Technical vs. soft skills
In engineering talent acquisition, there’s a persistent tension between prioritising technical expertise and valuing interpersonal capabilities. At The Thrive Team, our experience recruiting for aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, defence, marine, and nuclear sectors has shown that the most successful engineering teams aren’t simply collections of technical virtuosos, they’re balanced ecosystems where diverse skills complement each other.
The traditional technical focus
Historically, engineering recruitment has heavily favoured technical proficiency. This focus isn’t without reason. Engineering roles require specific knowledge and abilities that are foundational to effective performance. Technical skills are also relatively straightforward to assess through coding tests, technical interviews, and portfolio reviews.
Yet this traditional approach has limitations that become increasingly apparent as organisations evolve. Teams staffed exclusively for technical brilliance often struggle with communication breakdowns, project misalignments, and cultural friction that ultimately undermine the technical achievements they were hired to deliver.
The rising value of soft skills
The term “soft skills” somewhat misleadingly suggests secondary importance. There’s nothing “soft” about their impact on engineering outcomes. These human capabilities include communication clarity, empathetic collaboration, adaptable learning, conflict resolution, and resilient problem-solving.
In modern engineering environments, these skills translate directly to business value. Engineers with strong interpersonal capabilities help overcome the gap between technical possibilities and human needs, ultimately creating solutions that people actually use and value.
Finding the balance in engineering recruitment
Rather than viewing technical and interpersonal skills as competing priorities, forward-thinking organisations approach them as complementary dimensions of engineering excellence.
The starting point is honest assessment of your current engineering team composition. Understanding your specific imbalance informs targeted recruitment to address gaps.
At Thrive Engineering Search, we work with our clients to develop a comprehensive assessment approach that evaluates technical capabilities and interpersonal skills relevant to specific engineering disciplines. For safety case engineers, this might mean assessing both their analytical rigour and their ability to communicate complex risk analyses to regulatory stakeholders. For project managers in charging network infrastructure, we might evaluate both their technical understanding of grid connectivity and their capability to coordinate cross-functional teams.
The assessment challenge in technical recruitment
While technical skills assessment has established methodologies, interpersonal capabilities can be more challenging to evaluate. Behavioural interviewing provides one approach, asking candidates to describe specific past situations where they demonstrated relevant capabilities.
Reference checking becomes particularly valuable when assessing soft skills, and some organisations incorporate team-based assessments where candidates collaborate with existing team members on simulated projects.
From recruitment to development
A balanced approach extends beyond hiring to development planning. Technical skills typically receive structured development attention. Interpersonal capabilities deserve equally deliberate development through coaching, feedback systems, and intentional stretch assignments.
Creating balanced development paths signals to engineering talent that both dimensions are valued. This approach attracts candidates who want holistic growth rather than narrow technical advancement. These are often the very engineers who will drive sustainable team success in aerospace, defence, automotive, and other complex engineering sectors.
The competitive advantage of balance
In markets where technical talent remains scarce, organisations that value both technical excellence and human skills gain a significant competitive advantage. They build teams that not only solve complex problems but also understand which problems are worth solving.
At The Thrive Team, our Thrive Engineering Search specialises in identifying and recruiting balanced engineering talent across multiple disciplines. Our quality-first approach ensures every candidate is rigorously assessed not just for technical capability but for cultural alignment and interpersonal effectiveness.
We believe the future belongs to organisations that recognise engineering as both a technical discipline and a profoundly human endeavour. By valuing both dimensions equally, you build teams that deliver not just code or components, but meaningful impact through technical excellence applied with human wisdom.
If you’d like to discuss how to implement a balanced recruitment approach for your engineering team, contact us to explore our Thrive Engineering Search services across sectors that include aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, defence, marine, and nuclear.
