by Ron Venckus

How to distinguish oneself during a job interview is the focus of this series of articles. When discussing accomplishments during the interview, everyone needs to be aware of and know how to talk about personal strengths (or competencies/ behaviors/ traits/ habits, as the business world refers to them). Just to be clear, technical knowledge is but one part of your ability to accomplish things at work; the other vital component is usage of personal skills while applying technical knowledge.

Some folks call personal skills “soft skills.” In a recent Arizona Republic article, “Soft Skills,” Ashley Jordan-Nowe points out some interesting statistics. In a survey of 700 business professionals, 67% said “they would hire an applicant with strong soft skills whose technical skills were lacking.” Only 9% said they would hire someone who had strong technical skills and weak personal skills. I have been saying for some time that technical skills are the easiest to talk about during an interview. Why? Because we do them each and every day on the job, day after day and week after week. But let’s ask ourselves, how often do we sit back and consider what soft skills we use to get work done? Think back to each of the previous topics in the “Distinguishing Yourself” articles and ask yourself, “is this a soft skill?” Remember, the business world refers to soft skills as competencies/ behaviors/ traits/ habits-those things that help you get a job done, and done well.

Approachability. Each time I write this I say, “yes, it is a soft skill”; and then I stop to think about how important it is, not only at work but in our personal lives, to be approachable. Is there anything that happens on a job that does not require some kind of interaction? Sorry, but I cannot think of any closet jobs where one does not have to ask, give, do, or receive something involving other staff. So ask yourself, “is approachability a skill I can sell?”

As done previously in this series of articles, let’s take a look at the competency of being approachable. One thing is certain: being approachable is a two-way street. As Scott Ginsberg, the NameTag Guy, states, “It’s both you stepping onto someone else’s front porch and you inviting someone to step onto your front porch.” Think about it, how easy is that to accomplish? In fact, as Ginsberg points out, the word approachable comes from the Latin verb appropriare: to come nearer to.

To discover if approachability is a personal skill you can sell, ask yourself:

  • How accessible am I?
  • Am I really responsive to folks?
  • Do I take joy in welcoming people?
  • Do I have a good attitude about myself?
  • Can I easily establish common points of interest?
  • Do I put others at ease while interacting with them?
  • Do I deal with people in a friendly manner?
  • Do I show sensitivity and patience when dealing with folks?
  • How well do I build rapport, and what do I do to build it?
  • How well do I listen to those around me? Enough to clearly understand what is being said?
  • Do I pay close attention to all that is happening around me?
  • Am I quick to pick up on new events and respond thoughtfully?

All the above are critical when part of a team, and I can see all of the heads nodding yes: I have this personal skill and I do all of these; yes that is me! Great! But this is not how you sell approachability to an interviewer. You must be able to TALK about it, bring it to life, in factual terms, when discussing your accomplishments using the S.H.A.R.E. format.

The Ashley Jordan-Nowe article, mentioned near the beginning, goes on to add that the top six soft skills (competencies/ behaviors/ traits/ habits) in demand by managers are:

  • organizational skills
  • verbal communication
  • teamwork and collaboration
  • problem solving
  • tact and diplomacy
  • analytical skills

Some of these have already been covered in previous “Distinguishing Yourself” articles. Of course, these “soft skills” are required in any managerial job-all you have to do is learn how to talk about them in real-life terms; give them warmth and life. The only way to accomplish this is to discover your personal strengths by examining your background and the “real you.” Write out your comments and findings and then practice discussing them. Practice is critical for gaining confidence and achieving success in any interview.

Sources:
“Soft Skills,” Ashley Jordan-Nowe, Arizona Republic

“Top Ten Ways to Maximize your Approachability,” Scott Ginsberg, http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Ginsberg