Why Interviewers should look for Soft Skills

The way we hire candidates has gone through many changes over time. Today, it’s considered best practice to screen a candidate’s potential to be a good “fit” for a company. Over and above looking at qualifications and experience, interviewers should look for soft skills.

How to test for soft skills

Screening for soft skills proves to be difficult for recruiters. You can’t determine a candidate’s soft skills by reading their CV, and discerning them in an interview is equally difficult. Conducting a Soft Skills Assessment can help determine if someone would a ‘good fit’ based their soft skills/personality traits.

Candidates who have degrees and/or certifications potentially have more soft skills. This is because they’ve undertaken groupwork, critical thinking, abstract thinking, and so on. Don’t write off candidates without the “piece of paper”, though. They may have gained incredible soft skills working in different industries and with different people over the years.

How do you screen for soft skills?

One option is to provide possible candidates with a test that analyses abstract thinking as opposed to hard skills. The CareerJunction platform has a helpful tool that allows recruiters to work through a list of hard and soft skills. They can identify and filter the most relevant skills for the vacancy, then view CVs of candidates who match them.

You can also screen for soft skills during interviews by asking questions unrelated to the person’s qualifications and experience. For example, “How would you describe yourself in a single word?” or “How would you deal with an unhappy customer?”.

Why is testing for soft skills important?

Testing for soft skills gives you a good idea of whether or not a candidate will thrive in your company. For example, if fixed working hours are important to your retail business, a candidate who wants flexible hours won’t be a good fit.

Soft skills will also help you gain a better understanding of who the candidate is on a deeper level. Are their core values aligned with those of the company?

Parting thoughts

Sometimes, hiring an individual without the necessary qualifications but with the right soft skills may bring great value to your business – especially if they’re eager to learn and you have adequate training mechanisms in place.

Candidates who have the relevant hard skills and soft skills will also be easier to integrate into the workplace. If a candidate has the required qualifications/experience and they also have a positive attitude, it’s likely they have the potential to develop the soft skills you’re looking for.