The Monster study published in 2019 revealed that 97% of companies believe that soft skills have their place in a job interview. So how do you approach your soft skills to convince a recruiter? Response with Grégory Lachmany, Director at Walters People.
The time for soft skills has come
Let us schematize: the recruitment “à la papa” where only the diploma was enough to guarantee a job, is over. The acceleration of the professional world linked to digital technology, robotics, and artificial intelligence are putting the acquisition of hard skills in the background. “ Technical skills will be less and less important, confirms Grégory Lachmann. Today, recruiters want candidates able to evolve at the same rate as their professional environment. More and more companies are ready to hire a person who has only a part of the hard skills if they feel that they will be able to constantly develop their learning capacity because they have an open mind ”.
Identify non-measurable qualities
Needless to say, you don’t get to a job interview by improvising. Especially when it comes to talking about your soft skills because anything related to staff can be unsettling. Walters People also confirms that 52% of recruiters think that candidates are in difficulty with questions about personality. “ The preparation phase for the interview is crucial. Indeed, recognizing your soft skills is a delicate process because it involves knowing yourself. And this knowledge depends in particular on his professional maturity. If the candidate knows his soft skills, it is up to him to select those that are related to the job for which he is applying and to provide a specific example. “. The exercise can be more complicated if you are not fully aware of your personal qualities. “ The best is to ask the entourage (friends, spouse, parents) what are the personal qualities that define the candidate. At the same time, we can also do online personality tests to better understand them ”. But Grégory Lachmany warns of the danger of over-preparation which can stifle spontaneity and authenticity. “ For this, the best is to identify three soft skills with an example for each. Examples that you can then develop during the interview ”.
The start of the interview
Don’t think that the demonstration of your soft skills starts when you approach your past experiences. It begins as soon as you arrive and continues for the duration of the appointment. “ We only have one chance to make a first impression and it is fundamental. The soft skills of a candidate can also be detected in his posture, his gestures, his handshake, or even his listening skills ”. Here again, we must bet on sincerity. “ There is no point in wanting to invent a personality. The truth always ends up resurfacing ”.
Put into practice with meaningful examples
It is the contextualization of soft skills that impacts the recruiter. “ The difficulty is to be able to express one’s qualities without appearing pretentious ”. To avoid falling into the “me I” and to remain humble, Grégory Lachmany recommends starting his sentences as follows: “
People often say about me… ” or “ My experience gives me the feeling of having developed this quality… ”. Then, each soft skill must be based on an example to help the recruiter to better understand the candidate. ” I was able to manage conflict in my team in the following way “
shows a candidate endowed with qualities of listening and empathy. ” My boss fell ill, I was able to manage the increase in activity and set up a new process ”depicts a talent who knows how to adapt to the challenge. And sometimes the answers are simple and do not require a Bac +8 in philosophy. “ How do you deal with stress? I take a break and breathe ”. Here is a candidate who has clear ideas and knows how to take a step back. But what about the young graduate with little professional experience? ” He can draw on his personal experience, a sport, a hobby, a passion as long as he can put it in parallel with the professional world. A young person who has worked in an association demonstrates a sense of the collective, one who has been captain of a football team shows leadership ”.
Conclusion of the interview
Grégory Lachmany emphasizes that the interview also allows the candidate to measure his adaptability to this working environment. “ The job interview is a meeting of equals and the end of the interview is a key moment. The candidate should not be afraid to challenge the recruiter by asking him questions about the company. What about the project mentioned on your site? How does the organization of the company work, what is the management culture? Thus, the candidate refines his decision-making process and shows that he is committed ”. In short, do not underestimate curiosity, it is a soft skill much appreciated by recruiters.