Soft skills are a must for any professional. But assessing them comes with various challenges and complexities. However, recruiters can use innovative means to determine the candidate’s personality and soft skills. Here, we’ll discuss ways to assess the soft skills of candidates and the role of PrepAI in automating such assessments.
It’s easy to be drawn in by a candidate’s impressive resume and qualifications, but when it
comes to job performance and cultural fit, it’s the soft skills that truly make the difference.
Soft skills are the personal qualities that allow people to be easy to work with, and they can be
difficult to measure in the recruitment process. As a hiring manager, it’s essential to be able to evaluate soft skills quickly in candidates and determine whether they’ll be a good fit ‘in person’.
In this blog, we’ll explore why soft skills are so important and how to evaluate them in
candidates. First, let’s understand what soft skills are.
What are soft skills?
Soft skills are important interpersonal skills necessary for a person’s growth. They are the personal attributes, personality traits, and communication abilities that enable individuals to excel in their roles and interact effectively with others. These abilities include social, communicative, and emotional intelligence and are essential in both business and everyday life. Soft skills are illegible and challenging to measure, but they are crucial to a person’s success in both their personal and professional lives.
Soft skills include things like:
1. Communication – The ability to express oneself effectively and listen to others
2. Teamwork- It is the capacity to cooperate with others in pursuit of a common objective.
3. Time management – It includes the capacity to set priorities and adhere to deadlines
4. Adaptability – It is the capacity to adjust to conditions and situations that change.
5. Leadership – This is the capacity to inspire and direct
6. Problem-solving – It is the ability to identify problems and find solutions to them
7. Creativity – This is the ability to think outside the box and come up with new ideas
8. Emotional intelligence – It is the ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions, as well as those of others
9. Conflict resolution – It is the ability to resolve conflicts in a constructive and positive manner
10. Networking – This is the ability to build and maintain relationships with others.
Difference Between Soft Skills and Hard Skills
Hard skills and soft skills are two distinct types of skills that are important for success in the workplace. Hard skills are technical abilities that are specific to a particular job and are usually acquired through formal education or training. Examples of hard skills include coding, accounting, engineering, and medical knowledge.
Soft skills, on the other hand, are intangible qualities that are difficult to teach and are often personality-based. Examples of soft skills include communication, problem-solving, and time management. They are important for success in the workplace because they help to build relationships, foster collaboration, and improve productivity.
When it comes to hiring, employers often look for a combination of hard and soft skills. Hard skills are essential for certain roles, such as those in the IT and engineering fields, but soft skills are also important for all positions. Soft skills can help employees to better understand the needs of customers, resolve conflicts, and work well with others.
For example, a customer service representative needs to have strong communication and problem-solving skills to be successful.
How to Assess the Soft Skills of Candidates
Professionalism
In order to assess professionalism, it is important to consider a variety of factors. One key element is the individual’s communication skills. Additionally, observing behaviors such as punctuality, attention to detail, and respect toward colleagues can provide insight into an individual’s level of professionalism. It is also important to consider how they handle challenges or difficult situations – do they remain calm under pressure and find solutions that are ethical and effective? Overall, assessing professionalism requires a holistic approach that takes into consideration both technical abilities and interpersonal skills.
Problem-Solving Skills
It is important to have problem-solving skills to effectively handle any issues that may
arise in the workplace. During an interview, it is important to ask questions that
will help you assess a candidate’s problem-solving skills. For example, you could ask the
jobseeker to provide an example of how they have solved a problem in the past. This will help
you gain insight into how they think and how they approach problem-solving. Additionally, you
could ask them to explain how they would solve a hypothetical problem.
Body Language
It is essential to be able to read between the lines and interpret body language. The first aspect is to pay attention to is eye contact. Body posture is another aspect. Facial expressions are also significant indicators of a candidate’s emotions and attitudes toward the interview process.
Typically, experts say those who maintain eye contact are sincere and honest, just as people who have a relaxed and upright posture are termed efficient and confident. However, it’s crucial to pay attention to the subtle changes in body language than follow standardized theories. For example, a candidate may be initially nervous and avoid eye contact but grow confident during the interview process and express their knowledge assertively.
Online Evaluation
Online tests can be an invaluable tool for gaining insight into the individual characteristics of your team and the team dynamic. By leveraging the power of online tests, you can gain a better understanding of how well your team members fit into the team, identify potential areas of improvement, and increase overall productivity. With the right approach, online tests can be a powerful tool for any organization looking to maximize its team’s performance.
Online test maker tools like PrepAI, can help you generate assessments in a few minutes.
