Executives are revamping what they’re looking for in job candidates, as they aim to train a new generation of employees that are savvy with AI but know how to schmooze.
Several company leaders who spoke at Semafor World Economy last week said they are prioritizing interpersonal communication skills over technical ones.
KPMG’s US chief Tim Walsh said the firm is assessing who to hire out of its summer intern class not by how well they perform an audit, but on their critical thinking skills. “I do need the employee because I need them to make client connections. I need them to make human connections,” he said.
Citadel Securities’ Chief People Officer Alex DiLeonardo agreed. “You have to assess [candidates] on behavioral characteristics,” he said. “Those are things like creativity, leadership potential, raw problem-solving ability, commerciality.”
The change stems from how AI is reducing the amount of technical tasks done by juniors — like making slide decks, coding, and performing financial analyses — and directing them towards client-facing work. But social skills are notably a weak spot for the generation of students whose childhood was filled with social media, high school interrupted by COVID, and college years automated with AI.