At Crescent, we are always on the hunt for the best and brightest business partners. Sometimes that means that we are conducting interviews to hire new team members. Sometimes that means that we are the ones being interviewed. Whichever side of the table we are on, we know that there are certain skills that can be cultivated to set a candidate apart from the competition. Soft-skills are the interpersonal and communication tools that amplify the hard-skills that should be a “given” in a candidate. Proficiencies in industry specific softwares, in generally accepted accounting principles, and in arcane tax law are nothing if they cannot be communicated in a way that they can be translated into strategic advantages.
We know this in our sales cycles as much as we know it in our hiring and talent development. Here are a couple of great articles on soft-skills that highlight how to identify and cultivate them.
“…Soft skills, on the other hand, are subjective skills that are much harder to quantify. Also known as “people skills” or “interpersonal skills,” soft skills relate to the way you relate to and interact with other people. Soft skills include:
- Communication
- Flexibility
- Leadership
- Motivation
- Patience
- Persuasion
- Problem solving abilities
- Teamwork
- Time management
- Work ethic”
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/hard-skills-vs-soft-skills-2063780
“While screening for technical skills is relatively straightforward in most hiring practices, assessing for characteristics like empathy can pose a challenge to hiring managers.”
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/newsletters/2020/jul/hiring-soft-skills.html
