{"id":2517,"date":"2013-03-05T09:51:18","date_gmt":"2013-03-05T17:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recruitloop.wpengine.com\/?p=2517"},"modified":"2023-05-15T11:10:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T18:10:01","slug":"how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Assess the &#8216;Soft Stuff&#8217; When Hiring"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As a business owner or hiring manager do you feel you might be too reactive (or even rushed) when it comes to making a hire?<\/p>\n<p>Do you spend the majority of the assessment process focusing on <em>technical<\/em> skills, in the hope that your potential new hire will be able to hit the ground running with minimal hand-holding?<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately focusing entirely on someone\u2019s hard skills often results in a poor hire, not from the perspective of saving on training time, but from the way that the new hire interacts with your existing team and other key stakeholders.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Far too many organisations fail to focus on soft skills because they believe that a certain degree of emotional intelligence in the workplace goes without saying and has no need to be assessed.<\/p>\n<p>The reality is, this isn\u2019t always the case.<\/p>\n<p>We all have our strengths and weaknesses and a high level of technical expertise doesn\u2019t automatically mean good team skills or the ability to communicate that expertise to others.<\/p>\n<div style=\"color: #8a6d3b; background-color: #fcf8e3; border-color: #faebcc; padding: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; border: 1px solid transparent; border-radius: 4px;\"><div style=\"color: #8a6d3b; background-color: #fcf8e3; border-color: #faebcc; padding: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; border: 1px solid transparent; border-radius: 4px;\"><strong>Free Interview Template:<\/strong> Use this template to run a consistent interview process every time and to make better hiring decisions. <a class=\"manual-optin-trigger\" href=\"#\" data-optin-slug=\"jqze437qfpdhsfch\">Download Your Copy<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"what-exactly-are-soft-skills\"><strong>What exactly are &#8216;soft skills&#8217;?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Soft skills are those behavioural competencies, related to a person\u2019s EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), that enable them to interact with and influence others, be they team mates, customers, suppliers or management.<\/p>\n<p>Soft skills are skills that we all have to varying degrees, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">effective communication;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">negotiation;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">conflict resolution;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">team work; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">strategic thinking<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Soft skills can also be more intangible, and can include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">sense of humour;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">optimism;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">diligence;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">common sense;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">loyalty;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">dependability;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">good manners; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">the ability to teach others.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While not easily defined or assessed, what business could say they don\u2019t want their employees to possess qualities such as these?<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"why-are-soft-skills-so-important\"><strong>Why are soft skills so important?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Sure an organisation might have the highest level of knowledge and expertise within the team. But if they lack customer service skills, if their employees are always bickering, or they have a high staff turnover, chances are they may will be lacking the softer skills where they matter most.<\/p>\n<p>Often the only difference between two companies operating within the same industry is their customer service and client handling skills. So hiring with softer skills in mind such as communication, flexibility and friendliness would be the obvious way to gain a competitive advantage.<\/p>\n<p>Having employees who work effectively together towards your organisation\u2019s success is vital, so hiring people who exhibit negotiation, team building and conflict resolution skills also makes a lot of sense.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-do-you-assess-soft-skills\"><strong>How do you assess soft skills?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Evaluating soft skills is more difficult than determining whether someone can perform a particular task.<\/p>\n<p>For example, how can you really assess for for integrity, honesty or team work?<\/p>\n<p>Behavioural based interviews can be used to pinpoint soft skills, and there are particular questions you can ask to determine whether the skills you are looking for are present in a candidate. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Q: Tell me about a time where you had to take charge of a situation and rally others around you in order to resolve it? (this can indicate skills relating to leadership)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Q: When have you had to respond quickly to a problem by coming up with a plan to fix it? (this could point to problem solving skills).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Q: Describe a situation when you were able to motivate others to achieve a goal? (this could show team work and leadership skills).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Q: Provide an example of a time you were able to solve a problem by coming at it from a different angle? (this could point to innovation and creativity).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Q: \u00a0When have had to deal with an angry customer? What happened? (this can indicate skills related to customer service).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Q: What&#8217;s an example of a specific problem you had that took you a long time to resolve? (this can point to initiative and perseverance).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Q: Tell me about a time when you had to complete a project quickly by focusing on the most important aspects? (this could indicate the ability to prioritise).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Q: Describe an example of a time when you had to alter a project in mid-stream? (this could show flexibility and ability to work under pressure).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"a-list-of-75-other-behavioural-questions-can-be-found-here\">A list of 75 other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/behavioural-interview-questions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">behavioural questions can be found here<\/a>.<\/h2>\n<p>Obviously hard skills are vital in many jobs, such as knowing how to use a certain type of software or being certified in a particular area of expertise. However, in those industries where companies are maintaining relationships with clients and dealing with customers (which is most industries these days), soft skills or \u2018people skills\u2019 are equally important, if not more so.