There are a lot of job candidates that look good on paper. Unfortunately, they don’t always work out well. Some people just don’t meet the expectations you had for them when you read their resume. More often than not, it’s because they lack essential soft skills.
Gary Hinde, 15+ year technology recruiter in Toronto recommends that you spend a portion of the hiring process testing a candidate’s soft skills. While there is no perfect formula to do this, you can have success when you know what soft skills to look for and the types of questions to ask during the interview.
What are the most important soft skills to look for in candidates?
There’s a long list of potentially important soft skills you could assess. Here’s a list of the 8 most important recruiters recommend you focus on:
- Communication: How well does a person communicate in writing and orally?
- Teamwork: Do they have a team-first mentality?
- Adaptability: Does the candidate display the ability and willingness to adapt to change?
- Self-management: Can the candidate operate with little instruction? Are they self-motivated?
- Growth mentality: Does the person take the initiative to grow personally and professionally?
- Problem-solving: Are they inquisitive? Does the candidate have strong problem-solving abilities?
- Leadership: Does the candidate act like a leader? Do they have leadership qualities?
- Emotional intelligence (EQ): Do they have empathy and emotional intelligence?
4 Ways how to conduct a soft skills assessment during the hiring process
Our recruitment team recommends trying some of the following methods to assess soft skills during the hiring process:
1. Structured Behavioural Interviews
Use behavioural interview questions that ask candidates to describe past experiences demonstrating specific soft skills. For example, if you wanted to learn about a person’s ability to communicate you could ask, “Tell me about a time you had to explain a complex idea to someone who was struggling to understand.”
Use the STAR Method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to evaluate responses and compare to other candidates.
2. Role-Playing Exercises
Role-playing and presenting hypothetical work scenarios can help you identify how a candidate will act. Simulate a real work situation such as handling a customer complaint or mediating a team conflict to gain insights about decision-making, adaptability, conflict resolution and emotional intelligence.
If you are doing a group interview, you can conduct group problem-solving tasks, brainstorming sessions, or case studies. This will help you understand how people collaborate and if they have leadership skills.
3. Work Sample Tests
Assign a task relevant to the role, such as writing an email, conducting a presentation, or leading a short discussion. This task will help evaluate communication, organization, and attention to detail.
4. Reference Checks
Reference checks are still a valuable tool to gain insights about a person. Ask previous employers about the candidate’s soft skills so you can get a sense of who they are.
Ask questions like, “How did they handle teamwork and collaboration?” or “Can you share an example of how they adapted to change?”
Hearing about how a candidate acted in the workplace from a third party can teach you a lot about what you can expect from them if you hire them.
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