Nowadays, the labor market is very competitive; more and more people are looking for an opportunity, all highly qualified and updated. That is why having good strengths can make a difference when facing a job interview.
Companies look for candidates who are able to contribute effectively and positively, as well as excel in their roles. For this, they usually evaluate hard and soft skills.
If you are in the process of looking for a new job or a side gig, follow these tips to keep in mind which are the most valued strengths at the moment and how to use them to your advantage and stand out.
Hard skills: experience + knowledge
These are also known as “technical skills,” acquired through training, education and work experience.
In this case, the strengths you can acquire can be specific to the industry or field in which you decide to work. However, this does not mean that you cannot have knowledge in different areas.
Here are some ways you can acquire hard skills:
Previous experience
Most of the job opportunities you find will require previous experience. Make a recount of the jobs you’ve had so far and choose the ones that fit the vacancy; highlight what roles you had and what goals or objectives you achieved.
Disclaimer: Don’t worry if you don’t have work experience yet; we all start from scratch! If this is your case, focus on demonstrating studies or hobbies that may be relevant.
Technical knowledge
At this point, you can focus on academic training, either theoretical or practical. Here you can highlight your university studies, courses, workshops, master’s degrees, and doctorates.
In some cases, self-taught training also counts; if you show that you got the necessary knowledge through a portfolio or a test, you will make a difference.
Updating to new technologies
Besides having experience and knowledge, something very important today is to be up-to-date and adopt the latest technological tools that are being developed.
Whether you learn it yourself or not, you can also express your desire to learn more within the company, as many of them are taking an upskilling approach to training their employees.
This is reflected in PwC’s Talent Trends 2020 report, which states that: “organizations are now looking for people who have a mix of soft, technical and digital skills.”
Soft skills: personality + attitude
Recruiters are increasingly evaluating soft skills since they reflect the candidate’s personal and emotional characteristics and their ability to relate with others.
This is essential for ANY company; they want to find people aligned with their values and goals and maintain a good work environment.
In a job interview, to evaluate your soft skills, recruiters will take into account different strengths or qualities depending on the role and the industry; however, the most common are:
Effective communication
This is the key to everything! No matter the job, we all must know how to communicate to meet the objectives.
If you are able to express your ideas concisely, actively listen to others and adapt to the company’s processes, you will have a good chance of moving on to the next stage.
In fact, the perfect time to show that communication is important to you is during the job interview. Make sure to listen, take notes and speak confidently!
Disclaimer: This does not mean you should “talk a lot”. If you are an introvert, you can still demonstrate communication skills by participating when necessary and clearly expressing your ideas.
Teamwork
Although it sounds obvious, teamwork is essential for any company, and ALL recruiters will evaluate this aspect. You must be able to share ideas, solve problems, interact, communicate assertively with your peers, and think as a group.
Even if your vacancy is for an individual role, you must know how to work with the other areas of the company.
During the interview, you can mention other projects you have worked on with more people, how you complemented each other, and what goals you achieved.
On the other hand, if you haven’t worked as a team by now, you can still show your interest in doing so.
Adaptability
In the “hard skills” section, we said that adaptability refers to being up-to-date and taking advantage of new technologies. But in “soft skills”, recruiters look for candidates capable of facing new challenges and adapting to different situations.
How can you demonstrate this during the interview? Mention obstacles you have faced in other jobs or projects and explain how you overcame them and what you learned.
The most important thing before a job interview
Remember that although job interviews have a similar structure, each case is different.
Before meeting with the recruiter, make sure you study the company well and, above all, the role for which you are applying. List the strengths the position requires and select which ones you can demonstrate based on your experience.
Also, identify your strongest skill, whether hard or soft and how the company can use it.
Finally, practice your answers and keep applying. Good luck!
References:
- Upskilling: Building confidence in an uncertain world. (2023, June 5th). In PwC. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-survey/2020/trends/pwc-talent-trends-2020.pdf