Whether you’re looking for a new job as part of a career change or you’re just starting out, going for an interview can be a daunting prospect for anyone. However, with the right preparation, you’ll feel that much more confident in yourself. One area that you might very well get asked about during an interview is your interpersonal skills (a.k.a soft skills) - something that employers often care a great deal about.
Do Companies Really Value Soft Skills Over Hard Skills?
Well, soft skills may not always be more important than hard skills (the kind of expertise gained through tafe online courses and practice), but they’re at the very least as important. That’s because good soft skills concern how you interact with those around you. Simply put, even someone with lots of knowledge and experience also needs to know how to work in a team and communicate at the very least.
What Interpersonal Skills Are Essential For An Interview?
There are many soft skills that employers look for, with some of the obvious ones being teamwork, a positive attitude, empathy and reliability. Some can be shown during an interview, whereas others can't, but the kind typically you should be doing your best to show:
- Confidence
- Verbal communication
- Non-verbal communication
- Listening skills
- Reliability
- Respectfulness
Some of these interpersonal skills will be immediately apparent, just in how you walk in, introduce yourself and communicate. However, you’re also likely to get asked questions about how you’ve used certain soft skills in the past, so it’s important that you’re prepared for them.
Answering Questions About Your Soft Skills
Thinking ahead to what you might get asked during your interview can be a useful exercise, as you’ll get to practice your answers and make them sound compelling and authentic. You’re likely to get at least one or two of these kinds of questions, with the following being quite common.
- Can you describe a situation when you resolved a work-related conflict?
- Exactly how would your current colleagues describe you?
- Can you tell us about a time when you achieved a goal as part of a team?
Obviously, you can’t predict exactly what you’ll get asked, so what you should do in the lead up to your interview is write down a list of what you feel are the most relevant interpersonal skills for the role you’re going for. Especially focus on any that were mentioned in the job description.
Provide Real-World Anecdotes
Then, go through each one and prepare anecdotes about when you demonstrated the appropriate soft skills. Interviewers love real-world examples, and when you can provide context, you immediately show what you’ll offer if successful in your application.
Remember to keep the anecdote in question nice and brief, but not too brief and don’t be afraid to include challenges that you found difficult to overcome. Interviewers know that things don’t always go to plan, and adversity is something all roles present from time to time.
By laying out the details of the problem, the steps you took to resolve it and any successful outcome, you’ll say quite a lot about yourself as a professional. That way you’ll leave a lasting impression on the interviewer and are that much more likely to get called back again.
Boost Your Hard Skills With Short Courses Online From OCA
As we can see, soft skills are important for any professional, but they do take time to develop and hone. Developing your hard skills, on the other hand, can be addressed easily and conveniently thanks to CPD-approved short courses online from OCA.
Created with the help of top industry experts and delivered in easily-digestible video modules, they represent the easiest and most mentally-stimulating way to gain new professional skills.
If you’d like to know more about this or anything relating to the online training that we offer, just visit us today at www.onlinecoursesaustralia.edu.au. There you’ll also see that we have a selection of easy payment options to spread the cost of your learning.
Alternatively, should you wish to talk to us directly about your professional training needs, we’ll be happy to give you the answers you require. Just give us a call at 1300 611 404, and we’ll do our very best to help.
