The Role of Soft Skills in Recruitment

The personal abilities of employees, often referred to as “soft skills,” are becoming increasingly vital for companies today. This trend is driven by two main factors: the shortage of skilled professionals, which complicates finding personnel with the right necessary skills, and the global nature of modern work environments where foreign certificates and testimonials possess varying levels of relevance. Unlike hard skills, soft skills are more challenging for recruiters to identify. Here we explore key aspects to watch for in the application process.

Defining Soft Skills vs. Hard Skills

Soft skills encompass the personal traits and characteristics that enable an individual to contribute to and support a workplace team. In contrast, hard skills are the learned abilities and technical knowledge required for a specific job, often detailed in resumes. Many companies now recognize that the right mindset, in other words, the right soft skills, significantly enhance workflow efficiency and productivity more than mere learned skills. But, how can these soft skills be identified and quantified? Just because someone mentions they are motivated and a team player in their resume doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true.

The Essential Soft Skills

To delve deeper into soft skills, recruiters should first familiarize themselves with key competencies.

Motivation and Willingness to Learn

…are among the most crucial core skills. A motivated person can quickly learn missing hard skills and positively influence other team members.

Creativity

…can propel a company forward. To foster innovation and generate fresh ideas, companies must provide an environment that embraces change positively.

Criticism and Conflict Management Skills

…can lead to continuous improvement within a company. Those capable of handling criticism and conflicts are more open to engaging with their environment and communicating openly.

Teamwork

…is essential for company dynamics. Thus, employees need to work well with others.

Analytical Thinking

…is a soft skill that boosts everyday efficiency and aids in learning hard skills.

Stress Resilience

…enables employees to handle unusual pressure or demanding situations with ease.

Empathy

…enhances workplace harmony. Individuals who are empathetic can understand the perspectives of others, a vital skill for leadership.

Proactiveness

…benefits leadership roles. Employees with this soft skill can independently make decisions and assume responsibilities.

Flexibility

…is essential in fast-paced work contexts where adapting to and embracing changes is necessary.

Besides soft skills, there are also “Future Skills,” which are personal qualities that will become increasingly important for companies over the next five years, independent of the industry. Employees with Future Skills, such as emotional intelligence, agile working practices, or digital learning capability, are already in high demand.

The Soft Skills Gap: A Growing Divide

There is a widening gap between employers’ expectations and employees’ actual capabilities. A 2016 PayScale study highlights this fact: 87% of US university graduates believe they are ready for the workforce, yet only 50% of HR managers agree. The reason often lies in the lack of soft skills, which graduates tend to undervalue compared to their importance in professional settings. Business leaders can bridge this gap by systematically imparting these skills to employees.

Measuring Soft Skills in Recruitment

Making soft skills measurable requires identifying specific behaviors. Different roles may require different behaviors; a project leader, for instance, needs excellent communication skills with their team, while analytical thinking is more critical for IT roles. Identifying the necessary soft skills for each position allows recruiters to determine what employees must do to be perceived as having those skills. A question like “What would someone need to do to be seen as flexible?” can lead to criteria such as reacting calmly and efficiently to unexpected challenges. This approach helps break down soft skills into concrete examples and develop a checklist tailored to various departments and roles, enabling efficient recruiting.

Recognizing Soft Skills in Interviews

Identifying social and personal skills in candidates during stressful interviews is challenging for recruiters. It helps to ask about their professional history: questions like “What challenging situations did you face in your last job?” often reveal more about a candidate’s resilience than asking how they generally handle stress. Moreover, certain resume points can offer insights into a candidate’s soft skills:

Self-driven additional training suggests proactiveness, willingness to learn, and motivation.
International experience indicates openness, flexibility, willingness to learn, and organizational skills.
Volunteer work reflects responsibility and empathy.

Recording Soft Skills

Appropriate software can help recruiters track both hard and soft skills of candidates. Defined soft skills required for a role can be included in job descriptions and matched with candidates’ abilities. Recruiters can also document soft skills in candidate profiles accessible within a talent pool. CV parsing helps recognize and include soft skills like volunteer work or international experience through keyword searches, offering recruiters initial insights into desired competencies.

Conclusion: The Rising Importance of Soft Skills

The growing emphasis on individual qualities is driven by factors like skilled labor shortages and digitalization. Yet, identifying these key competencies during the recruitment process often poses challenges to recruiters. Recruitment software can help translate soft skills into specific behaviors to assess and track them. The aiFind Cloud software, developed for recruiters, is well-tuned to meet HR needs.