If you’ve ever written a job description and thought, “Well, no one’s going to tick every box, but let’s shoot for the stars,” then you’ll know the struggle of recruiting in IT.
Everyone wants unicorns 🦄: candidates who know every system, every framework, every piece of software under the sun—and can present to the board of directors without breaking a sweat.
But here’s the reality: the candidates who tick every single box? They won’t stick around.
Why? Because if they can already do nearly everything on your list, the role won’t feel like a step forward—it’ll feel like standing still. And in IT, standing still is the fastest way to move backwards.
That’s where transferable skills come in. Let’s break down why they matter, how to spot them, and how to have better conversations with candidates so you’re not just filling a role—you’re hiring for growth.
Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills: The IT Dating Game
Think of hard skills as the tech stack: Python, Azure, Cisco networking, cloud migrations, SQL—you name it. They’re tangible, measurable, and usually easy to list on a CV. “Can you configure a Palo Alto firewall?” is a yes/no question.
Soft skills, on the other hand, are the human operating system. Things like:
Communication
Problem-solving
Adaptability
Collaboration
These are the skills that let someone use their technical knowledge effectively—or even better, help them learn new hard skills faster.
👉 If hard skills are what get you through the door, soft skills are what keep you in the building (and usually, get you promoted).
Why Transferable Skills Are Gold in IT
The IT industry is evolving at warp speed 🚀. Today’s must-have tech is tomorrow’s “oh, that old thing?”
If you only hire for the exact hard skills listed in your job description, you risk filling your team with people who are brilliant right now, but not necessarily adaptable tomorrow.
Transferable skills = resilience.
A candidate who’s a strong communicator, proactive problem-solver, and quick learner can adapt when you decide to migrate from AWS to Azure or switch monitoring tools yet again.
It’s not about hiring someone who knows everything today—it’s about hiring someone who has the skills to adapt, learn, and grow, so they can take on tomorrow’s challenges.
The Myth of the Perfect Match
Let’s be honest: when you write a job spec with 25 bullet points, you don’t actually expect a candidate to tick every single one.
If they did, they’d probably be too senior (and too expensive) for the role anyway. And if they do match every requirement? That’s where the danger lies.
For them, your job isn’t growth—it’s a lateral move. And lateral moves rarely hold people’s interest for long.
Candidates want progression. They want to feel challenged and to stretch into something new. If your role doesn’t offer that, don’t be surprised if they’re polishing their LinkedIn profile again in six months.
The Skills Pie: Be Honest About the Role
Every role looks like a long list of skills—but the truth is, not all skills are used equally.
Imagine the job requires five skills. It’s tempting to assume each one gets equal airtime (20% each). But in reality, it might look more like this:
🛡️ 80% firewall management
🔧 10% network troubleshooting
📊 5% project work
🗂️ 5% everything else
Suddenly, that “all-rounder” role looks very different. For some candidates, that’s exciting—they love firewalls and want to get really deep. For others, it’s a nightmare—they’d be bored rigid after week two.
Transparency sets expectations. Better still, it attracts candidates who genuinely want to do the work as it is, not just how it looks on paper.
How to Qualify Transferable Soft Skills in Interviews
Okay, so how do you actually test for these elusive soft skills? You can’t exactly ask someone, “Are you adaptable?” and expect them to say, “Actually no, I really hate change.”
Instead, look for stories.
Ask questions like:
Problem-solving 🧩: What’s the toughest IT issue you’ve faced, and how did you approach it?
Communication 💬: Can you explain this technical scenario as if to a non-technical stakeholder?
Adaptability 🔄: Tell me about a project that changed direction halfway through. How did you handle it?
Learning agility 📚: What’s the last new skill or technology you picked up? How did you learn it?
The goal isn’t to hear the “perfect” answer—it’s to understand how they think, behave under pressure, and approach growth.
Flip the Script: What Do They Want to Learn?
One of the most overlooked—but powerful—interview questions is:
💡 “Which skills do you want to use more of, and which ones do you want to develop?”
This does two things:
Shows you what actually motivates the candidate.
Helps you assess if your role will deliver on that motivation.
Because here’s the thing: a candidate who wants to learn a skill will often outperform one who already knows it but isn’t excited by it.
👉 Enthusiasm drives effort. Effort drives results.
The Win-Win of Hiring for Growth
When you hire someone with transferable skills, you’re not just filling today’s gap—you’re investing in tomorrow’s capability.
You’re creating a role where the person grows, stays engaged, and sticks around longer. And in IT, where retention is a major headache, that’s worth its weight in gold.
Final Thoughts
In IT, the only constant is change. Hiring for hard skills alone is like buying software that’s already end-of-life—it works fine for now, but it won’t last long.
Hire for transferable soft skills, and you’re hiring people who can evolve with your company. People who’ll still be valuable when today’s shiny tool is tomorrow’s legacy system.
So next time you’re hiring, remember:
🦄 You don’t need a unicorn.
✨ You need someone who can grow into one.
