What Are Soft Skills? Tips for Job Seekers

When it comes to getting hired, recruiters look at your behavior and mannerisms as carefully as they do your technical skills and experience. A person will often get hired because they are eager, well-versed, informed, and willing to learn. The right attitude is often more impressive than the years of experience. What are soft skills? Soft skills are behaviors that make others comfortable to be around you, trust you and want to do business with you and your company. These skills must be learned, developed and authentically honed in order to excel and succeed in business.

When it comes to competing for a job, manners matter. Here are some tips to maximize your soft skills at your next job interview.

Previously published on Inc.

Display Your Eagerness to Learn

Technology has ushered change into virtually every field, which means many industries are constantly – and quickly – evolving. Employers want to feel confident in your ability to adjust, switch gears and actively seek opportunities to learn new skills. Your job description is a template to follow. It’s your responsibility to continue to add value to your position through continued growth, letting your interviewer know you are ready and able to step up to the challenge.

Highlight Your Ability to Communicate Effectively

How well you speak, write and listen will be revealed throughout your interactions with your interviewer. It’s important to make sure you are at the top of your game. Any written communication, even a brief email confirming your interview time, must be free of errors and casual abbreviations, with all names spelled correctly (don’t guess; double-check).

Exhibit a Genuine Interest in the Job

It doesn’t mean you have to bounce off the walls with over-the-top zeal. You just have to show a genuine interest in the job, the company and the opportunity. Demonstrate this by doing your homework in advance, understanding the company mission, its history and who the company caters to as a client. In other words, show your research skills and ask questions. Body language also plays a part: sit up straight, make eye contact, smile genuinely and look alive.

Be a Good Listener

While it’s important to showcase your abilities, a solid interviewee knows the value of thoughtful contemplation. A soft skills reminder: don’t interrupt the interviewer or get ahead of yourself and lose sight of the conversation. Show respect for the interviewer by allowing them to finish a thought while you process their statement or point of view and then respond at the appropriate time. Asking a question that has already been answered shows immaturity or lack of focus on your part.

Emphasize Your Collaborative Spirit

Teamwork is part of almost any job. Employers want to know that they are hiring people who work well with a variety of people and can help bring out the best in others. Offering examples of successful collaborative efforts, both with co-workers and clients, can help let them know that you are a team player. An “it’s not my job” attitude is the kiss of death for any employee over the long term.

Demonstrate Good Judgment

Being a leader is not about where you sit on the company org chart. It’s more about your ability to show good judgment, display a solid work ethic, face challenges with calm and confidence; and show loyalty to the company, peers and the overall brand. A good job candidate must also be a good community member and trusted friend. Business and pleasure often overlap. Be careful to speak only positive words about your former employer, a business associate or a neighbor.

You may also like Positive Steps to Get Back to Going Into the Office. For more information check out The Protocol School of Texas. For more of Diane’s etiquette tips read her posts on Inc., subscribe to her articles on The Huffington Post, “like” The Protocol School of Texas on Facebook, and follow her on Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.