Evaluating Hard & Soft Skills in the Hiring Process - Part 1

Hiring for your team requires a lot of evaluations, and finding the right way to test and filter applicants is very crucial to your business's success. One of the things you should consider is incorporating hard skills and soft skills in assessment tests for jobs.

Both hard skills and soft skills are important, and they play off each other. Know how to utilize them in hiring when you keep reading this two-part post.

What Are Hard Skills?

Hard skills are something that someone learns, like a task or set of tasks. You’re required to have relevant knowledge and skills for the position you are applying for. Hard skills are something that you can prove, such as your knowledge and skills, which makes you able to do something.

The following are examples of hard skills we often see in hiring companies:

• Coding skills
• Programming skills
• Mechanical skills
• Quality assurance skills
• Business acumen
• Analytical skills
• Customer service skills
• Communication skills
• Logistics skills

The biggest advantage of hiring people with hard skills is that they have the right set of skills for the job, no intensive training required. 

What Are Soft Skills?

Soft skills are more than just skills, and they’re more of the person’s attitude and behavior. You cannot prove soft skills like hard skills, but they’re behavior traits that you can evaluate.

Soft skills make a person a valuable asset in a team and a company. Although it’s not something that you can show or bring to the table, it’s what will help you deal with your boss, your peers, and your subordinates.

The following are examples of soft skills that you should consider in hiring:

• Communication skills
• Presentation skills
• Influence
• Teamwork
• Creativity
• Negotiation skills
• Entrepreneurial skills
• Flexibility

The biggest advantage of having soft skills is that it helps you build a better company culture. You’re able to have a better output, and you can avoid a lot of mistakes with people with soft skills.

How Can You Use Hard Skills and Soft Skills in Building Your Team?

The hardest part of hiring is finding the right people. You want to hire someone capable, talented, and a good fit for your team.

Hard skills and soft skills help you find the right people and evaluate them.

Hiring for hard skills alone is something that you should avoid because some people have the skills, but they don’t fit your company culture. You should evaluate soft skills too to gauge if they can work well with others in the company.

For example, if you have a skill that you’re lacking, you can hire someone else with that skill and connect with them in your company. On the other hand, if you like someone with the soft skills that you’re lacking, you may train them to get the hard skills your company requires.

Final Thoughts

When hiring new people in your team, you should use hard skills and soft skills to know how good they are for the job. You should also know how to evaluate both hard skills and soft skills to avoid mistakes when hiring.

If you’re looking for curated skill-testing options for your company, Kandio is the best place to start. Kandio offers skills assessment test for employment, especially for hiring the best tech talent for your team. Try Kandio for free by booking a demo today.