The Hard Truth About Soft Skills: What they are, why they matter, and how to hire for them

The workplace is more demanding, more complex, more collaborative, and more diverse than it has ever been before in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. And as a talent acquisition professional you know that in order to help your organization succeed, matching the right people to the right job is more critical than ever. But today, almost half of business executives say finding the talent they need to support long-term business strategy is a top challenge. Finding candidates who will excel in this changing environment means finding people with the right balance of hard skills and soft skills. 

Depending on the job you’re hiring for, hard skills can be critically important. But across many business areas, executives are saying what they really need are candidates with strong soft skills. In fact, according to CareerBuilder, 77% of employers believe that soft skills are just as important as hard skills. And almost 20% said they are more important than hard skills. 

However, assessing a candidate’s soft skills, those behavioral attributes that determine how a person interacts with other people, challenges, setbacks and opportunities, can be difficult to quantify and aren’t easily taught – especially in a changing and remote hiring environment.

 Join us and learn how you can create a hiring strategy that identifies and rewards the right soft skills for the right job.  

In addition, you’ll discover: 

•  The difference between hard skills and soft skills and why soft skills matter
•  Some of the soft skills to consider when hiring candidates for a remote-based working environment
• Ways to leverage soft skills for organizational and job fit, and
• Interviewing strategies and how online reference checking can help you find the best candidates for every role

Gain valuable tips and uncover strategies on ways to include soft skills as a part of your organizational culture and make finding top talent a cinch!