have the ability to manage both people and a specific department in the company. You must have soft skills and hard skills that are related to the IT industry. This skill is part of team leadership, task delegation, decision-making, team communication, and project planning.
Problem-solving
Problem-solving skill is a quality that is very important for your future bosses. You need to be able to handle any technical issues immediately without freezing or getting distracted. As a future IT Support Portland specialist, you need this skill on your resume.
