Professional competencies are a necessary, but not a sufficient condition. You can hire a brilliant developer or a top-performing sales manager and discover three months later that half the team has handed in their resignation letters. The reason: the person didn't fit the culture, turned out to be unpredictable, or simply didn't know how to work in a team with other people.
For HR professionals, the initial screening is, honestly, a tedious routine. Dozens of intro calls, and by the fifth minute, it's already clear: wrong person. But by that point, you've already spent an hour — yours and the candidate's.
The good news is that if you phrase your screening questions correctly upfront, you can filter out irrelevant candidates before the call even occurs. Here are five methods that let you extract the most information about soft skills with the fewest questions.
5 Methods for In-Depth Soft Skills Assessment
1. Behavioral Interview (STAR)
This method is built on the principle: past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. The question is framed so that the candidate describes a specific situation across four elements:
- S (Situation) — a concrete situation from past experience
- T (Task) — the challenge the candidate faced
- A (Action) — the exact actions they took
- R (Result) — the outcome it led to
Practical questions:
- "Describe a situation where your task priorities shifted mid-process dramatically. What did you do?"
- "Have you ever had a conflict with a colleague? How did you resolve it?"
- "Tell me about a time when you lacked the skills to solve a problem. How did you handle it?"
Key indicator: does the candidate say "I" or "we"? Can they clearly separate their own role from the team's role?
2. Projective Questions
Direct questions about values and attitudes almost always get socially desirable answers — the candidate says what they think the interviewer wants to hear. The projective method bypasses this filter: the question is framed not about the candidate but about "other people", and the person unconsciously projects their own views onto others.
Practical questions:
- "Why do some people stay effective at work for years, while others burn out quickly?"
- "What might cause an employee to quit without notice?"
- "What holds people back from taking on more responsibility?"
Don't listen for the "right answer" — there isn't one. Listen to what the person focuses on: external circumstances or personal choice, fear, or motivation.
3. Situational Questions
Unlike behavioral interviews, these don't draw on real experience — the candidate is given a hypothetical situation, and you assess how they think through it. Especially useful for juniors or when hiring for a role where direct experience may be absent.
Practical questions:
- "A key client is demanding a discount that would make the project unprofitable. What do you do?"
- "You've been moved to a new department where you don't know anyone. What's your first step?"
- "A new employee has joined your department. How do you introduce yourself to them?"
The goal isn't to hear the "right" algorithm — it's to understand whether the person can structure their thinking under conditions of uncertainty.
4. Bipolar Questions
Asking for "3 pros and 3 cons" of something is a simple but effective way to assess critical thinking and objectivity. A person who has no critical perspective either hasn't thought seriously about the topic or is just saying what they think will please you.
Practical questions:
- "Give me 3 pros and 3 cons of working at a startup"
- "Give me 3 pros and 3 cons of remote work"
- "Give me 3 pros and 3 cons of an authoritarian management style"
The last question is especially revealing. If a candidate can't find a single pro in the authoritarian style, that's a signal of low tolerance for ambiguity.
5. Comparative Questions
Instead of questions with a "right answer" — a choice between two equally uncomfortable options. This is where a candidate's real values and priorities show up, not the ones they claim to have.
Practical questions:
- "What's worse for you: a team that missed a deadline but delivered a perfect product — or one that delivered on time but with minor bugs?"
- "Who would you rather have on your team: a lone genius with 2× above-average output but toxic, or an average specialist who gets along perfectly with everyone?"
- "What would you choose: hiding a colleague's critical mistake to preserve the relationship — or reporting it to management, risking team morale but saving the project?"
There's no right answer. There's an answer compatible with your culture — and one that isn't.
How to Automate Screening and Stop Wasting Time on Calls
The questions are ready. Now the challenge is getting answers before the call, not during it. For that, you need a tool that requires no registration from the candidate, creates minimal friction, and automatically collects contact details.
The Telegram bot @moreformbot solves all three: it lets you create a screening form right inside the messenger, the candidate answers the questions in a few minutes, and submits their contact with a single tap.
Setting up the form — 5 steps:
Create a new form in the bot
Click on “Create form” button to create a new formAdd a welcome screen — briefly explain the role and what happens next
Click on “Add welcome page” or select welcome page by clicking plus button and selecting the “Welcome block” type
Configure itOne question per page — each question on a separate screen
Select “Text” type
Configure it (Write questions from the post)
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Request the Telegram contact — automatically, no manual input
Click on plus button and select “Contact” type
Select “Telegram” subtype
Configure it
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Completion screen — thank the candidate and outline the next steps
Select “Ending block” in plus select
Configure it
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Share the form — Publish and share the form
Click on “Publish” button on top right corner of the form page, and confirm it by clicking it again in dialog
Copy the link and share it with interviewee
The result: instead of 100 intro calls, you receive 10 detailed profiles with answers to the most important soft skills questions — and you only call the people who've already passed the first filter.
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