--- title: HIRING? LOOK FOR TRAITS NOT TALENT description: "Soft skills are the personal qualities that make people easy to work with and they’re key for business success. Here are five important soft skills and the best open-ended interview questions you can ask to help find out whether a candidate is right for your business.\n\nCommunication: Give me an example of when you had to deal with a difficult team member. What did you do to communicate properly?\nAdaptability: Tell me about a time when you were asked to do something for the first time. How did you react? What did you learn?\nCulture fit: What three things are most important to you in a job?\nCollaboration: Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. How did you handle interactions with them?\nTime management: Describe a time you fell behind schedule. 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LOOK FOR TRAITS NOT TALENT Tags: [Business](https://balanceca.nz/blogs/tag/business) --- ![Balance CA](https://balanceca.nz/hubfs/kamato-1.png) [Balance CA](https://balanceca.nz/blogs/author/balance-ca) Updated: June 05, 2023 Jan 20, 2024 3:35:44 PM --- ![](https://web.archive.org/web/20230130124026im_/https://balanceca.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/accfebp4-1024x274.jpg) Soft skills are the personal qualities that make people easy to work with and they’re key for business success. Here are five important soft skills and the best open-ended interview questions you can ask to help find out whether a candidate is right for your business. - **Communication:** Give me an example of when you had to deal with a difficult team member. What did you do to communicate properly? - **Adaptability:** Tell me about a time when you were asked to do something for the first time. How did you react? What did you learn? - **Culture fit:** What three things are most important to you in a job? - **Collaboration:** Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. How did you handle interactions with them? - **Time management:** Describe a time you fell behind schedule. What went wrong and what would you do differently next time?   ![image](https://balanceca.nz/hubfs/raw_assets/public/codfina/images/image_web/Logo_1.png) ##### Balance Whanganui - [0800 480 062](tel:+640800480062) [06 348 0062](tel:+64063480062) - [whanganui@balanceca.nz](mailto:whanganui@balanceca.nz) - 10 Dublin Street, Whanganui, 4500 PO Box 670, Whanganui, 4540 ##### Balance New Plymouth - [06 769 5389](tel:+64067695389) - [newplymouth@balanceca.nz](mailto:newplymouth@balanceca.nz) - 141 Powderham Street PO Box 593, New Plymouth Central, New Plymouth 4310 ##### Balance Stratford - [06 765 6156](tel:+64067656156) - [stratford@balanceca.nz](mailto:stratford@balanceca.nz) - 199 Broadway, Stratford, 4352 PO Box 670, Stratford, 4352 Balance Official 2026. All rights reserved. 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