In France, as in the majority of developed countries, many studies are interested in the skills expected by employers and in particular in social skills. The pioneering works of Green et al. (1999) in Britain have emphasized the weight of certain skills pertaining to relations, attitudes, and motivation in the recruitment phase, which are reportedly more important for employers than technical skills. The need to work as part of a team, autonomy, and absence of hierarchical supervision supposedly accentuate a growing call for social, relational, and emotional skills on the level of human resources policies (Green, 2004; Borghans et al., 2006). These skills must be developed and promoted to improve the employability of individuals (Piopiunik et al., 2020).

However, these more generic and cross-cutting competencies are particularly difficult to define.

Although some researchers prefer to see them in terms of personality traits (Semeijn et al., 2005), other studies prefer the term “soft skills”, that is a set of skills that relate more to “people skills” and less to theoretical knowledge. These skills supposedly depend on the ability of individuals to react with others and unlike “hard skills” are supposedly less specific to jobs or branches of study. One can ask whether social skills represent a large vision of human capital or if these skills redefine cultural capital. In other words, social skills can refer to the habitus concept (Bourdieu, 1980). In fact, social skills can be acquired by a process of socialization and can reflect values and norms.

In France, soft skills influence the highest salaries in particular, they are important for the most highly skilled jobs (Albandea and Giret, 2018): for example perseverance and self-esteem may be particularly needed for high-skilled and high-paying jobs. Bowles and Gintis (1976) already showed that non-cognitive skills could explain labour market outcomes. Yet, they assume that the education given to the children of workers, which generally consists of compulsory education only, will be limited to the instruction of attitudes necessary for working-class tasks (being punctual, appropriated-dress, etc). On the other hand, higher education, which is generally reserved for children of the middle and upper classes, provides an education necessary for the tasks of management and innovation.

Moreover, soft skills are close to cultural capital. In fact, social skills are developed at a very young age and this development is greatly influenced by the family environment (Espring-Andersen, 2005). So we assume that people with low qualifications are less well off in terms of cultural capital and thus of certain non-cognitive skills (Tsakarissianos, 2008). Hence the interest of understanding how employers identify these qualities sought in this profile of candidates.

Thus, this paper proposes to question these qualities close to non-cognitive skills that are valued in low-skilled jobs and therefore in people with low-level of diploma. In particular, we are interested in VET graduates. We investigate how employers identify these qualities sought in this profile of candidates. Is degree and training enough to signal this level of social competence? In this case, it can be assumed that they value the “school form of social relations” (Robert, 2013) as able to instill “good manners” in young people (David, 2021). Or do employers rely on other signals that can be identified, for example, in job interviews?

Our work is based on a qualitative survey by 30 semi-directive interviews with employers. We diversify our surveyed population in terms of sector of activity and territories: while some are characterized by an unemployment rate close to the national average, others are territories with a low employment rate. We have chosen public and private employers, from secondary (catering, construction industry, etc.) and tertiary (tourism, care, cultural sector, etc.) levels. This study questions the criteria for a good application from the point of view of employers and focuses on the recruitment procedures (selection from curriculum vitae, interviews, role-playing, and aptitude test or from reference, network, after a temporary work period, etc.). We look at how employers justify their candidate selection: do they refer to social skills, and if so, which ones do they favour? What indicators allow them to confirm the presence of the expected skills? We are also concerned with the in-house training: does this influence the type of candidate recruited, in which way? The analyses aim to highlight the criteria perceived as "excellent" by employers who recruit VET graduates with low diploma’s level and to identify the key competences expected. Finally, the study seeks to uncover strong markers (from employers ‘perspective) of these social skills.

We assume that criteria of a “good” application vary greatly depending on the sector of activity, the level of education and the profile of the employer. The work of Gorgeu and Mathieu (2009) shows that a CAP/BEP level diploma is a prerequisite for occupying a position as a worker in the automotive sector, but that a baccalaureate or even a BTS level diploma tends to be the most important recruitment criteria. However, the results differ according to the companies and their recruitment policy, the worker's activity and certain characteristics of the recruiter. Identifying the social competences expected by employers when recruiting candidates for low-skilled jobs can help to renew the classification of social competences expected on the labour market. The clarification of market expectations contributes to helping young people from working-class backgrounds to better comprehend their professional integration.

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