When people prepare for an interview, most of the focus tends to go on the obvious things such as researching the company, preparing examples of your experience and anticipating the questions that might be asked.
While this preparation is important, there is another part of the interview that can have just as much influence on the outcome, which is your soft skills. These skills impact how you communicate, collaborate, adapt, solve problems and respond to challenges and can be a key differentiator for employers.
Resumes can tell an employer what you have done, your qualifications can demonstrate what you have learned and your technical skills can show what you are capable to doing. Your soft skills can be thought of as your X factor.
An interview gives the employer an opportunity to discover something else - what will it actually be like to work with you? That is where your X factor comes in:
The way you communicate
How you listen before answering a question
Your ability to build rapport with different personalities
Whether you are curious or whether you can explain something complex in a simple way
These are the qualities that can be difficult to capture on a resume, yet they often have a significant impact on how an interviewer views you as a potential team member.
The challenge is that many of us are not particularly aware of our own soft skills. We often know we are good at our job, but it can be difficult to articulate what it is we can bring beyond our technical experience and is why interview preparation should go deeper than simply rehearsing answers.
Think about the feedback you have received throughout your career:
What do managers, colleagues or clients tend to rely on you for?
What role do you naturally play within a team?
Are you the person who brings people together to solve problems?
Do you keep projects moving or help others feel heard?
Your answers may reveal strengths that you have been taking for granted.
The key to increasing your chance of interview success is to avoid making standard statements, such as ‘I’m a great communicator’ or 'I’m a people person’ because almost anyone can say that. The real impact comes from understanding how those qualities show up in the way you work and being able to demonstration them naturally through examples and conversation.
Instead of just stating ‘I’m a people person’, use the opportunity to demonstrate how you actually use your people skills. E.g. ‘I’ve found that good communication is often about understanding who you are communicating with. In my current role, I work with a range of stakeholders, so I often need to adapt how I communicate’.
The person who creates confidence in the interview by listening carefully, communicating clearly and is able to make the interviewer think I can see this person working well with our team, will have a greater impact.
That doesn’t mean experience and technical skills are less important, it simply means that when several candidates have similar qualifications and experience, the X factor can become the difference.
Before your next interview, spend some time thinking about what your X factor skills might be.