HiPeople’s Dr. Jantje H. de Vries on Hard Skills

‍‍What are hard skills? 

Each job requires a specific set of skills. Hard skills are specific competencies, knowledge, and abilities needed to perform a task or role. They can be defined as part of the role specification.

Hard Skill Examples

• Spoken languages
• Microsoft Office
• Programming language
• Copywriting
• Logistics

How do we measure hard skills?

We measure hard skills through biographical data (also called biodata) based on the measurement principle of behavioral consistency, that is, past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. Collecting job-specific biodata is still one of the most underestimated ways of screening candidates given how effective it is!

How do we assess biodata?

Biodata measures past events and behaviors to reflect personality attributes, attitudes, experiences, skills, and abilities and predict overall performance in any job role. We collect essential sector and occupation-specific activities and ask candidates to self-evaluate their expertise regarding the activity.

What does this look like for the candidate?

The Hard Skills assessment is made up of 218 modules that contain sets of skills. The duration of the assessment depends on how many sets of skills you choose to assess.

For what kind of job roles should I use the Hard Skill assessment?

Any role that involves specific knowledge and abilities required for success. This may include technical job roles, analytics, or bookkeeping.

When should I use the Hard Skill assessment?

Hard Skill assessments can be used at any stage of the hiring process. They are particularly useful in a pre-screening context or during the interview.

Happy hiring!

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