Connor Nodell

THE IMPORTANCE OF SO FT SKILLS IN THE HIR ING

P ROCESS

1
Executive Summary
In a world rapidly advancing technologically and declining in personal communication,
many wonder if recruiters are looking for a slightly different skillset in the work place.
Live-It is a platform similar to LinkedIn in which employers can find the right employee
and visa-versa. The difference between Live-it and other employment match sites is that this
platform takes into account soft skills as well as profession skills. These skills you put on your
Live-it profile in the form of a narrative experience in which you address specifically how that
leisure experience taught you a soft skill. Darlene Zambruski classifies soft skills as “skills that
apply more to your personal characteristics and work ethic such as effective communication,
problem resolution, customer service, and team collaboration (Zambruski, para. 1, Resume
Edge).” This is generally accepted across research as an appropriate definition for a very
interpretive word, which also makes this study difficult. It is important however, to pursue such
study as it adds insight as to what specific skills employers look for so young professionals can
practice those skills as well as display them appropriately, their resume. These experiences and
soft skills also have proven to improve overall work experience and productivity.
We conducted an experiment to see how employers view soft skills learned through
leisure related experiences on a Live-It profile compared to resumes without experiences and
soft skills. This was be analyzed by having job recruiters observe created profiles on the Live-It
Profiles. This platform is designed to give job seekers the ability to detail experiences they have
encountered and the soft skills gained from them. Other profiles will contain experiences but
not detail the lesson learned from them. The only change is the soft skills learned through these
experiences in leisure vs. non-leisure (IV) and we observed the recruiter’s opinion on the
applicants via questionnaire after looking at resumes. We asked the employers about 3 “global”
measures, whether they were a good fit, have skills, and would interview in the eyes of the
employer (DV). Alternatively 14 separate characteristics in the survey were analyzed specifically
as the Dependent variables (DV). We used Qualtrics to create our survey and our variables
were measured using a Likert scale so that we could use hard numbers to lead to conclusions.
The job recruiters were comprised of 21 male and 9 female, with 65% of them being
tenured for 10 years or more. The employers classified their business as follows: (See table 1.)
Over 40% of the employers considered themselves to be in the business industry and slightly
over 31% considered themselves to be recreation or health based. This could provide to be an
insight into what specific employers in different fields look for in hiring a new employee.

2
 GB How would you classify your business or industry? (Table 1)

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Business 13 40.6 43.3 43.3
Recreation / Heath 10 31.3 33.3 76.7
Other 7 21.9 23.3 100.0
Total 30 93.8 100.0
Missing System 2 6.3
Total 32 100.0

In conclusion, we found there to be some evidence to support our hypothesis that soft
skills significantly matter in the hiring process. However, we did find that in the leisure profiles,
four soft skills were rated more highly than in the non-leisure profiles. Along with other
literature, it appears that soft skills complement technical skills and a major factor on which
carries more weight depends on the line of work you are in. Accounting or engineering and
other technical jobs require a different skillset than a recreation or leisure provider. We hope
this information leads to a better understanding of what skills should be acquired in order to be
a more appealing candidate as well as being a more effective employee with those soft skills.

Introduction
As ipad’s, laptops, and other technology get forced into the mainstream education, many
studies have been done to show the decline in interpersonal skills within the younger
generation. This has led to a theory that employers to desire more well-rounded candidates
and those who have good soft skills. The Live-It platform allows users to create a profile around
many of those skills. It provides a space to explain personal experiences and how they have
taught you something or helped you in one way or another. We wanted to test this theory by
creating fake profiles both with soft skills and without and see how employers evaluated these
profiles from Live-It.

Literature Review
We can conclude that in profiles that included leisure related soft skills, there were four
skills that were rated higher than in the non-leisure profiles. We identified these as creativity,
work ethic, attention to detail and writing ability. This coincides with other research done on
this topic which seems to point to the fact that soft skills complement hard skills.
One study notes findings from graduates of University as they reflect on the soft and
hard skills they learned there and how applicable they are in real world work. In this study
participants were asked for statements on how they felt after completing their internship via

