5 Ways To Demonstrate Emotional Intelligence In An Interview

Post the era of industrialisation, a huge amount of work that was previously done by humans started being replaced by those of machines. Following that, as the decades rolled by, the human dependency on machines started increasing by the minute. As this went on, the last decade of the previous century saw another major shift. This was the advent and growing popularity of computers. Today we have reached a point wherein there is a significant amount of dependency on computers and the Internet in almost all fields of life.

Yet, in spite of all of this, human beings do manage to land themselves with jobs. The reason for the same may be attributed to the fact that companies hiring individuals look for an emotional quotient while looking for someone to get the job done. That is why getting computers or machines to replace all of human effort is not a viable option.

In such a scenario, it is obvious that companies look for candidates with high emotional intelligence while hiring people for a particular position. Thus, if you can demonstrate those abilities while appearing for a job interview, you naturally increase your chances of bagging the job. To enable you to do such a thing, this article provides you with 5 such tips.

1. Listen Actively

If you treat the interview like a conversation, the interviewer will feel involved in the same and this will increase your chances of bagging the job. When the interviewer is asking you a question, focus on the question itself and not on what answer you wish to give in response to the same.

Only when you listen to the question properly will you be able to do justice to it. Most candidates make the mistake of trying to work out the answer as soon as they hear a part of the question. This shifts their attention from listening to the entire question itself which may make the answer that they are giving irrelevant in the context.

Most interviewers will not judge you for the pause which will occur between the question being asked and the same being answered.

2. Empathise

The company is looking forward to hiring you only because you are a human. Hence, try to behave as such and show your emotions. It is understandable that you may be a little nervous on the day of the interview; however, you should not let that get to you.

Try to show some emotions as that is what will help you to connect with the interviewer. However, make sure that you do not force any emotions. That will be pretty much apparent and your interviewer will feel that you are projecting yourself as someone you are actually not. This will bring down your chances of bagging the job.

3. Share The Credit For Your Achievements

If you are in a position to attend a job interview, it must be because you have made some significant achievements in your lifetime. Now, surely not all of those achievements would have been possible without the support and cooperation of others. It is time you realise that and acknowledge the same in a job interview.

This will make you come off as somebody who is a team player and is easy to work with. Naturally, a prospective employer will want to work with such a candidate. This will not just increase your chances of being hired but will also make you come off as someone of character.

4. Show How You Learnt From Your Mistakes

Just like you must have had certain accomplishments, on a similar note there must have been certain failures as well. Do not try to evade those in a job interview. Every individual has certain shortcomings and no interviewer is on the lookout of a flawless person. However, make sure that you do not make the mistake of blaming others for your faults. This will create a very negative impression.

Rather, take ownership of your mistakes and try to explain what you learnt from it. You will earn yourself brownie points from the interviewer if you can use this opportunity to share how you are using the knowledge of your past mistakes to improve yourself in your professional life.

If any notable results of such improvements are noticed in your professional life, make sure you bring that to the notice of your interviewer as well.

5. Do Not Hesitate To Talk About A Conflict

In any job interview, there will be moments when you will be asked to speak about your strengths. Do not make the cliché mistake of talking about your technical qualifications or past experience here. Rather, understand that it is important for them that you are able to work as a part of a team (and in some roles manage teams as well).

The past conflicts out of which you have managed to successfully come out are the ones you should project as feathers to your cap. Thus, it will be a good idea to bring up anecdotes from your life wherein you have displayed teamwork and how that has helped the organisations you were working for.

In the case of freshers, since you do not have anything from your past work life, you may well speak about instances from your college life wherein you have displayed such qualities. It is the way you project these things that is going to make all the difference.

Thus, with these tips, you will be able to bring to the notice of your employer that you are able to perform a given task better than that of a robot or machine. This will not just make them hire you but will also enable them to treat you with more respect and that is essential in making your work life better.