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">It&#8217;s also important to understand that those employees possessing both hard (technical) skills and soft skills are much more likely to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Stay with your organisation longer;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Make a more valuable contribution;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Have good relationships and work well with others; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Improve overall productivity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So while it might take a bit more effort to assess softer skills in a potential candidate, it can be well worth it in the long run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Focusing entirely on someone\u2019s technical skills can often result in a poor hire. And while it might take a bit more effort to assess \u2018softer skills\u2019 in a potential candidate, it can be well worth it in the long run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[73],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Don&#039;t Just Focus on Technical Skills. Assess &#039;Softer Skills&#039; Too<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Focusing entirely on someone\u2019s technical skills may result in a poor hire. Assessing softer skills through behavioural interviewing is well worth it in the long run.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don&#039;t Just Focus on Technical Skills. Assess &#039;Softer Skills&#039; Too\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Focusing entirely on someone\u2019s technical skills may result in a poor hire. Assessing softer skills through behavioural interviewing is well worth it in the long run.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zippia For Employers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Zippia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-05T17:51:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-15T18:10:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Slezak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@paul_slezak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ZippiaInc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Slezak\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/\",\"name\":\"Don't Just Focus on Technical Skills. Assess 'Softer Skills' Too\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-05T17:51:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-15T18:10:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/c478f8c08326837c1f7ab69f7e6a5569\"},\"description\":\"Focusing entirely on someone\u2019s technical skills may result in a poor hire. Assessing softer skills through behavioural interviewing is well worth it in the long run.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Assess the &#8216;Soft Stuff&#8217; When Hiring\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/\",\"name\":\"Zippia For Employers\",\"description\":\"How to find the best employees.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/c478f8c08326837c1f7ab69f7e6a5569\",\"name\":\"Paul Slezak\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5dadfdf3e6ce17183206e7ca7d1e36f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5dadfdf3e6ce17183206e7ca7d1e36f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul Slezak\"},\"description\":\"With over two decades of experience in the recruitment and human capital industry, Paul Slezak has established himself as a transformative force in the realm of leadership and career coaching, group facilitation, and talent acquisition. His unique perspective, drawn from his early career as a leader in global recruitment firms and his entrepreneurial success with his own start-up, has enabled him to make a significant impact on leaders, teams, and organizations across the world. Paul's passion for helping others achieve success and high performance is evident in his commitment to transforming leaders and their teams at local, national, and international levels. He specializes in promoting the importance of human-centered intelligence, focusing on soft skills such as authenticity, transparency, and trust to complement business-centered acumen and drive better workplace outcomes. As an impartial facilitator, Paul brings his expertise to team offsites and strategy days, ensuring alignment on goals, values, and culture while keeping participants on task. His engaging and energetic presence, coupled with his unique \\\"entertraining\\\" and \\\"edutaining\\\" delivery style, enables him to connect with audiences both large and intimate, sharing personal and professional anecdotes that inspire and energize.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/paulslezak\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/paul_slezak\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/author\/paul-slezak\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Don't Just Focus on Technical Skills. Assess 'Softer Skills' Too","description":"Focusing entirely on someone\u2019s technical skills may result in a poor hire. Assessing softer skills through behavioural interviewing is well worth it in the long run.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Don't Just Focus on Technical Skills. Assess 'Softer Skills' Too","og_description":"Focusing entirely on someone\u2019s technical skills may result in a poor hire. Assessing softer skills through behavioural interviewing is well worth it in the long run.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/","og_site_name":"Zippia For Employers","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Zippia\/","article_published_time":"2013-03-05T17:51:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-15T18:10:01+00:00","author":"Paul Slezak","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@paul_slezak","twitter_site":"@ZippiaInc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul Slezak","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/","url":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/","name":"Don't Just Focus on Technical Skills. Assess 'Softer Skills' Too","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-03-05T17:51:18+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-15T18:10:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/c478f8c08326837c1f7ab69f7e6a5569"},"description":"Focusing entirely on someone\u2019s technical skills may result in a poor hire. Assessing softer skills through behavioural interviewing is well worth it in the long run.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-assess-the-soft-stuff-when-hiring\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Assess the &#8216;Soft Stuff&#8217; When Hiring"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/","name":"Zippia For Employers","description":"How to find the best employees.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/c478f8c08326837c1f7ab69f7e6a5569","name":"Paul Slezak","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5dadfdf3e6ce17183206e7ca7d1e36f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5dadfdf3e6ce17183206e7ca7d1e36f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Paul Slezak"},"description":"With over two decades of experience in the recruitment and human capital industry, Paul Slezak has established himself as a transformative force in the realm of leadership and career coaching, group facilitation, and talent acquisition. His unique perspective, drawn from his early career as a leader in global recruitment firms and his entrepreneurial success with his own start-up, has enabled him to make a significant impact on leaders, teams, and organizations across the world. Paul's passion for helping others achieve success and high performance is evident in his commitment to transforming leaders and their teams at local, national, and international levels. He specializes in promoting the importance of human-centered intelligence, focusing on soft skills such as authenticity, transparency, and trust to complement business-centered acumen and drive better workplace outcomes. As an impartial facilitator, Paul brings his expertise to team offsites and strategy days, ensuring alignment on goals, values, and culture while keeping participants on task. His engaging and energetic presence, coupled with his unique \"entertraining\" and \"edutaining\" delivery style, enables him to connect with audiences both large and intimate, sharing personal and professional anecdotes that inspire and energize.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/paulslezak\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/paul_slezak"],"url":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/author\/paul-slezak\/"}]}},"articleguide":"","showTableContent":"","showFeaturedImage":"","pageCategoryL2":"","authorsExperts":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2517"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2517\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}