3
written reflection on a form. These statements had some interesting patterns revealing that
although soft skills and specifically social skills are important in the workplace, nothing replaces
a college education in terms of employability. Participants were noted saying, “All the things I
had to do in my final year were of much higher quality than in the other years because of my
placement, (Higler, para. 3, 2010).” furthering the point that there are certain skills not
obtained at university that are very important in the working world.
Bernd Shulz highlights a point that bolsters other research done on this topic stating
“soft skills complement hard skills, which are the technical requirements of a job the student is
trained to do. (Shulz, para. 1, 2008.)” Neither soft nor technical skills can stand on their own in
most work environments. There are similar characteristics such as teamwork that stretch across
the board no matter where you work. The study further explains the crucial period of
development for these soft skills which Shulz says is during the college years. He emphases soft
skills are also learned by visually seeing them in their professors.
Kate Davidson points out a recent study done by the Wall Street Journal that concluded
“Nearly 58% of employees who touted stellar communication skills were hired over the course
of a year, according to an analysis of 2.3 million LinkedIn profiles for The Wall Street Journal.”
Employers are increasingly looking for workers with strong soft skills (Davidson, para. 5, 2016.)
This study backs up our hypothesis that employers are increasingly looking at these skills in
future employers.
Taking a slightly different approach, Ken Tysiac cites findings that over 50% of CFO’s
prefer technical ability to soft skills. Reason for this however is dependent on the job at hand.
This article looks at the finance and accounting industry in which technological skills are
constantly being updated and hold a higher value than communication or soft skills due to lack
of direct communication with consumers or peers. There is a more individual aspect in certain
lines of work such as finance in which being able to calculate and balance accurately is more
important than teamwork or other soft skills (Tsyiac, 2016).

Methods
As a group we used an experimental method to conduct our research. This type of
research would allow us to put numerical values on the traits we wanted to test to provide a
more specific and evidence based report. Our population is all potential employers. Selected
from this is our sample made up of 40 RPTM employers and 40 non RPTM employers. The
selection comes from a list already obtained by the department. We sent out to the
participating employers 8 made up profiles from Live-It. The profiles were split in half, one half
having of the profiles had a soft skill learned from a leisure experience, while the other half just
stated a leisure experience in their profile. After creating and sending out profiles we also
created an online survey as a follow up to collect some data on what the employers thought
about the profiles. The survey was split into 2 parts as well. The first questions we considered
to be global measures in which the employers, after reading the profiles, surveyed if that
applicant would be a good fit in the workplace, if they have the necessary skills to be in the
workplace, and if they would give the candidate an interview. These answers were on a scale of
1-5 (See table #7).

4
The first part being a measure of global ideas. We asked the employers about 3 “global”
measures, whether they were a good fit, have skills, and would interview in the eyes of the
employer. The second section asked the employers to decide if the employees had shown 14
different characteristics on varying degrees. We only received 32 questionnaires back to
analyze even after sending follow up emails. After collecting all the data we used SPSS software
to analyze and get our results.

(table #7)

Neither agree
Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly agree
nor disagree
disagree (1) disagree (2) agree (4) (5)
(3)
Has the skills I
am looking for     
(1)
I would
    
interview (2)
Seems like a
good fit for my
    
department
(3)

Results
Our sample came from a list provided by the RPTM administration, from these 80
employers we received feedback from 32 of them. Though it is not the most representative
sample, it puts us on a good path.
The first step was our hypothesis testing using SPSS software to compare our global
measures significance between leisure and non-leisure profiles.
Global measures are as follows: “Would they be a good fit in your workplace?”
“Do they have the necessary skills you’re looking for?”
“Would you give this candidate an interview?”
The paired significance results between the profiles were insignificant with the 2 tailed test
values all being above our goal of a .05 p-value as seen on the table below (table 2). For each
global measure paired test the significance was .913, .915, and .380 respectively.

5
 Test (Table 2)
Paired ...

95%
Confidence ...

Upper
t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Pair 1 LGOODFIT - NLGOODFIT .29142 -.111 29 .913
Pair 2 LWLDINTERVIEW - ALL
.33246 .108 29 .915
NLWLDINTERVIEW GREATER
Pair 3 LHASSKILLS - THAN .05
.45495 .891 28 .380
NLHASSKILLS

T-TEST PAIRS= GLGOODFIT GLWLDINTERVIEW GLHASSKILLS WITH

The second set of paired sample statistics were the 14 individual characteristics we asked in the
Qualtrics survey. These characteristics were as follow:
Teamwork Paired Samples Test
(Table 3)
Creativity Paired ...
Communication 95%
Confidence ...
Leadership
Upper
Sig. (2-tailed)
Ambition
Pair 1 LTEAM - NLTEAM .35302 .327
Initiative Pair 2 LCREATE - NLCREATE .90819 .000
Pair 3 LCOMM - NLCOMM .35972 .257
Technical Skill
Pair 4 LLEAD - NLLEAD .25139 1.000
Responsibility Pair 5 LAMBITION -
.32170 .791
NLAMBITION
Work Ethic Pair 8
LRESPON - NLRESPON .17501 1.000
LWORK - NLWORK .41264 .004
Mathematical Ability Pair 9
LMATH - NLMATH .37791 .708
Pair 10
Problem Solving Pair 11 LPROB - NLPROB .42833 .095
LDETAIL - NLDETAIL .39839 .672
Pair 12
Attention to Detail .57176
Pair 13 LFLEX - NLFLEX .006
.57622
Flexibility Pair 14 LWRITING - NLWRITING .007

Writing Ability

6
As you can see in table 3, there appears to be no statistical significance for 10 of the 14
characteristics meaning there isn’t a difference to employers whether you obtained those skills
through leisure or not. The 4 characteristics that did however show to be significant were
Creativity, Work Ethic, Attention to Detail, and Writing Ability with p-values of .000, .004, .006,
and .007 respectively.
Post Hoc Test: In our final question we asked which candidate they would hire for their
company and the majority (42%), said they would choose John Smith. His resume displayed the
most detailed learning experiences and soft skills acquired from them.

