20 Shades Of Soft Skills

Why only 20 soft skills on fairception?

 

It’s a question we hear often. Why limit ourselves to 20 soft skills? And why these particular ones?

 

At fairception, our mission is clear: to finally put soft skills at the heart of hiring, in a way that’s simple, impactful, and accessible for everyone. We could have created an endless list of skills, but to what end? We chose to focus directly on 20 essential soft skills, organized into 4 key categories.

 

Simplifying to reveal true strengths

 

The recruitment world is already saturated with jargon, overblown titles, and technical criteria. Adding an endless collection of soft skills would only clutter things further. Instead, we chose to simplify by limiting our focus to 20 soft skills that cover the essentials, without diluting the message.

 

The same soft skills for everyone: a foundation to highlight uniqueness

 

By offering the same soft skills for everyone, we provide a universal standard. This allows each person to highlight their uniqueness, compare with similar profiles, and quantify their strengths in a reliable and consistent way.

 

How did we select these 20 soft skills?

 

Selecting these 20 skills was no easy task. We worked with psychologists, experts, recruiters, and even lawyers, analyzing hundreds of job descriptions. Our goal? To retain universal human skills, those relevant across all sectors and profiles, whether you’re a recent graduate, an experienced manager, or someone in transition. Our process was based on several criteria:

 

1.   Market demand: In collaboration with HR professionals, we identified the most sought-after human skills.

2.   Sector analysis: Our research covered various sectors, allowing us to retain cross-functional skills.

3.   Intelligent grouping: We combined certain related skills to avoid redundancy (e.g., active listening and empathy).

4.   User testing: Testing with diverse users helped us refine our selection to keep it relevant and practical.

 

Interconnected skills that reveal deeper potential

 

These 20 soft skills aren’t isolated; they complement each other and reveal additional aspects of a candidate’s profile. A skill you might think of is often a combination of two or three of fairception’s 20 soft skills. This interconnectedness allows us to uncover deeper qualities and better understand each person’s personality and potential.

 

Four key categories to cover it all

 

To structure these 20 skills, we’ve organized them into 4 essential categories:

 

1.   Interpersonal: Skills related to human and social interactions.

2.   Emotional: Traits linked to emotional management and attitude.

3.   Cognitive: Abilities in analysis, creativity, and critical thinking.

4.   Organizational/Ethical: Skills in rigor, management, and integrity.

 

These categories cover universal human dimensions, present in every sector and role.

 

Conclusion: 20 soft skills, a clear standard to bring humanity back to hiring

 

Clarity is key to giving soft skills their rightful place in hiring. Limiting our selection to 20 soft skills creates a standard that’s fluid, impactful, and universal, representing the human qualities recruiters truly need.

 

Let’s make these 20 soft skills a common language, a powerful tool to simplify hiring and restore the value of authentic human qualities.

 

And, of course, here are fairception’s 20 soft skills:

 

Follows Through on Promises • Ethics • Initiative • Time Management • Enthusiasm • Adaptability • Determination • Empathy • Communication • Business Sense • Critical Thinking • Inspirational • Creativity • Social Ease • Curiosity • Team Spirit • Handles Frustration • Attention to Detail • Service Orientation • Pragmatism