Evaluating Candidates: The 5 Key Skills for Success Across Various Roles

Sales…

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about a key skill to be successful in a sales role? Maybe it’s persuasion. Maybe it’s relationship building. Or maybe it’s resilience.

The truth is, a stellar salesperson requires a blend of various skills. But, which skills should we prioritize when adding new salespeople to our teams?

To answer this, I thought it would be interesting to dig into the tens of thousands of interviews that have been conducted within Pillar to uncover the skills our customers are evaluating in salespeople - as well as in other popular roles.

So, let’s get into it - the top 5 skills to evaluate candidates for across the top 5 roles our customers are currently hiring for.

Sales 

1. Active Listening
   Understanding customer needs and responding appropriately is key to tailoring pitches and providing relevant solutions, fostering trust and satisfaction.
   
   
2. Communication Skills
   Effective verbal and written communication is crucial for conveying product benefits, addressing customer concerns, and building rapport with clients.
   
   
3. Negotiation
   The ability to successfully negotiate terms and conditions is essential for closing deals. By negotiating skillfully, salespeople can achieve more favorable terms and prices, increasing the overall profitability of their sales.
   
   
4. Resilience and Adaptability
   Sales can be a challenging field with frequent rejections. Resilience helps candidates persevere, while adaptability allows them to adjust strategies based on market changes and customer feedback.
   
   
5. Relationship Building
   Developing and maintaining strong relationships with clients leads to long-term business and referrals. This skill involves empathy, trustworthiness, and the ability to provide ongoing value.

Engineering 

1. Technical Proficiency
   Deep knowledge of relevant programming languages, software tools, and engineering principles is essential. Candidates should demonstrate the ability to apply their technical skills effectively in real-world scenarios.
   
   
2. Problem-Solving Skills
   The ability to identify, analyze, and solve complex problems is crucial. Candidates should show their approach to troubleshooting and developing innovative solutions.
   
   
3. Collaboration and Teamwork
   Engineering projects often require collaboration with cross-functional teams. Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work well in a team environment are important for success.
   
   
4. Attention to Detail
   Precision is key in engineering work to avoid errors and ensure high-quality outcomes. Candidates should exhibit meticulous attention to detail in their work processes and outputs.
   
   
5. Adaptability and Continuous Learning
   The engineering field is constantly evolving, so the ability to adapt to new technologies, methodologies, and industry trends is vital. Candidates should demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning and professional growth.

Marketing 

1. Creativity
   The ability to develop innovative and compelling campaigns, content, and strategies is crucial for capturing and maintaining audience interest.
   
   
2. Analytical Skills
   Strong analytical abilities are essential for interpreting data, understanding market trends, and measuring the effectiveness of marketing efforts. This includes proficiency with tools like Google Analytics, marketing automation platforms, and CRM systems.
   
   
3. Communication Skills
   Excellent verbal and written communication skills are necessary for crafting engaging messages, creating persuasive content, and collaborating with team members and stakeholders.
   
   
4. Digital Marketing Proficiency
   Familiarity with digital marketing channels such as social media, email marketing, SEO, PPC, and content marketing is important for executing comprehensive marketing strategies.
   
   
5. Project Management
   The ability to plan, execute, and manage multiple projects simultaneously is vital in a fast-paced marketing environment. Strong organizational skills and the ability to meet deadlines are key components of this skill.

Customer Success 

1. Communication Skills
   Strong verbal and written communication is essential for effectively interacting with customers, understanding their needs, and providing clear, helpful responses.
   
   
2. Empathy
   The ability to understand and relate to customers' experiences and emotions is crucial for building strong relationships and providing personalized support.
   
   
3. Problem-Solving Skills
   Customer success professionals must be adept at identifying issues, devising solutions, and ensuring that customer problems are resolved efficiently and effectively.
   
   
4. Product Knowledge
   In-depth understanding of the company’s products or services allows customer success managers to provide accurate information, troubleshoot issues, and offer relevant advice to customers.
   
   
5. Proactivity
   Being proactive in anticipating customer needs, reaching out to address potential issues before they escalate, and continuously looking for ways to improve the customer experience is key to success in this role.

Talent Acquisition 

1. Communication Skills
   Effective verbal and written communication is crucial for interacting with candidates, hiring managers, and other stakeholders. This includes conducting interviews, providing feedback, and crafting clear job descriptions.
   
   
2. Interpersonal Skills
   Strong interpersonal abilities are essential for building relationships with candidates, understanding their motivations, and creating a positive candidate experience. This also includes networking and collaboration with team members.
   
   
3. Analytical Skills
   The ability to analyze data, such as recruitment metrics and trends, to make informed decisions about hiring strategies and improve the recruitment process is vital.
   
   
4. Attention to Detail
   Precision in reviewing resumes, conducting interviews, and managing recruitment processes ensures that the right candidates are selected and that compliance with regulations is maintained.
   
   
5. Adaptability
   The recruitment landscape can change rapidly, so the ability to adapt to new tools, techniques, and market conditions is important. This includes staying current with industry trends and best practices.

As you’ve read through this, you might be thinking “why 5 skills”? When we look at the data, we’ve found that it’s possible to cover 5-7 key skills or competencies in sufficient depth in a 60-minute interview. I touch more on this in a recent blog on common interview benchmarks.

I can't emphasize enough how crucial it is to adopt a skills-based approach in your hiring process to ensure you select the best talent, and hopefully learning from the interviews our customers have conducted in Pillar has been helpful.

If you’re wondering where to go next, I recommend applying these key skills to an interview guide focused on skills-based questions. For some help here, you can give our AI-generated interview guide a spin. All you have to do is paste your job description, and our AI will generate the interview questions you should be asking to guarantee you make the right hiring decision.

If there’s a role you’re consistently hiring for that isn’t mentioned above, send me a DM here, and I can shoot over the skills I’d recommend you evaluate for.

Because after all - great teams start with great interviews,

Mark Simpson
Founder & CEO