Here in table 4 you can see the Post Hoc Test in which we asked which candidate the employer
would chose to hire. It’s clear that John Smith was identified as the most qualified with 42.9%
of the employers selecting him.

GB Overall which candidate do you think would be the best hire for your company... (table 4)

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Brooke Mills II 4 12.5 13.3 13.3
Curtis Daniel II 8 25.0 26.7 40.0
Amanda Smith I 4 12.5 13.3 53.3
John Smith I 14 43.8 46.7 100.0
Total 30 93.8 100.0
Missing System 2 6.3
Total 32 100.0

7
Conclusion/Discussion
Our biggest limitation to our research was the sample we got. It would have been more
beneficial with a representative sample of the population as well as maybe just testing all
business classified organizations and then all recreation organizations and compare to see
which industries value different skills.
Along with this I would add that in the profiles while one had an explanation as the why
their leisure experience taught them a soft skill and I think that just having that more
information will make you a more desirable candidate than just stating the activity.
As discussed in the literature review many scholars have varying opinions on the degree
of how much soft skills matter today. To most of their points, these soft skills can’t stand alone.
You need some sort of technical ability to be able to complete the task or job at hand. Some
jobs need much more technical ability and less social ability due to their line of work. For
instance, a digital designer may not need to be able to present or speak publically, but they
don’t need to. These soft skills for some people only compliment their abilities. But say for a
camp director, I’m sure more and more people are looking for someone with exceptional
communication and interpersonal skills due to the decline and face to face contact in today’s
society. I believe that over time with technology, people’s interpersonal skills have declined and
so employers are looking for those things as an added bonus to their technical resume. Our
experiment supports that idea as 4 traits were looked very highly upon by employers in all
different industries showing the significance those soft skills can play in your resume.

References
Andrews, Higler (2010.) Graduate Employability, ‘Soft Skills’ Versus ‘Hard’ Business Knowledge:
A European Study. Taylor & Francis. (peer reviewed journal)
Darlene, Z. (2011.) What are soft skills and why are they important? Resume Edge.
Davidson, Kate (2016.) The soft skills employers are looking for, Wall Street Journal.
Shulz, Bernd (2008.) The importance of soft skills: Education beyond academic knowledge.
Nambia University. (reviewed journal)
Tysiac, Ken. (2016.) What’s more important: Technical ability or soft skills? CGMA Magazine.

8
Qualtrics Survey

RPTM_433W_Experimental_Team_Survey_B

Q45 Welcome to our survey! We appreciate your time and expertise in responding to this survey. Your
insights and opinions are valuable to us in learning about what skills and characteristics you value when
considering recent college graduates for positions you might have in your department.

9
Q22 First we would like you to help us understand the general characteristics that are important to you when
you consider hiring recent college graduates.

Q17 How important are the following skills and characteristics to you when considering hiring a recent
college graduate?

Not at all Slightly Fairly important Very important

important (1) important (2) (3) (4)
Teamwork (1)    
Creativity (2)    
Communication
   
Skills (3)
Leadership Skills (4)    
Ambition (5)    
Initiative (6)    
Computer/Technical
   
Skills (7)
Responsibility (8)    
Work Ethic (9)    
Mathematic Skills
   
(10)
Problem Solving
   
Skills (11)
Detail Orientation
   
(12)
Flexibility (13)    
Writing skills (14)    
Ability to conduct
   
research (15)

Q16 Please view the following four profiles of fictitious students who will be graduating in May 2017 from
Penn State. Each profile will be followed by a series of rating scales by which you will be able to assess how
well the profile of the students demonstrate a set of skills and characteristics.

10
Q48

11
Q49

12
Q9 How well does the profile for Brooke Mills II demonstrate the following skills and characteristics?

A fair amount A great deal I cannot tell

Not at all (1) A little bit (2)
(3) (4) (5)
Teamwork (1)     
Creativity (2)     
Communication
    
Skills (3)
Leadership Skills (4)     
Ambition (5)     
Initiative (6)     
Computer/Technical
    
Skills (7)
Responsibility (8)     
Strong Work Ethic
    
(9)
Strong Mathematic
    
Skills (10)
Problem Solving
    
Skills (11)
Detail Orientation
    
(12)
Flexibility (13)     
Writing skills (14)     

Q47 Please respond to the following about Brooke Mills II as if you had an open position for which you were
hiring.

