Frustration-Free Staffing

Application Portal  |  Client Login  |  Employee Login  |  847.625.5676

Bridge Insights

9 Soft Skills for Document Control Professionals

Nov 25, 2019

Document control specialists play a key role in the flow of an organization.  The documents they create and standardize are followed throughout a business, which ultimately results in increased operational efficiencies, product quality, and customer satisfaction.  Additionally, document control specialists ensure documents are accurate, current, and in compliance with regulations. This role is critical to regulatory guidelines and processes; an underperforming individual in this position could result in fines, unnecessary production costs and a loss of customers for your company. On top of applicable work experience, it is important to ensure your document control specialist possesses the necessary soft skills that lead to success in this role.

Below are 9 soft skills to consider when interviewing for your next document control specialist:

1. Autonomy

A successful document control specialist must have the ability to work independently and be highly motivated.

2. Personable

Strong interpersonal communication and customer service skills are a must for document control specialists. Often, the person in this role will communicate with internal and external business partners.

3. Focused

The nature of a document control specialist’s work environment is fast-paced and deadline-driven; it’s important your candidate can stay focused and carry out their tasks in a timely and accurate manner.

4. Ownership

Document control specialists need to understand the importance of their role within an organization. If your applicant is not naturally inclined to take ownership, this could be a red flag they do not take pride in their work, nor take their role seriously. Consequently, you may find more errors, and process gaps in your business’ documents.

5. Organized

Depending on your business size, your corporate library may be upwards of thousands of documents, and your document control specialist will be responsible for managing and cataloging these items. An aptitude toward structure and organization is critical for document control specialist candidates to have
[blockquotes]ask about a time their attention to detail caught a potentially large problem, or if they work better in a highly-structured or independent environment [/blockquotes]

6. Analytical

Having an analytical eye goes a long way in document control roles. A document control specialist will be tasked with gathering and interpreting data to determine the best practices to document. If your prospective hire doesn’t have an eye for spotting trends, the most effective procedure may not make it onto paper.

7. Attention to Detail

No company document exists in a vacuum. When content does not flow between multiple pieces of material, your document control specialist and their eye for detail must be able to identify these discrepancies at a high level as well as during their own review process.

8. Reasoning Ability

An essential component of the Document Control Specialist role is problem solving. Being able to identify and provide solutions to improve upon current documents is vital. If your shortlisted candidate is not able to identify problems during document review and provide solutions to improve, your document library will slowly fall out of compliance with your industry’s best practices and compliance standards.

9. Written Communication

Along with reviewing documented SOP’s, document control specialists need to be able to document processes from action to paper and back again without loss of information. Your document control specialists’ ability to effectively transcribe speech and actions, will have a direct impact on your business’ efficacy. Additionally, when reviewing documents, a document control specialist needs to be able to consistently identify written errors as well as make corrections to the verbiage in order to comply with governing regulations and processes.

In Conclusion

The next time you conduct an interview for a document control specialist role, do not be afraid to ask a few questions that will give you insight into an applicant’s aptitude surrounding the skills listed above.

A great way to drill down is to ask about a time their attention to detail caught a potentially large problem, or if they work better in a highly-structured or independent environment. Additional insights into a candidate’s soft skills can be gleaned by asking them how they would respond in hypothetical scenarios. By incorporating interview questions focused on document control specialist soft skills, you will be able to determine not only if a candidate can perform this role’s tasks, but how well they are able to do them.

[blockquotes color=”highlight” logo=”yes”]Let Us Help You Find the Right Talent
CONTACT US TODAY[/blockquotes]

INTERESTED IN JOINING THE BRIDGE TEAM?

Apply Today