Any seasoned hiring manager knows that the job description only goes so far when it comes to identifying the skills necessary for any given position. The experience and qualifications necessary for the job are required, yes, but there are other skills that are just as important that can be harder to quantify. Industry pros call these soft skills, and the good news is, they’re often identifiable in the interview.

Communicate to Innovate

There’s a reason that “communication” pops up so frequently in job advertisements — good communication skills are necessary for every job, but great communication skills are often the difference between two applicants with the same qualifications. Top talent will display their interpersonal communication savvy right off the bat; it’s the candidates with so-so skills that you need to watch out for. If all attempts to draw a candidate out fail, the candidate will likely fail to engage with other employees, as well.

Ability For Adaptability

You want talent that can learn new skills, be flexible when the job demands it, and take workforce and workload changes in stride, but it can be hard to gauge adaptability in an interview. Adaptability is an important soft skill though, so it’s worth asking applicants how they’ve dealt with change at previous jobs, or how they’d react to changes in workload or work hours.

Cooperation With Collaboration

Call it teamwork, group work, or just plain old shift work, but if your employees have to work together to get the job done, you want candidates with collaboration skills. Ask for examples of how candidates have handled collaboration in the past, and give examples of vital ways your employees rely on each other for productivity. These are good ways to judge your recruits’ readiness for collaboration.

If you’re not getting applicants with the soft skills you’re looking for, it’s time to call the experienced recruiters at Staffing Partners. We’ll send you only the best candidates in your field for temp and temp-to-hire jobs.