DECEMBER 2020HR TECH OUTLOOK8FINDING THE INVISIBLE SOFT SKILLS WHEN RECRUITING FROM BEHIND A SCREEN Tara Wolckenhauer, DVP Human Resources, ADP [NASDAQ:ADP]ByAs employers shift to rebuild their workforce due to changing company needs, the importance of employee soft skills remains top of mind. While many people have the tactical skills needed to carry out a job, "soft skills," which include how one communicates, dresses, and presents them self, are what employers should prioritize during the recruitment stage, as honing these skills increases the potential to be successful at work. The difference many recruiters are facing now when seeking soft skills at the interview stage is that the recruitment process is remote. While soft skills were always fundamental and easy to detect in person, recruiters now must seek them out from behind a screen. So how can recruiters effectively gauge a candidate's soft skills when they aren't even in the same room? While it can pose as a challenge, it isn't out of the question. Options may be limited to phone or video, but with a few tweaks to the structure and format, there are opportunities on both the candidate and recruiter side to embrace the remote interview. Call Out the Soft SkillsWhen removed from the context of an in-person environment, soft skills are much more difficult to evaluate. In fact, both the interviewer and candidate must work harder during remote interviews to compensate. Recruiters should expect more from the candidate and therefore ask more complex questions to help uncover soft skills. For example, appearance comes into play even more so because of the flexibility of being at home. What will the candidate wear? Are they interviewing for a CFO position? Perhaps a suit is warranted in that case--even if connecting from the living room. The way they conduct themselves is also important. The candidate must work harder to bring their energy and really showcase their personality and strengths through a screen or over the phone. Do they laugh at the appropriate moments? Instead of shaking hands, how do they professionally greet the recruiter remotely? These are some of the considerations recruiters should be making at the candidate stage. In turn, the recruiter must work harder as well and provide the opportunity for the candidate to bring to the forefront soft skills that might be hidden by the virtual dynamic. In this case, asking the right interview questions is key. Use the remote environment to frame your questions by asking, for instance, how the candidate might go about leading a remote team. As a leader, what tactics would they use to bring a remote team together, and how would they motivate another team member to have a voice behind a screen? Asking this type of layered question can help the interviewer understand how a candidate's thought process works in their response. These are just a few ways recruiters can draw out those soft skills that candidates are trying to convey.In MyOpinionTara Wolckenhauer
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