8 min read

Measure Soft Skills With A Custom Survey Builder

Key Takeaways:

Identify personality traits and communication habits before scheduling an interview.
Use a five-point Likert scale to gather measurable data on candidate attitudes.
Save valuable time by identifying strong candidates early in the hiring process.

Finding the right candidate requires looking beyond a standard resume. You need to understand how a person communicates, solves problems, and works with others. A reliable survey builder allows you to measure these traits early in the hiring process. By gathering this data before you even schedule a phone call, you can make better decisions and save valuable time for your hiring managers.

Learn how to measure soft skills pre-interview using a survey builder. Improve your hiring process today and find the right fit for your team.

Why You Need Early Pre-Screening For Candidates

Reviewing resumes only tells you about a person's work history and education. It rarely reveals how they act on a daily basis. When you introduce early pre-screening into your hiring method, you gain immediate insights into a candidate's personality.

Implementing this step offers several clear benefits:

Saves Time: You avoid interviewing individuals who do not fit your company culture.
Identifies Communication Styles: You can see if a candidate prefers direct instructions or open-ended projects.
Sets Clear Expectations: Candidates understand that soft skills are important to your organization from the very beginning.
Reduces Bias: Standardized questions give every applicant an equal chance to show their personal strengths.

When you send a short questionnaire right after an application is submitted, you create a baseline for comparing candidates fairly.

Adding Emotional Intelligence To Your Assessments

A high level of emotional intelligence often points to a successful long-term employee. Emotional intelligence refers to how well a person recognizes their own emotions and the emotions of others.

You can test these qualities through targeted statements in your questionnaire. Focus on the main pillars of emotional intelligence:

Self-Awareness: Recognizing personal strengths and weaknesses.
Self-Management: Staying calm under pressure or during unexpected changes.
Social Awareness: Showing empathy and understanding toward coworkers.
Relationship Management: Resolving conflicts professionally and respectfully.

Instead of asking a candidate if they are empathetic, ask them to rate their reaction to specific workplace situations. This approach provides a much clearer picture of their daily habits.

Using Behavioral Questions In Pre-Screening

Standard yes-or-no questions rarely provide useful information. To get better data, you must integrate behavioral questions in pre-screening forms. These questions ask applicants to reflect on how they act in specific environments.

Here are examples of how to format these statements for a rating scale:

"I frequently ask my manager for feedback on my performance."
"When a project deadline changes suddenly, I adjust my schedule without feeling overwhelmed."
"I prefer to resolve disagreements with coworkers directly rather than involving a supervisor."
"I find it easy to adapt when introduced to new software programs."

By focusing on behavior, you encourage candidates to think about their past actions. This yields more accurate responses than asking them to describe their personality in a blank text box.

Creating Likert-Scale Personality Surveys

The Likert scale is a highly effective tool for gathering soft skill data. It is a rating system that asks people to indicate how much they agree or disagree with a specific statement. This format turns abstract feelings into numbers that you can easily track and compare.

Follow these steps to build an effective Likert-scale assessment:

Define The Goal: Decide exactly which soft skills matter most for the open role. A customer service job might require high patience, while a sales job might require high assertiveness.
Write Clear Statements: Use simple language. Avoid confusing words or double negatives.
Set The Scale: Use a standard five-point scale. The typical options are: 1 - Strongly Disagree, 2 - Disagree, 3 - Neutral, 4 - Agree, 5 - Strongly Agree.
Mix Positive And Negative Framing: Prevent applicants from simply selecting "Strongly Agree" for every line. Include statements like, "I sometimes find it difficult to focus in noisy environments."
Keep It Short: Limit your form to 10 or 15 items. Long forms cause fatigue and lead to inaccurate answers.

Using a survey builder with a Likert scale feature gives you a standardized way to score each applicant. You can quickly filter out those who score poorly in the areas that matter most to your team.

Building The Form With Refhub

Creating these assessments does not have to be difficult. Refhub provides the tools necessary to build and send pre-interview forms quickly. You can set up custom questionnaires that match the specific needs of your available positions.

Using Refhub offers multiple advantages for your hiring team:

Custom Templates: Build forms that reflect your specific company values.
Easy Distribution: Send links directly to candidates via email or text message.
Centralized Data: Keep all applicant scores in one secure dashboard for easy comparison.
Automated Reminders: Remind applicants to complete their forms without manual follow-ups.

This organized approach keeps your hiring process moving smoothly. It also presents a professional image to your applicants.

Improving Your Hiring Strategy With Pre-Screening

Adding a pre-interview assessment to your hiring strategy changes how you evaluate talent. Instead of guessing how a person will behave based on a brief interview, you start the conversation with concrete data in hand.

Measuring soft skills early helps you build a more cohesive team. It allows you to identify leaders, problem solvers, and excellent communicators before you spend hours in the interview room. By committing to this simple step, you protect your company culture and make more confident hiring decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should the pre-interview form be?

Keep the form under 15 statements. This usually takes candidates less than five minutes to complete. Respecting their time increases the chances that they will finish the assessment.

When is the best time to send the assessment?

Send it immediately after reviewing their initial resume, but before you schedule a phone screening or in-person interview. This acts as a filter to decide who gets an interview slot.

What is a Likert scale?

A Likert scale is a measurement tool that asks individuals to rate their level of agreement with a statement. It typically uses five options ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree."

Can candidates fake their answers?

Some candidates might try to select the answers they think you want. You can reduce this by using a mix of positive and negative statements, and by asking follow-up questions during the actual interview.

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