If you spend a few minutes talking with college students about their career prospects, one topic is at the top of their minds: Will their jobs be displaced by a bot?

Their concern makes sense. Universities are integrating artificial intelligence into their curricula, and employers are adopting AI at a rapid pace. So most students assume that AI skills are now key to getting an entry-level job.

But what if employers are changing their candidate criteria just as quickly?

As scholars who research how technology is changing the workplace, we have long asked what employers value when hiring new talent. The question grew out of our conversations with both employers and students about internship experiences.

Year after year, employers emphasize communication, professionalism and other workplace skills as the areas where interns most need to improve. Students tend to focus on building their technical skills instead.

To determine whether this disconnect extended beyond internships, we surveyed more than 600 employers across a range of industries and organization sizes. We asked them which skills and qualities matter most when hiring recent graduates and early-career professionals.

Their answer might surprise you: They consistently ranked “soft skills” over technical know-how when evaluating applications.

Learning to grow with the job

We had expected employers to place AI and technical skills at the top of their list. Instead, our survey told a more nuanced story. Employers clearly valued those skills, but they consistently ranked even higher qualities such as interpersonal skills and willingness to learn.

No matter the size of the organization, the results were similar. The rankings showed what employers valued, and their comments explained their reasoning. One theme surfaced repeatedly: Employers want to hire people who they believe will grow with their organizations.

This doesn’t mean technical abilities are unimportant. Rather, those were seen as job-specific........

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