Whittling down a list of hundreds, possibly thousands, of job applicants to a few shortlisted candidates isn’t easy, especially for highly complex and sensitive positions in international development.
So it’s no wonder that recruiters are always on the lookout for effective ways to screen applicants for crucial hard and soft skills.
“Ultimately, you’ve got two sets of skills — technical skills, which a reasonably bright person can learn, and behavioral skills, which is the side that’s much harder to teach,” said Michael Hathorn, senior partner at Optimis, a human capital management firm based in Switzerland that works with a variety of organizations throughout Asia, the United States, Europe and Africa ranging from technology to United Nations agencies.
About the author
Kelli Rogers@kellierin
Kelli Rogers has worked as an Associate Editor and Southeast Asia Correspondent for Devex, with a particular focus on gender. Prior to that, she reported on social and environmental issues from Nairobi, Kenya. Kelli holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and has reported from more than 20 countries.
