Due to the large number of vacancies in technical and engineering-specific areas, there was a need for a suitability assessment that is primarily tailored to engineers.
As a result of many years of successful cooperation between HR Consult Group AG and geva-institut, an aptitude assessment was developed specifically for engineers: the Soft Skills Check. The geva-institut is a psychological management consultancy specializing in diagnostics and HR consulting.
The scientific know-how of the geva-institute and the many years of experience of HR Consult Group AG were put to good use.
Before the development of aptitude diagnostics for engineers, there was no test for this occupational group that came close to recording and evaluating personal, social and methodological skills with regard to engineering-specific characteristics. Although soft skills tests from various other areas already existed, these fragments were not specifically tailored to engineers.
For many years, HR Consult Group AG has been working closely with the geva-institut, which fulfills all the necessary quality criteria and ensures compliance with the DIN standard.
The good cooperation combines the theoretical development of the procedures and the expertise from real interactions with companies and candidates. This creates a solid basis for the most accurate possible instrument for analyzing personal, social and methodological skills. Even today, the test procedures are constantly being developed further. Strengths are further developed and weaknesses minimized by relying on empirical values.
The Soft Skills Check for Engineers answers questions on the core topics of motivation, behavior, interest, leadership, educational background and activities.
In order to be able to record the different groups of engineers, the degree, age and management, sector, gender, hierarchy and activity are also prerequisites for meaningful evaluations.
These provide an opportunity to form different clusters. A cluster is the totality of several thematically related profiles. In addition to differentiating between the various groups of engineers, this also requires a high number of participating engineers.
In total, more than 1,500 engineers took part in the Soft Skills Check in cooperation with VDI Nachrichten. The engineers became aware of this through the online and print editions of VDI Nachrichten. Only after the large-scale test was it possible to form a wide variety of clusters. For example, according to gender or field of activity.
The figures above clearly show that the industry cluster indicates the areas in which engineers are employed. Engineers are mainly needed and employed in the automotive and machinery and equipment sectors. It is clearly visible in the cluster field of activity that most engineers work in development. Project management is only in second place.
The majority of participating engineers are between 30 and 45 years old. This is also confirmed by the hierarchy. Many of the participants work as specialists or project managers. With the help of the hierarchy cluster, various investigations can be targeted. For example, the hierarchy can be divided into specialist/specialist, project manager, department manager and division/management. This division allows the development of personality traits to be identified and differentiated.
The next article in this series will not only take a closer look at the personality traits that remain the same throughout a career, but also at those traits that are responsible for a career in engineering. Do you know in which personality areas development must take place in order to successfully shape a career?
Image source:
Betz, Armin: Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz - "Ingenieur bleibt Ingenieur", German National Library, 2015, p. 111 f., ISBN 978-3-00-052093-8
About the author
After studying automotive engineering and industrial engineering, he began his professional career in the automotive industry in the areas of sales, development and marketing and also spent a year in Japan with one of the largest automotive suppliers.
He then moved to a globally renowned premium car manufacturer, where he was responsible for product marketing in Japan and South America and for marketing strategy in North and South America.
In 1994, he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consultancy in Munich, where he has been driving development and expansion for over 20 years. As Managing Director, his industry focus is naturally on the automotive world as well as mechanical and plant engineering.
His doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics ideally rounds off his areas of expertise, particularly with regard to personnel and management consulting. The dissertation deals with the identification and verification of typical personality traits of engineers as well as the definition of development areas for a successful professional career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz".
At the same time, his focus is on the development of networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous further development of systems and processes in personnel consulting.
Over the last 20 years in personnel consulting, he has developed several brands that are still operating successfully on the market today.
