Skills and interests
The Skills & Interests section helps you understand what motivates each candidate and the strengths they are most likely to bring to the workplace. Unlike a traditional CV, urfuture combines self-reported skills and interests with behavioural insights to build a more complete picture of every applicant. This gives hiring managers additional context when assessing suitability for a role.
A candidate's skills highlight the abilities they have developed through work, education, volunteering or personal experience.
These can include technical skills as well as transferable skills that are valuable across many roles.
Examples include:
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Leadership
- Customer service
- Organisation
- Problem solving
- Time management
- IT and digital skills
- Data analysis
- Sales
- Project management
Skills help you understand what a candidate is capable of today and can support shortlisting alongside behavioural matching.
Interests
Interests provide insight into the activities, industries and subjects that naturally engage a candidate.
Understanding interests can help identify candidates who are genuinely motivated by a role or sector.
Examples include:
- Technology
- Healthcare
- Engineering
- Finance
- Retail
- Creative industries
- Sport
- Sustainability
- Travel
- Gaming
- Education
Candidates with a genuine interest in an industry are often more engaged and may be more likely to remain in a role long term.
How Skills & Interests are Used
Skills and interests are used to boost a candidate's profile and help employers make more informed hiring decisions.
They can help you:
- Better understand each applicant.
- Compare candidates with similar experience.
- Identify transferable strengths.
- Recognise genuine career interests.
- Support more informed interview questions.
- Build stronger shortlists alongside behavioural matching.
Skills and interests are not used in isolation to determine suitability. They form part of a wider candidate profile that also considers behavioural compatibility, experience and role requirements.
Best Practice
When reviewing candidates:
- Look for transferable skills as well as direct experience.
- Consider whether the candidate's interests align with the role or industry.
- Use skills and interests alongside behavioural match scores.
- Avoid making decisions based on a single skill or interest.
- Use this information to guide interview conversations and explore a candidate's potential.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can candidates update their skills and interests?
Yes. Candidates can keep their profile up to date by adding new skills and interests as they gain experience.
Are skills verified?
Skills are provided by the candidate as part of their profile and should be considered alongside interviews, assessments and any recruitment processes your organisation uses.
Do skills affect behavioural matching?
Behavioural matching is based on the candidate's behavioural profile and the role persona. Skills and interests provide additional context to help recruiters make informed decisions but do not replace behavioural matching.