Scanning for soft skills in Diagnostics

Soft skills are all the rage, but how do you make sure you're assessing them in the right way?

When assessing the quality of candidates in a recruitment process, it can be easy to put the focus onto their experience and level of education. Don't get me wrong, these can still be important, but it's certainly not the be-all and end-all when interviewing. A recent study found that 75% of UK employers admit to hiring a candidate with strong technical skills, who later underperformed in their role due to a lack of soft skills.

Interviews give you the best opportunity to assess for soft skills that can't necessarily be backed up by a CV. The most in demand soft skills look different in every industry, and the diagnostics space is definitely an interesting one for soft skills. There are a few that consistently appear as the most requested by hiring managers - so let's take a look at what they are, as well as the best ways to assess them.

What are some highly valued soft skills in the Diagnostics space?

Scientific Communication - Understanding the world of diagnostics is one thing, but being able to have open communication about complex data and insights with a variety of different stakeholders is a skill that's always in high-demand. Particularly if you're in a sales capacity, translating technical concepts to non-technical decision-makers can be the difference between a decent salesperson and a great salesperson.

Critical Thinking - In a highly regulated field, bringing products and solutions to market can come with its fair share of challenges and pushbacks. Companies in the space need people that are able to take these issues and problem solve to move forward, and that's a required skill no matter the department you work in.

Quality Mindset - It pays to be something of a perfectionist when working in the Medical Technology sector as a whole. Any small error in production, deployment, or usage can put patients at risk, so a quality-first mindset is a soft skill that is an essential for a large number of roles within Diagnostics. This is equally as important in Application roles as they need to bring the best quality to their training when teaching people how to use the tech.

Collaboration - The development of Diagnostic tech is a real internal team effort. R&D. Quality Assurance, Manufacturing, Clinical, and Commercial teams all end up working close together in these environments, and a lack of cohesion between these teams can cause delays in roll out. Being able to build an atmosphere of collaboration where everyone is working towards collective goals and taking each team's thoughts into decisions is highly sought after.

Resilience - This is a skill needed in many industries, but none more prominently than Diagnostics. In such a fast-paced environment, the technology is rapidly evolving and demands from regulatory bodies are always looming. Being able to hold strong when faced with setbacks and rejections, especially when working in a startup environment, can put you in high demand in the industry. Plus as the old adage says, you hear 'no' more than you hear 'yes' in sales, so resilience isn't a bad trait for commercial candidates to have either. 

Influencing beyond your position - As previously mentioned, the diagnostics space is one of constant change. This brings about the need for new ideas on a regular basis, from everybody in a business. No matter the role you have, being able to bring a fresh thought to the table and getting those in higher up positions on side with your thinking, is a soft skill that is invaluable within Diagnostics.

How to assess for soft skills in the interview process

It's all well and good knowing what soft skills to look for as a Diagnostics company, but it can be hard to know what candidates actually possess these skills. It's not like job experience or education level which is a cut-and-dry metric for assessing talent in a recruitment process. In fact, finding the right soft skills is almost a completely different hiring experience. Knowing how to spot these soft skills can make all the difference when making a key hire for your team, so here's how we would suggest finding them.

Behavioural Questions - Using the STAR Method (Situation, Task, Action, Result), you can ask candidates about real examples of how they coped with conflict or a particular set back. Seeing how they explain their actions and thought process is a great way of understanding the way they work and if they place value in certain soft skills that are important for the role.

Role-Playing Scenarios - We're not asking for an Oscar-worthy performance, but placing the candidate into a 'scene' during an interview is another great way to gather an understanding of their approach in work and their motivations when dealing with a relevant issue.

Open Conversation - If you fancy a slightly less structured approach, coming into an interview and treating it like an open conversation is one method to understanding the 'real' candidate. Open conversation gives the candidate an opportunity to be the authentic version of themselves, and this can be a big help in identifying communication skills as well as assessing potential cultural fit.

Scoring Rubrics - The level of soft skill that someone has is often down to individual opinion, which is one of the main reasons that assessing them is hard. On top of the approach to the interview, having a scorecard with set criteria to score candidates against is a method you can use to attempt to quantify the quality of skills they possess. Making sure anyone involved in the interview process is using the same scoring measures can make finding the 'best' candidate more of a factual process - whoever has the best average score for the soft skills should be considered for the role.

Overall, there certainly isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to assessing soft skills; you just need to find the methods that work best for you and your company. Finding the right method really can make all the difference; it could be the difference between hiring a good candidate and a great candidate!

If you want a bit of extra support in finding and assessing candidates for your open roles, reach out to me on adam.leeder@fmctalent.com and let's see how we can work together.