What Kinds of Soft Skills Test Questions Are Used for Hiring

If you Google “top soft skills,” you’ll see a long list of articles, opinions and websites about the most in-demand soft skills job applicants need to be successful. Hard skills are rapidly changing and becoming obsolete thanks to the emergence of automation and artificial intelligence. As a result, there is a renewed interest in soft skills, and recruiters and HR professionals are looking for ways to measure them effectively.

Soft skills tests are a vital part of the recruitment process because they help assess skills a prospective employee needs to be successful in a job. When choosing an assessment provider, it is important to consider validity—the degree to which an assessment measures competencies that are directly linked to the tasks and responsibilities of a position—to benefit from the test as well as ensure legal compliance.

Unlike other assessment providers, eSkill offers soft skills test questions for a variety of jobs and industries. This enables employers to easily select job and skills-related questions and customize them to match the requirements of any position.

What is the Format of a Soft Skills Test?

Soft skills tests are not personality questionnaires. eSkill’s soft skills tests incorporate measures of behavioral characteristics using nonobvious correlations. Typically, candidates are presented with a paragraph of text on a subject or a table or graph of data. The text or data is then followed by one of the options below:

Statement: After the text passage or data, candidates are given a statement. They must answer whether the statement is true, false, or if it cannot be answered based on the text or data.
Content: After the text passage or data, candidates are asked one question in regards to the text, and they must choose from or more answer options.
Conclusions: After the text passage or data, candidates are given five proposed conclusions. Candidates must select the conclusion that can be drawn based only on the text or data presented.
Statements: After the text passage or data, candidates are given five proposed statements. Candidates must select the statement that is the most logical given the text or data presented.

Questions Evaluating Cognitive Abilities

Many soft skills are subsets of general mental ability or cognitive aptitude, including attention to detail, critical thinking skills, and problem-solving abilities. These soft skills are particularly important to evaluate, as years of research has shown that cognitive ability is one of the most predictive measures of job success. Typical soft skills test questions are designed to evaluate applicants’ advanced reasoning abilities regarding the purpose of the text, basic reading comprehension, the ability to determine logical validity of claims, and more.

Assessing Personality Traits

Evaluating personality traits, such as patience, cooperativeness, and openness, is another way eSkill assessments help you evaluate candidates’ soft skills. Soft skills test questions and answers examine a broad spectrum of behavioral traits, especially the traits associated with work ethic and people skills that are predictive of future success on the job. Well-developed personality measures used in pre-hire assessments are valid predictors of performance in nearly all occupations, increasing organizational productivity.

Evaluating Job-Relevant Soft Skills

eSkill simplifies the process of combining soft skill assessments and job-specific tests. For instance, the sales ability test enables hiring teams to measure sales candidates’ soft skills and job-relevant knowledge. Below are two examples of eSkill’s sales account executive skills test questions and answers.

When you are establishing a relationship with a prospect, it is best to ask questions rather than telling the prospect right away about your product or service. From the options below, please select all of the reasons why this is beneficial.

Select all answers that apply:

1. Getting to know the prospect’s needs and wants will better enable the sales rep to close the sale.
2. This allows the sales rep to manipulate the prospect into buying the product they normally wouldn’t want.
3. This allows the sales rep to learn some of the challenges that must be overcome to close the sale.
4. This enables the sales rep to conduct sales calls without doing any research before the sales call.
5. This helps the prospect to connect with the sales rep better than if the rep did most of the talking.

Options A, C, & D are correct. Getting to know the prospect’s needs and wants will better enable the sales rep to close the sale. It also allows the sales rep to learn some of the challenges that must be overcome to close the sale, and helps the prospect to connect with the sales rep better than if the rep did most of the talking. 

Which of the following statements describes the best way to respond when the audience’s energy is low?

Select the single best answer:

1. Point this out to the audience, and then you say a few jokes to break the ice and make the audience laugh.
2. Switch to practical exercises only since the audience doesn’t seem interested in theoretical concepts.
3. Carry on with the presentation, since your main focus is to share information with the audience.
4. Change the tone of your voice, use body language, use visual aids, and ask questions that encourage the audience’s participation.
5. Talk about a different subject that might seem more interesting to the people in the audience.

Option D is correct. As you change the tone of your voice, depending on the message you wish to convey, the audience will pay attention. Body language and visual aids can also draw people’s attention to what you are presenting. By asking them questions, you invite interaction, changing the energy from low to high.

Incorporating soft skills test questions and job-relevant content improves the validity and usefulness of assessments. A well-validated soft skill assessment helps HR professionals analyze and measure the skills of job-seekers and identify the best match for the position.

Interested in Using Soft Skills Tests for Hiring?

Learn more about the benefits of using eSkill’s soft skills assessments and skills tests to find qualified candidates quickly.

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