Neither agree
Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly agree
nor disagree
disagree (1) disagree (2) agree (4) (5)
(3)
Has the skills I
am looking for     
(1)
I would
    
interview (2)
Seems like a
    
good fit for my

13
department
(3)

14
Q33

15
Q50

16
Q28 How well does the profile for Curtis Daniel II demonstrate the following skills and characteristics?

A fair amount A great deal I cannot tell

Not at all (1) A little bit (2)
(3) (4) (5)
Teamwork (1)     
Creativity (2)     
Communication
    
Skills (3)
Leadership Skills (4)     
Ambition (5)     
Initiative (6)     
Computer/Technical
    
Skills (7)
Responsibility (8)     
Strong Work Ethic
    
(9)
Strong Mathematic
    
Skills (10)
Problem Solving
    
Skills (11)
Detail Orientation
    
(12)
Flexibility (13)     
Writing skills (14)     

17
Q29 Please respond to the following about Curtis Daniel II as if you had an open position for which you were
hiring.

Neither agree
Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly agree
nor disagree
disagree (1) disagree (2) agree (4) (5)
(3)
Has the skills I
am looking for     
(1)
I would
    
interview (2)
Seems like a
good fit for my
    
department
(3)

18
Q35

19
Q34

20
Q51

21
Q37 How well does the profile for Amanda Smith I demonstrate the following skills and characteristics?

A fair amount A great deal I cannot tell

Not at all (1) A little bit (2)
(3) (4) (5)
Teamwork (1)     
Creativity (2)     
Communication
    
Skills (3)
Leadership Skills (4)     
Ambition (5)     
Initiative (6)     
Computer/Technical
    
Skills (7)
Responsibility (8)     
Strong Work Ethic
    
(9)
Strong Mathematic
    
Skills (10)
Problem Solving
    
Skills (11)
Detail Orientation
    
(12)
Flexibility (13)     
Writing skills (14)     

22
Q38 Please respond to the following about Amanda Smith I as if you had an open position for which you were
hiring.

Neither agree
Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly agree
nor disagree
disagree (1) disagree (2) agree (4) (5)
(3)
Has the skills I
am looking for     
(1)
I would
    
interview (2)
Seems like a
good fit for my
    
department
(3)

23
Q40

24
Q39

25
Q41 How well does the profile for John Smith I demonstrate the following skills and characteristics?

A fair amount A great deal I cannot tell

Not at all (1) A little bit (2)
(3) (4) (5)
Teamwork (1)     
Creativity (2)     
Communication
    
Skills (3)
Leadership Skills (4)     
Ambition (5)     
Initiative (6)     
Computer/Technical
    
Skills (7)
Responsibility (8)     
Strong Work Ethic
    
(9)
Strong Mathematic
    
Skills (10)
Problem Solving
    
Skills (11)
Detail Orientation
    
(12)
Flexibility (13)     
Writing skills (14)     

26
Q42 Please respond to the following about John Smith I as if you had an open position for which you were
hiring.

Neither agree
Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly agree
nor disagree
disagree (1) disagree (2) agree (4) (5)
(3)
Has the skills I
am looking for     
(1)
I would
    
interview (2)
Seems like a
good fit for my
    
department
(3)

Q11 Overall which canadate do you think would be the best hire for your company?

 Brooke Mills II (1)

 Curtis Daniel II (2)
 Amanda Smith I (3)
 John Smith I (4)

Q1 Are you male or female?

 Male (1)
 Female (2)
 Other (3)

27
Q6 How would you classify your business or industry?

 Business (1)
 Commercial Recreation (2)
 Community Recreation (3)
 Engineering (4)
 Environmental Interpretation or Education (5)
 Forestry (6)
 Health (7)
 Human Services (8)
 Manufacturing (9)
 Parks and Conservation (10)
 Public Adminstration (11)
 Technology (12)
 Tourism (13)
 Other (14)

Q2 How long have you worked in this industry?

 Less than 1 year (1)

 1 to 2 years (2)
 3 to 5 years (3)
 5 to 10 years (4)
 Over 10 years (5)

Q3 How long have you had your current position?

 Less than 1 year (1)

 1 to 2 years (2)
 3 to 5 years (3)
 5 to 10 years (4)
 Over 10 years (5)

Q4 What year were you born?

Q5 What was your undergraduate major when you were in college?

28
Q45 Thank you very much for your participation in our study and your support of Penn State students and
our Recreation, Park and Tourism Management class. Your perspectives are very valuable to us. Please
submit your responses by clicking on the arrows on the bottom right hand corner.

29