Think of the comparison of hard skills vs. soft skills like experience vs personality. While there’s much more to it, both sets of skills are crucial for a productive and cohesive remote team. However, some experts have been putting more weight on soft skills recently, and with good reason.
As a hiring manager, you get to hand-pick your team. For many years, recruiters paid more attention to the resume than the person sitting in front of them (or on the other side of the screen). While the resume showcases blanket experience and education, a skills test and conversation are what really help you get to know the person behind the paper.
A person with hard skills may seamlessly operate a complex program but suffer when relaying information or teamwork. On the other hand, a person with attractive soft skills may be charismatic and full of great ideas but struggle with the technical aspects of their job.
But what should you be looking for specifically? When comparing hard skills vs. soft skills, you’ll realize that they’re both critical, although many professionals are beginning to recognize and favor soft skills.
Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills
Hard skills differ in relation to each profession. Hard skills are typically developed through formal training and can’t be personalized.
Soft skills are skills that we spend our entire lives perfecting. They are personal traits that affect how we interact, collaborate, handle stress, and more.
A few of the most desirable hard and soft skills include:
| Hard Skills | Soft Skills |
| Familiarity with industry-specific software | Creativity |
| SEO/SEM marketing | Reliability |
| Programming languages | Communication |
| Data mining | Problem-solving skills |
| Project management | Empathy |
| Finance and budgeting | Adaptability |
Which Are More Important When Hiring Remote Employees?
The truth is that both skill sets are vital. Depending on the position, you may rely more on hard than soft skills, and vice-versa.
In a 2019 study from LinkedIn, 92% of talent professionals agreed that soft skills are equally or more important than hard skills, and 80% say these skills are vital to company success.
Now, four years later, as many of us are working remotely and building long-distance relationships, soft skills are even more necessary. However, you wouldn’t hire an HR person with no people skills, and you wouldn’t hire a doctor who hasn’t studied anatomy and medicine.
The Importance of Hard Skills
Hard skills are practical. They’re usually the initial reason for your job posting; you’re looking for a person proficient in a specific area of study.
Since hard skills are easy to see immediately, focusing on them makes hiring easier. The job-related studies and certifications are clearly and proudly exhibited on a candidate’s resume.
Additionally, hiring a person with the correct hard skills saves the company time and money. They come in on day one with the knowledge they need to complete their job, with minimal further training required.
The Importance of Soft Skills
Hard skills ensure that a candidate has the proficiency to complete job-related tasks, but soft skills give them more likelihood of successfully applying their skills and knowledge and excelling in their position.
Most soft skills do not need to be learned, practiced, or studied, as they’re part of a candidate’s personality. They determine how an employee adds or takes away from team morale, how they handle stress, their eagerness to learn, how charming they are when facing clients, and how eager they are to see themselves (and the company) succeed.
How to Assess Hard and Soft Skills During the Hiring Process
Assessing hard skills during the hiring process is pretty simple. However, instead of just reading about a candidate’s relevant experience, put it to the test. Issue a skill assessment test. This will help you gauge how proficient they are and how quickly they work. Checking in with references will also give you more insight into their character (and soft skills).
Assessing soft skills is a bit more challenging. Ask the candidate about their best characteristics and which personality traits they’d like to improve. Then, ask the candidate open-ended situational, behavioral, and problem-solving questions. Continue with follow-up questions until you feel you have a good sense of their level-headedness and capability. Remember to pay attention to their physical cues as well.
Keep in mind that ideal candidates will have both hard and soft skills. However, hard skills can be learned, but soft skills are already deeply ingrained in who we are as people.
