Hard and Soft Skills > The Importance of Hard Skills
In our last blog, we talked about some of the hard skills that your clients might request their candidates possess. As these proficiencies can be taught and learned, these tangible skills are critical when placing people in the right jobs. As we dive deeper into these skill sets, ensure your operation is backed by a Staffing Professional Liability Insurance policy.
Identifying hard skills and soft skills is key during pre-employment testing, which we’ve discussed in a previous blog. For recruiters, this means they can get an accurate depiction of what the candidate is great at and what he or she might need to improve on.
Hard skills are a set of special skills that are obtained through years of practice or learning. They can be said as skills that are needed for a specific task. They can also be termed as technical skills or abilities for a certain professional or occupational fields. These skills are easily visible, tangible and well-defined. These skills vary from person to person in quality and quantity. Acquiring good hard skills means a higher IQ (Intelligence Quotient). It includes logical thinking, analytical thinking, programming, understanding, strategic thinking, planning, and more, explains Wise Step.
So, why are these critical when placing candidates? First, they are the primary indicator that a candidate is well-suited for a position with your client. Depending on the level of experience they need, a review of their resume and cover letter can give you an idea of whether they’re prepared or not.
Hard skills are easy to test for as they are black and white: either your candidate has them or they don’t. However, if a candidate seems like a great fit but does not have all the hard skills the employer requires, ask them whether or not they would be willing to undergo some training.
Hard skills simplify recruiting. In our next post, we’ll cover the more tricky set of skills: soft skills.
About World Wide
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