October 12, 2022
Employment Benefit News
Alyssa Place
Sept. 27, 2022
Job applicants fill their resumes with numbers, outcomes and results that highlight their professional accomplishments. But what about the less quantifiable skills that can truly make a prospective employee shine?
While hard skills like software prowess, certifications and other technical qualifications are important to workplace success, recruiters are increasingly seeking out soft skills like empathy, effective time management and teamwork, says Rachel Hamann, director of market research at AllCampus, a learning and development platform.
“At the end of the day, employers are looking for well-rounded employees who they can trust to execute on technical skills, but also have the interpersonal skills needed to be successful at the organization and elevate teams,” Hamann says. “Applicants should ensure their resume has a good balance of both things.”
Research from Deloitte found that 92% of employers believe soft skills are just as important as hard skills in the workplace, and 91% of recruiters say soft skills are very important to the future of recruiting, a separate survey by LinkedIn Talent Solutions found. The LinkedIn research also revealed that 89% of recruiters have passed on a hire due to a lack of soft skills.
In order to highlight the full spectrum of an applicant’s background, resume writers can still utilize action-oriented language for skills that can’t be as easily quantified. For example, professional development is an important soft skill, yet may not have a numerical outcome attached to it.
“You can’t necessarily put a number on the way you’ve developed a team or enhanced professional development, but you can describe specific actions or experiences that led you to achieve that result,” Hamann says. “Describing initiatives you took to elevate the professional development experiences and describing that process shows action.”
Recruiters and HR leaders may also have to go beyond the resume to find what they’re looking for, Hamann says. Recruiters may be excited about an employee’s qualifications or education but can use the phone screening and interview processes to get a better sense of soft skills that aren’t apparent on a resume.
“Asking behavioral type questions or situational type questions can really help employers gauge how a person will react in certain situations,” she says. “It can reveal how they might lead a team or project, or even just if they’d be a good coworker.”
For example, when interviewing potential candidates, Hamann will ask how they’d react to a difficult client situation or how they’d handle a missed deadline. If someone is applying for a leadership role, questions about how they motivate and provide feedback to team members can be revealing.
If and when an employee gets the job, skills-building shouldn’t stop there. Employers should provide opportunities for all workers to develop and grow through learning and development benefits, Hamann says. Offering access and reimbursement dollars for certification programs, seminars and training can help employees thrive and grow.
“Employers need to take it upon themselves when they’re interviewing candidates to talk about the benefits that their company offers around learning and development, and then check in with employees on a regular basis,” she says. “Make sure employees have both the soft and hard skills they need to be effective in their current roles, but then also help them build their careers.”
