Hiring managers are most impressed with these skills. Here’s how you can recognize them in yourself.
CAREER EVOLUTION | DECEMBER 10, 2022
After the pandemic and recent trends like The Great Resignation, quiet quitting, and job hopping, the hiring game has completely changed. Skills that used to be prioritized in job interviews, such as the technical skills found on a résumé, are no longer the most appealing traits that employers are seeking.
Instead, hiring managers are keen on identifying skills that build out other skills. Research from my company, Cappfinity, shows that by having these five behavioral skills as a foundation, individuals can acquire new skills and talents and continue to utilize them throughout their careers.
The best way to understand yourself from a skills perspective is to consider the things you’re good at, but also the things that give you energy. Those two components will truly allow you to develop that skill into a strength. Here are the five skills we have identified that hiring managers are the most impressed by in today’s competitive work environment, and how you can recognize them in yourself.
CURIOSITY
If you ask great questions, investigate the world around you, and are always expanding your horizons, then consider curiosity a skill of yours. You often find new situations and experiences exciting because they provide opportunities for you to discover more.
To demonstrate this in a job interview setting, think about the ways in which asking good questions has supported you in your work. Be sure to think of a time when being curious allowed you to gather information to do something quicker or more efficiently, in the workplace or even outside of the workplace, and highlight that example to the interviewer.
LEARNING AGILITY
Do you enjoy learning new things about a wide range of topics? Can you pivot quickly from discovering information about one thing and applying it, to then quickly moving on to something new? If so, then consider learning agility one of your skills.
Ensure you convey to hiring managers times when you have learned something and applied it quickly, or even a time where you had to learn something new and adjust your thinking.
GROWTH MINDSET
Those who possess a growth mindset have the desire to conquer new challenges, even if they require persistence to succeed. They have an inner belief that they can achieve their goals and find it motivating to work on unfamiliar projects.
It is important to make the distinction that those with a growth mindset seek out projects that are difficult in order to showcase their persistence and resilience, rather than being open to any and all opportunities in which they think they can be successful. In an interview, highlighting a time where you were able to overcome a challenge that allowed you to grow will show off this strength.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
If you have the capacity to look at issues from different perspectives and enjoy consulting with multiple people to identify next steps and make informed decisions, then you may be an expert at critical analysis. You are able to grasp complex concepts, including numerical information, and can draw themes. You don’t necessarily need to be a mathematician, but you may possibly have an interest in data. Describe a time where having a different perspective on something added to a project at work.
COLLABORATION
Those who know that working with others is the best way to achieve results, and who enjoy contributing and delivering on shared goals can add collaboration to their list of skills. You most likely work well in-person and virtually and know how to adapt your communication style. Be sure to show to your interviewer the kind of teammate you want to be and how you plan on showing up to work if they were to give you this role.
It is important to think of these skills as accelerators that will help you develop yourself further in your career. Whether you are searching for a new role, getting back to work, or are a recent graduate, highlighting these skills to hiring managers will show that you are not only qualified for the role you are being interviewed for, but that you also have potential to grow and move on to greater leadership roles in the organization.
Having these will also help you develop further as an individual. Taken together, the skills give you an understanding of yourself, how you use information, how you challenge yourself, and how you are with others. This is what is going to give you the basis to go on and build additional strengths and talents.
Nicky Garcea is the cofounder and president at Cappfinity and an accredited industrial and occupational psychologist.
