The Soft Skills That Will Get You Hired—and Help You Nail Your Interview

Getting hired used to be pretty simple: create the resume, mail it out, follow up, and then interview. A week or so after that, you got the call that you were hired, or you moved on to the next interview. Technical skills were assessed first and soft skills were only a second thought.

Today, the winds have shifted. Employers know now that technical skills are actually easier to teach than the more ambiguous soft skills. The search is now on for the employee that can be an asset across the board from having the ability to learn fast to being a good communicator to acting self-aware.

In Fast Company’s latest article, 7 Traits That Will Get You Hired or Promoted, the top the list is “Emotional Intelligence” and “Speaking Up—The Right Way.” One of these clearly leads to the other. If you’re intuitive, can read people’s moods and emotions, and are aware of your own, you will be able to discern when and where you should speak up.

It’s also important to erase the “that’s not my job” phrase from the workplace. Valuable employees are those who can jump in and help whether the task is found in their job description or not. Lastly, if you are an employee that can exude confidence, not arrogance, this is going to make you a better team player by opening you up as a resource to your colleagues.

So why not come prepared with examples of your own people skills to your next interview? It’s likely you will be asked questions about how you’ve handled particular situations, so have these stories ready in your back pocket. For instance:

1. You had a difficult boss that made communication a challenge and how you handled it. (speaking up when needed)
2. You had more experience than the rest of the team and were able to share it in a way that added value to the project. (confidence, not arrogance)
3. You are aware of a team member’s particular difficulties with time management and you adjusted your way of working with him/her so it worked for both of you. (emotional intelligence)

For examples of more traits that will get you hired and promoted check out Fast Company.

Image via Paul Shanks/Flickr.