Why Tech Recruiters Should Look Beyond CVs: Soft Skills That Matter 

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Key Takeaways  

• Technical skills show what a person can do, but soft skills show how they will do it. 

• Old CV screening often missed qualities like teamwork, communication, and adaptability. 

• Nearly 9 out of 10 recruiters say bad hires usually fail because of poor soft skills, not technical gaps. 

• In 2025, the most important soft skills in tech hiring are communication, adaptability, problem-solving, teamwork, and emotional intelligence. 

• Fortray uses fair tools and real-life tests to measure both technical and soft skills together. 

• Companies that focus on soft skills see better teamwork, lower turnover, and faster onboarding. 

When hiring for tech roles, recruiters usually look at technical skills like coding languages, frameworks, or certifications. These are easy to measure and feel like the safest way to judge a candidate. A quick scan of a CV or a coding test can show if someone knows Python, Java, or cloud platforms. Hard skills are clear and directly match the job description. But soft skills are harder to spot. They don’t come with certificates, yet they often decide whether a candidate succeeds or fails.  

In today’s fast-changing tech world, success is not just about writing perfect code. It is more about how well someone works with others, explains ideas, and adapts when things shift. A skilled developer who can’t communicate with teammates, handle client needs, or adjust to new priorities may end up holding the project back.