11 soft skills examples

What are soft skills?

Soft skills – or as we prefer to call them, "human skills" – are the people and interpersonal skills that dictate how employees interact with each other, work through problems, and cooperate. Unlike technical or hard skills, soft skills can’t easily be taught but are deeply embedded in someone's behavior, attitude, and interactions.

They include characteristics like communication, flexibility, leadership, and collaboration, all which directly affect workplace productivity and culture. 

Why soft skills matter when hiring top candidates

Soft skills are crucial for teamwork, efficiency, and office harmony, even if you’re hiring for a traditionally individual role – for instance, you should still assess software developers’ soft skills. Strong communication, flexibility, and leadership skills from team members improve company culture and performance.

Meanwhile, the lack of proper soft skills can lead to inefficiencies and conflict. An extremely skilled employee who lacks soft skills may struggle to collaborate, handle stress, or change to new challenges, making soft skills as vital as technical know-how when you’re looking to hire the best talent.

11 soft skills examples

Here are 11 examples of crucial soft skills – plus why they’re important. We also tell you how to assess them in job candidates using skills tests, targeted interview questions, and job simulations (which you might conduct in interviews or trial periods). 

1. Communication skills

Effective communication avoids misunderstandings, enhances teamwork, and makes completing tasks on time easier. Candidates should be able to communicate ideas clearly, listen carefully, and adjust their communication style to suit different audiences. Strong communicators will also likely have strong presentation skills.

Ineffective communication will lead to delays, mistakes, and work conflicts.

How to assess candidates’ communication skills: Use TestGorilla’s Communication Skills test, which assesses verbal, written, and active listening skills in work-related situations.

2. Teamwork skills

Effective teams depend on people who work well together, share ideas, and share common goals. Poor teamwork creates inefficiencies, work stress, and delays in projects. Employees must have the people skills to communicate effectively within their teams and iron out differences constructively.

How to assess candidates’ teamwork skills: If you’re doing a group interview or job simulation, give candidates a team activity where they must find a solution to an office dilemma. Watch them to see how they assign tasks, communicate with team members, and resolve disagreements. 

3. Leadership skills

Leadership isn’t merely a job – it's using initiative, guiding others, and demonstrating sound judgment. Employees with strong leadership abilities inspire groups, resolve dilemmas effectively, and perform consistently under pressure. They also have high emotional intelligence – they can understand and manage their own and others’ emotions.

How to assess candidates’ leadership abilities: Use TestGorilla’s Leadership & People Management test, which evaluates decision-making, delegation, and motivating and managing others.

4. Adaptability

Work environments change daily, with employees needing to adapt to new technology, changing priorities, and unforeseen problems. Adaptable candidates are resourceful, open to learning, and embrace new challenges. Candidates who don’t adapt can hinder progress and personally struggle in dynamic environments.

How to assess candidates’ adaptability: Change a task's specifications during a job simulation and see how candidates react. Adaptable candidates will remain calm, adjust their approach, and look for solutions instead of fighting the change. 

5. Problem-solving skills

There are problems in every job: fixing a technical glitch, dealing with an angry customer, or reworking a project if something unplanned causes an issue. Employees who can dissect a problem, use critical thinking to find a solution, and execute it quickly keep the trains running. 

Team members who don't have this skill will need continual monitoring, delaying progress and demotivating other team members.

How to assess candidates’ problem-solving abilities: Use TestGorilla’s Problem-Solving test, which assesses their ability to analyze, interpret, prioritize, and more.

6. Time management skills

Efficient time management is crucial to staying productive, keeping deadlines, and properly juggling multiple tasks. Staff need to prioritize, plan, and organize their work without losing quality. Inefficient time management results in the failure to meet deadlines, the need for eleventh-hour rushing, and over-reliance on co-workers to cover for unfinished work.

How to assess candidates’ ability to manage time: Use TestGorilla’s Time Management test, which measures a candidate's capacity to prioritize, plan, and execute.

7. Conflict resolution

Disagreements at work are inevitable, but how they’re handled determines whether they escalate into unsolvable problems or constructive solutions. Employees must be able to resolve disagreements professionally, hear the opposing side, and come to a decision that benefits the team. Applicants who don’t do well with conflict will be confrontational, sidestep difficult conversations, or stir up tension in the workplace.

How to assess candidates’ conflict resolution: Create a role-playing exercise of a workplace conflict scenario involving a disagreement over the focus of a project. Have candidates negotiate, find common ground, and resolve the conflict without generating hostility. High performers will show active listening, and emotional sensitivity – and strive to build positive relationships.

8. Work ethic

A good work ethic is necessary to be reliable, self-motivated, and constantly producing quality outputs. Individuals with a good work ethic put effort above the minimum requirements to achieve team success. Individuals lacking this trait need constant supervision, fail to meet expectations, and don’t take responsibility for their work.

How to assess candidates’ work ethic: During an interview, ask them to provide an example of a time when they volunteered to do more than their job required or exceeded their job description to help their team achieve a common goal. Look for responses demonstrating initiative, commitment, and a desire to work harder.

9. Stress management

Pressure-filled situations come with every work environment, from deadlines to unexpected project changes. Staff should be able to remain calm, efficient, and productive under pressure without allowing that pressure to interfere with their performance or team dynamics. When under pressure, low-performing workers could fail to make good decisions, get flustered, or upset team morale.

How to assess candidates’ ability to manage stress: Assign a high-priority, time-sensitive task and see how they prepare, execute, and cope with pressure when under stress. Suitable candidates will organize sensibly, stay calm, and improvise when necessary to maintain efficiency.

10. Creativity

Creativity isn’t just a matter of artistic talent – it's about thinking outside the box, creating solutions to problems, and introducing new ideas for process, product, or service simplification. Creative employees help companies develop innovative solutions and remain ahead in changing industries. Without creativity, businesses risk stagnation and being overtaken by more innovative competition.

How to assess candidates’ creativity: Provide a general, open-ended business problem like reducing customer turnover without raising costs. Measure how many unique, realistic solutions the candidate comes up with. Innovative problem solvers will approach the issue from various perspectives, suggest new solutions, and justify their reasoning with sound logic.

11. Motivation and enthusiasm

Motivated staff are active, committed, and self-starting in the workplace. They take initiative, strive to improve continuously, and remain passionate even when given demanding tasks. Low productivity, apathy, and turnover are all negative results of low motivation. 

How to assess candidates’ motivation: Use TestGorilla’s Motivation test, which shows how well aligned the candidate’s expectations are with the job offer. This helps to check there isn’t a mismatch between expectations and reality, which may lead to a demotivated new hire.

*Want to learn about some lesser-known soft skill examples? Check out our guide on underrated soft skills. 

The next step: Test soft skills for smarter hiring

Examples of soft skills include communication, conflict resolution, and motivation. Assessing these skills in your candidates involves using a combination of skills-based testing methods like meaningful interview questions, job simulations, or skills assessments. 

We highly recommend using soft skills tests on all your applicants to narrow down your candidate pool before using other assessment methods. These provide measurable, quantifiable information about how a candidate responds to actual work scenarios.

TestGorilla offers various tests to use. You can mix up to five tests (including technical tests, tests that assess personality traits, and other non-soft-skill tests) to create a tailored assessment that suits your recruitment needs. 

Start using our platform immediately by looking through our test library and signing up for an account.