This interview soft skill is the one hiring managers say gets Gen Z hired
In a Gen Z job interview, the answer that feels shaky to you may be the skill managers connect most with getting hired.
By Maria Lee·
Clear communication was the soft skill 63% of hiring managers said gets Gen Z hired in June 2025. ResumeTemplates.com reported the figure in a June 2025 survey of U.S. hiring managers, published June 1, 2025. But for a nervous Gen Z candidate, the pressure point is immediate: the words have to come out clearly while posture, attention and confidence are also being judged.
6 in 10 managers say soft skills are critical
The same ResumeTemplates.com report said 6 in 10 hiring managers say it is critical for Gen Z candidates to demonstrate strong soft skills. In the same June 2025 report, 53% said Gen Z candidates more often lack soft skills than hard skills.
That puts the interview conversation beside the résumé. A candidate can have the coursework, portfolio or technical background, then still lose ground if the first answer sounds scattered. The 63% clear-communication figure is the hiring upside. The 53% soft-skill concern is the backdrop.
- Clear communication is most likely to get Gen Z hired63%
- Gen Z more often lacks soft skills than hard skills53%
- Work ethic is a top soft skill gap hiring managers observe57%
- Professionalism is a top soft skill gap hiring managers observe49%
- Punctuality is a top soft skill gap hiring managers observe44%
ResumeTemplates.com, June 2025 survey of U.S. hiring managers.
Clear answers can wobble before the words do
Clear communication in an interview is heard through ordinary speaking: how you start, how you explain, how you recover and how you answer the next question. The ResumeTemplates.com figures do not say nerves caused the 63%, 53% or 6 in 10 findings. They do show why the conversation itself carries weight.
If pressure changes your voice, pace or wording, the answer may sound less certain than you meant it to sound. For readers who recognize that pattern, this guide to social anxiety voice change explains the speaking side in plain terms. In the interview room, the manager hears the answer, not the private effort behind it.
The named gaps are not all the same
ResumeTemplates.com said work ethic, professionalism and punctuality were the top soft skill gaps hiring managers observe. The reported shares were 57% for work ethic, 49% for professionalism and 44% for punctuality in the June 2025 report.
Those 3 gaps are not identical to clear communication. Still, an interview is where several signals get judged at once. Showing up on time relates to the 44% punctuality concern. Explaining your role clearly relates to the 63% hiring booster. The same conversation can carry both.
More than half see the missing skill as soft
The 53% figure is important because it compares soft skills with hard skills. More than half of hiring managers in the ResumeTemplates.com report said Gen Z candidates more often lack soft skills than hard skills. That is different from saying candidates cannot do the technical work.
For a nervous candidate, that distinction can help. If your mind races, the problem may not be your knowledge. The risk is that your answer fails to show it. In a room of 100 hiring managers like those described by the report, 53 would put the bigger concern on soft skills.
A 100-manager room makes the stakes clearer
Take the 63% finding as a simple out-of-100 example. In a room of 100 hiring managers like those surveyed, 63 would name clear communication as the soft skill most likely to get Gen Z hired. In the same kind of room, 57 would name work ethic as a top gap.
The other reported gaps would still be visible: 49 out of 100 for professionalism and 44 out of 100 for punctuality. The example does not add a new survey count. It translates the ResumeTemplates.com percentages into the kind of room a candidate can picture before answering the first question.
Every soft-skill signal in the report
Here is the breakdown from the ResumeTemplates.com report used in this story. The rows include the hiring booster, the broad soft-skill concern and the specific gaps named by hiring managers in June 2025.
| Figure | What hiring managers said |
|---|---|
| 63% | Clear communication is the soft skill most likely to get Gen Z hired. |
| 6 in 10 | It is critical for Gen Z to demonstrate strong soft skills. |
| 53% | Gen Z candidates more often lack soft skills than hard skills. |
| 57% | Work ethic is a top soft skill gap hiring managers observe. |
| 49% | Professionalism is a top soft skill gap hiring managers observe. |
| 44% | Punctuality is a top soft skill gap hiring managers observe. |
Hiring-manager views on Gen Z soft skills in the June 2025 ResumeTemplates.com report
The table shows why one shaky answer can feel bigger than one question. Clear communication leads the hiring upside at 63%. The broader concern sits at 6 in 10 and 53%. The named gaps run from 57% to 44%.
What this means for you
If interviews make you nervous, do not practice only the perfect answer. Practice the first sentence, the pause after a question and the recovery line when you lose your place. The ResumeTemplates.com report puts clear communication at 63%, so make your answer easy to follow before you try to make it impressive.
Before the interview, choose a few work stories and say them out loud: the problem, what you did and the result. If your voice tightens, slow the first sentence. If your mind blanks, restart with the main point. Your goal is not perfection. It is being understood.
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