PrepAI uses robust artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze input content and automatically generate evaluations to assess the soft skills of the candidates. It allows users to choose from three types of tests- standard, HOTS (higher-order thinking skills), and specialist.
For the first two types of tests, you can enter the input content in four ways:
- Built-in search
- Copy-paste or type the text
- Upload MS Word or PDF files
- Video content (YouTube links)
For specialist test type, no text input is necessary. You can select the types of questions and automatically generate the assessments.
1. Select the types and numbers of questions you want to include in the assessments. PrepAI generates MCQs (multiple choice) in three difficulty levels, fill-ups, true or false, and short descriptive questions.
2. Click on the Generate Questions button and wait for a couple of seconds. The interface will load the auto-generated test paper.
3. Edit each question and rate it. Add more questions or delete existing ones accordingly.
4. Then Preview the assessment paper before finalizing it. The final copy can be shared with others through email or downloaded to the computer in PDF, Word, and Excel formats.
5. You can go back to your account dashboard to access the test paper and edit it multiple times.
6. PrepAI also has a Test Conducting feature where the candidates can answer the assessments directly through the interface.
PrepAI is a cost-effective platform with scalable solutions for recruiters, staffing agencies, and hiring departments. It helps conduct countless assessments for hard skills and soft skills in a handful of minutes. Furthermore, the platform can be integrated with third-party HR systems to streamline recruiting processes and save time. It helps reduce costs, optimize resources, and deliver faster results. Online evaluation of soft skills is easy and stress-free with PrepAI.
Awareness About Major Issues
As employers, it is essential to ensure that job seekers possess the necessary knowledge and awareness of major issues that affect the world, country, and local economy. It helps reveal a candidate’s positivity, skepticism, and negative thoughts, all of which can be important indicators of their ability to respond effectively in challenging situations. By taking the time to understand and evaluate a candidate’s awareness of major issues, employers can gain a better understanding of their potential to succeed in the workplace.
Psychometric Tests
Psychometric tests are becoming increasingly popular among employers worldwide to measure a candidate’s behavior, mental aptitude, and cognitive capabilities for a job. By assessing an applicant’s analytical and pedagogic skills, these tests can help organizations identify hidden traits which may not be revealed in an interview. While some psychologists and HR experts swear by their reliability, others have voiced concerns over the inconclusive results that may have a detrimental impact on a candidate’s career prospects. As such, if you choose to use psychometric tests, it is important to do so with caution.
Knowledge About the Company
Company knowledge quizzing is an ideal way to gauge an interviewee’s interest in the profession, industry, and willingness to adapt to a new work environment. It also provides insight into their preparedness and commitment to the job. By assessing the candidate’s knowledge of your company and past employers, you can gain valuable insight into their character and their ability to collaborate and contribute to the success of your organization.
Pre-employment Tests
Pre-employment tests can be an invaluable tool in the hiring process, offering employers a deeper look into a candidate’s soft skills and personality traits. By using these assessments to compare the answers of successful employees to those of other applicants, employers can gain insight into which candidates have the right skills and attitude to be a great fit for the job. This can lead to a more successful hire and a stronger team overall, as well as a better brand reputation. With the right pre-employment tests in place, employers can avoid the costly mistakes that come with bad hires.
Ask the Candidate to Rank Their Soft Skills From Strongest to Weakest
When it comes to assessing a candidate’s soft skills, asking them to rank their strongest to weakest can be a great way to get a better understanding of their abilities. By comparing the answers given by your star performers to the others, you can easily identify those candidates who possess the same skills and personality traits that make your current team successful. This is a great way to ensure that you are hiring the right fit for your organization and can help to create a positive and productive work environment for both you and your new hire.
Request the Candidate to Share Work Examples That Illustrate Their Soft Skills
One way to do this is by asking for work examples illustrating their soft skills. This gives candidates the chance to demonstrate their understanding of the necessary skills and how they would handle difficult situations. By taking the time to review these examples, employers can gain a better understanding of the prospective employee’s capability and whether they would be a positive addition to the company culture.
Final Thought
It is essential to be able to accurately assess a candidate’s soft skills to ensure the best fit for the role. By taking into account the candidate’s past experiences, communication style, and overall attitude, employers can get a good understanding of the candidate’s soft skills. Additionally, employers should consider using assessment techniques such as interviews, and aptitude test tools like PrepAI to better understand the candidate’s soft skills.
By assessing the soft skills of candidates, you can find the right person for the job. It’s important to remember that soft skills are not always easy to measure, but by following these tips, you can get a good idea of a candidate’s soft skills.
