How are technical and soft skills assessed in hiring?
answer
Technical skills are typically assessed through coding tests, case studies, portfolio reviews, and structured technical interviews. Soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, and adaptability, are measured through behavioral interviews, situational questions, and peer feedback. Together, they ensure candidates can not only write clean code but also collaborate effectively, solve problems under pressure, and adapt to changing project demands.
Hiring developers is no longer just about proving code literacy—it’s about ensuring candidates can perform in complex, fast-moving environments. To achieve this, companies assess two categories: technical skills (hard skills) and soft skills (behavioral or interpersonal competencies). Both are crucial, but the methods for evaluating them differ significantly.
Assessing technical skills
Technical assessments focus on a candidate’s ability to deliver tangible outputs. Common methods include:
- Coding challenges – Online tests using platforms like HackerRank or Codility that measure problem-solving, algorithmic thinking, and code efficiency.
- Take-home assignments – Practical projects where candidates solve tasks similar to real-world scenarios, such as building a feature or debugging existing code.
- Portfolio reviews – Examination of GitHub repositories, past projects, or contributions to open-source communities.
- Technical interviews – Live problem-solving sessions, pair programming exercises, or whiteboard discussions (though many companies now prefer real coding environments).
- Case studies – Scenario-driven tasks like designing system architecture for scaling an e-commerce app.
These tools evaluate technical depth, knowledge of frameworks, and ability to apply concepts to real business problems.
Assessing soft skills
While technical ability ensures candidates can “do the job,” soft skills ensure they can work within a team and adapt to organizational dynamics. Common approaches include:
- Behavioral interviews – Structured questions like, “Tell me about a time you resolved conflict within a project team.”
- Situational judgment tests – Hypothetical workplace scenarios to gauge decision-making and empathy.
- Group exercises – For enterprises, observing collaboration in small groups or hackathons reveals teamwork and communication styles.
- Reference checks – Speaking to former managers about collaboration, reliability, and adaptability.
- Cultural fit assessments – Exploring values alignment, work style, and openness to feedback.
Why balance matters
Focusing only on technical skills risks hiring brilliant coders who struggle with collaboration. Conversely, emphasizing soft skills alone may lead to underperformance in delivery. The best companies integrate both: e.g., a full-stack candidate might pass a coding test (technical) and demonstrate leadership in a cross-team scenario (soft).
Industry examples
- SaaS startup: Tests coding speed for MVP delivery and values adaptability during pivots.
- E-commerce firm: Prioritizes communication for cross-functional work with design and marketing.
- Fintech company: Focuses on accuracy and risk management, requiring technical rigor and stress tolerance.
- Remote-first team: Weighs communication and time management heavily, ensuring asynchronous collaboration.
Trends in assessment
- Increasing reliance on AI-assisted tools to grade coding tasks objectively.
- Decline of whiteboard interviews in favor of real-world problem-solving.
- Growth in competency-based interviews that evaluate both hard and soft skills together.
In short, technical and soft skills are two sides of the same coin. Together, they ensure hires can deliver code that works and relationships that last.
Step-by-step
- Define role requirements – Split into technical and soft skill priorities.
- Choose technical tests – Coding challenges, projects, or case studies.
- Screen portfolios – Review GitHub or past client work for quality.
- Run technical interviews – Validate coding depth and problem-solving.
- Add behavioral interviews – Use structured questions on collaboration.
- Simulate real scenarios – Pair programming or group exercises.
- Check references – Confirm soft skills through past managers.
- Balance scores – Combine both assessments to finalize decisions.
Use Cases
- Startup MVP: Tested coding speed with a 24-hour task and adaptability in short calls.
- SaaS scale-up: Combined coding challenges with peer interviews to ensure collaboration skills.
- E-commerce firm: Used group hackathons to evaluate technical and teamwork ability.
- Fintech company: Focused on case studies under time pressure to test rigor and resilience.
- Remote-first team: Assessed GitHub portfolios and communication in async simulations.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Ensures balanced evaluation of candidates.
- Technical tests validate coding depth.
- Behavioral interviews highlight collaboration skills.
- Reduces risk of mis-hires based on resumes alone.
Cons
- Time-consuming to design balanced assessments.
- Candidates may experience test fatigue.
- Soft skills are harder to measure objectively.
- Overemphasis on either side skews results.
TL;DR
- Technical skills: coding tests, projects, portfolios, case studies.
- Soft skills: behavioral interviews, situational tasks, references.
- Balanced evaluation prevents mis-hires and improves team success.
- Best companies integrate both into structured hiring processes.