One of the key components of the interview process is actually figuring out which candidates will be brought in for interviews. One of the first things that should be done is looking at candidates’ hard skills. Hard skills include education and skills revolving around technology and other tangible things. By first seeking out those with superior hard skills, it is likely that during the interview process, at least one of these candidates also will possess leadership qualities or other soft skills necessary for success in the workplace. Of course, there is definitely room in the interview process for those with outstanding soft skills and not extraordinary hard skills, it often is best to largely choose those with hard skills noticeable on a resume for the majority of interview slots.
Hard skills represent the technical skills, education, and/or experience that a candidate must have in order to be considered for a position. Many times we simply accept the hard skills that a candidate lists on a resume or application. However, the interview process and any subsequent reference checking should be designed to verify these hard skills. For our purposes below, I will not be addressing education, but only addressing technical and experience skill sets.
I have included on the CD that accompanies this Program a sample document, Hard Skills Checklist Sample. This document is designed for you to list specific technical or experience skills that a candidate must have in order to effectively perform your open position. This sheet requires a candidate to identify the number of years of experience that he/she has utilizing each skill and his/her opinion as to the level of proficiency on each skill. The sample form on the CD is a checklist for an administrative position that lists the common Microsoft Word and Excel functions that a person may need to know to work effectively in a position. All you need to do is replace the WorFd or Excel skills in the Sample with the specific skills required for your open position and provide the form to your candidates to complete. At the onsite interview, I would either use a test or ask a series of technical questions in order to verify that the person has the hard skills that he/she claims.
After these candidates are chosen, it is essential to test their other skill sets in the structured interview to make sure that they are a suitable candidate for a position. By doing this, it will become much easier to find a candidate with the proper mix of soft and hard skills needed to have success in the workplace. Therefore, it is essential to check leadership qualities, co-worker relationship history, and other social skills while interviewing a candidate.
