TL;DR: How Can You Assess Soft Skills in SEO Hiring?
With high turnover and remote work on the rise, SEO agencies must prioritise soft-skill screening. Use targeted CV keywords, application questions, portfolio checks, and a soft-skills scorecard to identify and rank strategic thinking, communication, resilience, and other critical interpersonal strengths.
Key Takeaways
Soft skills now matter most: Communication (25%), problem-solving (21%) and time management (19%) top the list for SEO hires.
Remote/hybrid demand: Strong interpersonal skills are essential when teams aren’t co-located.
K ey CV signals: Look for action-oriented keywords (e.g. “conflict resolution,” “mentoring”), relevant role responsibilities, and social-proof on LinkedIn.
Application filters: Include a hypothetical soft-skills question (e.g., handling client deadlines or escalations) to both weed out low-effort applicants and reveal problem-solving style.
Portfolio & interview checks: Assess past team leadership wins, awards or bottleneck management during a short team interview.
Scorecard assessment: Rate each candidate’s top ten soft skills on a 1–10 scale – then total for an objective ranking out of 100.
Why Are Soft Skills Critical for SEO Agencies Today?
The most noteworthy trend that we are noticing in our network of SEO agency hiring managers, is that they are prioritising strong soft skills in new hires.
“The most valuable soft skill for recruits is communication (25%), followed by problem-solving (21%) and time management (19%).”
– Bryan Robinson, Ph.D.
Author of Chained to the Desk in a Hybrid World: A Guide to Balance.
If your agency offers hybrid or remote work, great soft skills are a must.
It is well-known that hard skills are easier to test and hire for.
But, it’s the soft skills which enhance those hard skills that make a great employee.
Soft skills help prime hard skills and sell them best, to the hiring manager, to the team and even the business.
Hiring managers face a big bottleneck:
They need to quickly assess the strength of soft skills on a CV.
And unfortunately, CVs don’t highlight soft skills well.
So, evaluating them takes too long.
Fortunately, we’ve had experience attracting, vetting and placing forward only the strongest of candidates.
In the process, viewing hundreds of CVs, and helping to quickly identify how soft skills are best relayed on a CV
We also aim to ask clients what personality traits have, and have not worked for them in the past.
This helps us to target the soft skills we need to find, which also helps the agency think about what their general work culture is like, too.
Today, we’ll reveal how we assess soft skills on a CV. Then, we’ll help you efficiently evaluate the best applicants.
What Soft Skills do SEO Teams Value Most?
Based on our work with SEO agencies, the top 10 soft skills for thriving teams include:
Strategic thinking
Negotiation
Presentation skills
Critical thinking
Mentoring
Emotional intelligence
Innovation
Financial management
Persuasion
Resilience
These skills amplify technical expertise and are often the difference between a good hire and a great one.
How Do You Spot Soft Skills on a CV?
Since CVs don’t always highlight soft skills clearly, you’ll need to dig deeper:
Look for keywords/phrases like “collaboration,” “conflict resolution,” “time management,” or “client-facing.”
Check job experience: Review responsibilities and achievements, not just job titles.
Review LinkedIn/social proof: Posts, recommendations, and interactions often reveal communication style, problem-solving, and professionalism.
How Can You Evaluate the Strength of Soft Skills?
Beyond CVs, you need structured ways to test for soft skills. Here are three effective approaches:
1. Add Hypothetical Questions in the Application
Ask candidates to respond to real-life SEO scenarios. Example for an SEO Manager:
“A client requests an urgent deadline that your team cannot meet. How would you handle this?”
“A client questions your monthly SEO work, saying they don’t understand what you’re doing. How do you respond?”
“A client gets frustrated in a meeting due to poor conversions. How do you de-escalate?”
This reveals problem-solving, negotiation, and emotional intelligence.
2. Assess Portfolios Against Achievements
Look for examples where they:
Led a team to achieve measurable wins
Solved bottlenecks in workflows
Scaled or mentored a team
Contributed to client retention or growth
3. Run Short Interviews with Team Members
Sometimes the best way to test communication, resilience, and collaboration is by having them interact with potential teammates.
What’s a Practical Way to Score Soft Skills?
Use a Soft Skills Scorecard to evaluate candidates consistently:
| Soft Skill | Question/Assessment | Rating (1–10) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic thinking | How do they prioritise in complex projects? | ||
| Negotiation | How do they handle client pushback? | ||
| Presentation skills | Can they explain SEO clearly to non-SEOs? | ||
| Critical thinking | Do they challenge assumptions with evidence? | ||
| Mentoring | Have they supported junior teammates? | ||
| Emotional intelligence | How do they manage stress and conflict? | ||
| Innovation | Have they suggested new tools or processes? | ||
| Financial management | Can they tie SEO to business ROI? | ||
| Persuasion | Can they influence clients/execs effectively? | ||
| Resilience | How do they bounce back from setbacks? |
Total: /100
FAQs
Q: Which soft skills are most valuable for SEO roles?
A: Communication, problem-solving and time management lead the way, followed by strategic thinking, emotional intelligence and resilience.
Q: How can I spot soft skills on a CV?
A: Scan for specific keywords/phrases, review detailed role responsibilities (not just titles), and check the candidate’s LinkedIn posts and endorsements for real-world examples.
Q: What type of application question reveals soft-skill strength?
A: Pose a realistic scenario – like negotiating extra project time or defusing an unhappy client – and evaluate the applicant’s structured, empathetic response.
Q: How do I use a soft-skills scorecard?
A: List your top ten soft-skill categories, assign each a 1–10 rating based on the candidate’s written answer or interview performance, then sum for a final score out of 100.
Q: Why include portfolio and interview checks?
A: Portfolios highlight concrete achievements (team wins, awards), while a brief team interview uncovers communication style, leadership presence and cultural fit.
