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Soft skills are the non-technical skills which are related to a person’s ability to communicate with others. These include how a person interacts with other people. Soft skills are as important as technical skills. In today’s competitive market, the success of a person not solely depends on technical skills. Rather it consists of both technical and soft skills of that person. A survey conducted by LinkedIn shows that 92% hiring managers hire those individual who have excellent soft skills. However, it can be noted that it is very difficult when trying to assess these skills. Because technical skills can be easily measured with the help of different tests and certificates. But there is no such method to measure the soft skills of a candidate. However it is very important to assess the soft skills of candidates during the process of recruitment.
What are Soft Skills?
Soft skills are a collection of different traits of person and the ability to interact with other people. These skills are very important in terms of success of an employee working in a workplace. Soft skills consist of following:
1) Communication:
The first thing which plays the most important role in developing soft skills is communication. It will include both written and verbal communication. Actively speaking and listening are crucial for communication. An employee who can communicate with large and different audience would be considered successful.
2) Teamwork
Soft skills also include the ability of a person to work in the form of teams. Because these teams would be working towards achieving same goals. There would be sharing of thoughts and ideas to achieve common objective.
3) Problem-Solving
Problem-solving skill is very important in terms of soft skills. Companies always recruit those individuals having sharp problem-solving skills. This will include active identifying the problem and then finding the ways to tackle this problem.
4) Leadership
The 4th important skill is leadership. It is the ability of a person to motivate someone for doing some task. This does not just include motivating employees. Rather the leader will also guide them towards achieving the goals.
5) Adaptability
The 5th skill is adopting the change. Those having strong ability to adopt the change are considered successful. Because there are chance that circumstances and technology can change. The employees who embrace the change and adopt these changes are considered more beneficial for the company.
6) Time Management
The other important component of soft skills is time management. It means a person should have the ability to organize his/her time effectively. In time management, the tasks should be prioritized and there is need of consistently meeting the deadlines.
7) Critical Thinking
The 7th important component of soft skills is critical thinking. A person having this component of soft skills is who sees and analyzes the information provided objectively. After that he tries to form sound judgments on the basis of this analysis.
8) Interpersonal Skills
Last important component of soft skills are interpersonal skills. These skills can also be called as emotional skills. A person having this kind of soft skills is who tries to mitigate the conflict arisen between employees. This is also called as emotional intelligence. A recent report of Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) shows that lack of soft skills cost almost $150 billion per year in US.
How to Identify Soft Skills in Candidates?
There are following ways through which the soft skills in a candidate can be assessed easily.
1) Resumes and Cover Letters:
Although resumes and cover letters of candidates do not completely showcase the soft skills of candidates. But to some extent resumes and cover letters showcase soft skills. These can be found in previous experience of candidates. The previous roles of candidates will showcase some soft skills. For example if a candidate has mentioned that he resolved a conflict when working in previous company. Then it can be clearly seen that candidate has soft skills or not.
2) Behavioral Interviews:
Traditional interviews were focused on experience. The candidates were selected on the basis of their prior experience. If we look at current scenario the time has changed. Although! There should be questions related to prior experience. But there is need of crafting such questions of interview in such a way that the candidates can be analyzed whether he has soft skills or not. The answers of candidates can showcase the main pillars of soft skills which are critical thinking, decision making and interpersonal skills.
3) Situational Tests:
The 3rd way of identifying soft skills in candidates is creating a hypothetical situation which is also called situational judgment test. In such tests a hypothetical situation is created and candidates are evaluated on the basis of their performance. Everyone thinks differently to solve a problem. On the basis of solutions provided by different candidates, their problem solving and other skills are evaluated.
4) Reference Checks:
Reference checks are also considered important while identifying the soft skills of candidates. Reference checks are done by contacting the previous employers of candidates and their colleagues.
Conclusion:
Both types of skills, whether these are technical or soft skills, are considered very important for growth and success of person. Soft skills enable a person to think sharply and resolve the issue in minimum time. The person who possesses these skills is considered a leader. There is no hard and fast rule to identify these skills in candidates. The technical skills can easily be seen, when we look at the qualifications column in the resumes of candidates. But soft skills are not like technical skills and candidates cannot showcase these skills easily in resumes. These can be judged on the basis of methods which are discussed above.
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