Beyond the Code: A Manager’s Guide to Assessing Soft Skills in Tech

HRinder

• 2 min read
Beyond the Code: A Manager’s Guide to Assessing Soft Skills in Tech

We’ve all been there. You hire a "rockstar" developer whose GitHub profile is a sea of green, only to find out three weeks later that they refuse to take feedback, steamroll junior devs in meetings and write documentation that looks like ancient hieroglyphics.

In modern software development, technical skills are the baseline but soft skills are the multiplier. A developer with a 10/10 technical ability but a 2/10 communication score is a bottleneck.

If you want to build a high-performing team, you need to change how you interview. Here is a framework for assessing the "Human Operating System".

The Cost of "Technical-Only" Hiring

When we ignore soft skills, we accrue Cultural Debt. Much like technical debt, cultural debt slows down velocity. It leads to:

  • Fragmented communication.
  • Low morale and high turnover.
  • Solutions that don't actually meet user needs.

4 Strategies to Identify High-EQ Engineers

1. Test for "The Curse of Knowledge"

Being an expert is useless if you can’t explain your work to a stakeholder.

  • The Task: Ask the candidate to explain a technical concept to a 10-year-old.
  • The Goal: You are looking for empathy. Can they step out of their own head and understand the listener’s perspective?

2. The Collaborative Debugging Session

Pair programming shouldn't just be about finding the bug; it’s about the "vibe" of the collaboration.

  • The Strategy: During a live session, suggest a solution that is intentionally slightly inefficient.
  • The Signal: Do they shut you down immediately? Or do they say, "That’s an interesting approach; let’s look at how that impacts our memory usage compared to X"?

3. Evaluate "Conflict Resolution"

Avoid the "What is your greatest weakness?" question. It’s a dead end.

  • The Strategy: Ask about a specific time a project failed or a deadline was missed.
  • The Signal: Do they point fingers at the "clueless PM" or the "buggy API"? Or do they take extreme ownership and discuss what they would do differently next time?

4. Curiosity Over Ego

The tech landscape of 2026 moves faster than ever. A candidate who knows everything today but isn't curious will be obsolete by next year.

  • The Strategy: Ask what they’ve learned in the last six months that had nothing to do with their job description.
  • The Signal: Passionate learners will light up. This shows adaptability, the most important soft skill in a shifting market.

Final Thoughts: Hiring for "Culture Add", Not "Culture Fit"

"Culture fit" is often a mask for unconscious bias. Instead, look for Culture Add. Ask yourself: Does this person bring a perspective or a communication style that our team is currently lacking?

By shifting your interview focus from "What can they build?" to "How do they build with others?", you ensure that your team remains resilient, scalable and - most importantly - human.