Chicago Tribune|Business|Section 2|Monday, February 24, 2020 3
SUCCESS
Having an in-demand hard
skill, such as proficiency in a
certain technology, may get your
foot in the door when you’re
searching for a job. But if you
want to land it, employers want
to see your soft skills.
Unfortunately, traits such as
being a team player or problem
solver are not as easy to convey.
“Often, the best predictors of
future job success are the hardest
to measure,” said Joe Essenfeld,
vice president of strategy at
iCIMS, a recruitment software
provider. “On paper, job candi-
dates do — and should — list
relevant past experience, techni-
cal and hard skills that level up
nicely to the position they want.
But what most candidates over-
look is the need to outline soft
skills and how they ladder up to
future success in the position.”
Soft skills are critical to success
in today’s workforce, said
Michelle Armer, chief people
officer at CareerBuilder.
“A lot of that is because the
way that people work together
has changed to be more team-
oriented and service-oriented,”
she said. “It’s not just about com-
pleting a task anymore, and hir-
ing managers are focused on
skills that are interpersonal and
relational.”
A recent study by Adobe found
that communication is the most
sought-after soft skill, followed by
creativity and collaboration.
Nearly three-quarters of job
postings list communication as a
necessary skill, while 50% list
creativity, but just 25% of appli-
cants include those skills on their
résumés.
Adding words to a résumé is a
start, but showcasing those skills
during an interview is how you
can bring your soft skills to life.
Here’s how to do it:
Communication
A great way to demonstrate
your communications skills is to
create conversation and connect
with the interview panel, said
Maya Marcus, vice president of
people for the cybersecurity
company Palo Alto Networks.
“When I’m assessing new
talent, I want to see how the
individual can create ease in a
room, connect quickly with peers
and demonstrate capability,” she
said. “All of that is done through
soft skills of conversation start-
ing, putting people at ease, cre-
ating an environment that leads
to productivity. It means waiting
for your interviewer to finish
their sentences before starting,
being introspective about the
answer, and connecting with
them as a person.”
“Though interviews can be
rehearsed, a good conversation is
one of the strongest indicators
that a candidate has the soft skills
needed to excel in a given posi-
tion,” Essenfeld said.
Communication skills involve
more than words, said Ayana
Champagne, vice president and
chief human resources officer of
Ferring Pharmaceuticals.
“Many times, interviewers are
not paying attention to every
word you’re saying,” she said. “It’s
important to be aware of your eye
contact, body language, how you
articulate your answers through
tone and style, and if you are ableto respond to a question in a way
that paints a picture, provides a
solid example and can be under-
stood clearly and concisely.”Creative thinking
Behavioral or situational ques-
tions hiring managers ask during
an interview offer a way for you
to share your creative-thinking
skills, Armer said. When you’re
asked to talk about a problem you
solved or a difficult co-worker or
customer you had to handle,
don’t just talk about the end re-
sult; explain your thinking proc-
ess. Armer recommends sharing
the information by starting with
the event, then talking about your
action and then the result — the
EAR formula.
“You can say to the inter-
viewer, ‘Here’s what the situation
was. Here’s what I did. And here’s
the outcome,’ ” Armer said.
“Then share how your soft skills
contributed to the outcome.”
Use examples of your creative-
thinking soft skills in your story-
telling, suggested Debora Roland,vice president of human re-
sources for CareerArc, an out-
placement and social recruiting
firm. Creative thinking is often
demonstrated in how well you
solve problems.
“You can say, ‘I had zero turn-
over in my department for the
last two years,’ but adding ‘if there
was ever a conflict amongst team
members, I made sure to listen to
the issues and resolve them in a
collaborative way that allowed
everyone to feel valued,” she said.
“That gives you a little more
depth in your answer.”Collaboration
If you’re a great collaborator,
you can demonstrate this soft
skill during your interview by
providing an example of where
and how well you worked with
others.
“If you’re talking about team-
work, make sure that you’re using
the right language, such as how
you all contributed — not just
your own personal contribution,”
said Melanie Tinto, chief humanresources officer at the payment
solution system WEX. “This
demonstrates that you are think-
ing beyond yourself and that you
do, in fact, have a team-oriented
mindset.”
Collaboration is shown in
results. It can take a solid back-
ground in this soft skill to accom-
plish ambitious goals, said Mar-
cus, who recommends helping
your interviewer connect the dots
behind your contributions.
“When you’re speaking to a
project you managed, talk about
how you managed conflict reso-
lution within the team,” she said.
“When you’re discussing how
you’d get started at the organiza-
tion, talk about how you would
make people feel comfortable and
build connections.”
While it helps to be inten-
tional, you will demonstrate some
soft skills during an interview
without even realizing it, Roland
said. “Having clear communica-
tion, listening skills and a positive
attitude are examples of soft skills
that will reveal themselves natu-
rally.”DREAMSTIMEBy Stephanie Vozza
Fast Company
Show off
those soft
skills
Employers want to
know about creativity,
communication, ability
to work with others
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