Soft Skills or Hard Skills

What are Human Resources professionals most interested in when hiring? Soft skills or hard skills? We believe we are seeing a shift to a soft skills and behavioral based interview, hiring and training process.

Think about all those ex-employees that had a great resume (hard skills) that matched the job perfectly. Many of them did not work out and were, in many instances, a source of migraine headaches. They just did not "fit in” or “get it". Why?

In so many cases, the hiring manager or H.R. person are under the gun to get the position filled as quickly as possible. Additionally, when the "boss" asks for the resume of the person to be hired, on paper they look awesome.

The reality is the soft skills, combined with the hard skills are what creates the potential for a great employee that will be with the organization for years to come.

According to Monster.com, these are the top 5 soft skills that H.R or hiring managers want to see:

1. Oral and written communication

2. Attention to detail

3. Customer service

4. Personal drive

5. Integrity

It is recommended that your hiring process should assess for both hard and soft skills.

Rick Maher

CEO

TurningPoint HCM

www.turningpointhcm.com