When you’re recruiting someone in today’s highly competitive job market, you want to make sure you hire the best of the many applicants who flock your way. That means you must look for candidates who are a good fit for the organization, have the skills and experience needed for the position, and are willing to do what it takes to succeed.
No matter which industry you’re recruiting for, it’s important to see beyond a candidate’s resume highlights and analyze their soft skills.
Soft skills help you understand the intangible qualities that make a person more effective in their job position.
Skills and Qualities to Look For When Recruiting Job Candidates
Here are some of the intangible qualities and soft skills recruiters should look for when recruiting job candidates:
Good Communication Skills
Communication is vital in any workplace, but it’s especially important in light industrial jobs where dangers are frequently present. Communicators also help build trust among employees, which makes them more likely to work harder and stay longer on the job. If you see someone who has strong communication skills, that person could be a valuable asset to your organization.
Problem Solving Skills
Employees with problem-solving skills can help solve problems in any industry — no matter what their job is — so recruiters must look for these traits when hiring new staff members. People who have trouble solving problems tend to create more problems over time because they don’t know how to fix things efficiently.
Empathy and Compassion
Empathy is all about understanding another person’s feelings and responding accordingly. This quality is important in any job because it helps employees understand what their coworkers are going through so they can provide support when needed. Compassion is similar but it also involves being kind and compassionate towards others, even if they don’t require your help at the moment. Both qualities are key for building strong relationships with coworkers and clients alike.
Leadership Skills and Commitment to Growth
Many employees can be made into great leaders if given the chance and training. Seek candidates who have a track record of leading individuals to teams to success, no matter small their leadership role might seem. Such information might not be displayed on a resume, so you will have to ask the right questions during an interview.
Similarly, the willingness to grow and learn means that the candidate has no illusions about what he or she knows now — which may be very little — but also has an openness to learning new things. It can be incredibly valuable for an organization to have a bright employee who is willing to learn how the company operates and doesn’t bring biases from previous job experiences to this new position.
Teamwork
Working with others requires good communication skills as well as mutual respect for other people’s time and expertise — even when you don’t agree with their approach or ideas. Working well with others also means being able to give constructive feedback to your teammates when they make mistakes or need help solving problems.
Synergy Solutions
Synergy is a staffing company that understands the kind of company you are and can help you become the company that you want to be. Call us when you’re ready to detoxify your workplace. Our recruiters focus on resume skills in addition to these soft skills because we tend to find candidates that communicate effectively with managers, raise concerns regarding equipment malfunction and/or safety related issues and work well with coworkers within their mods.