Fake it till you Make It, How to Nail Interviews Using Soft Skills

By Dr. Catalina Rojas, Director of Innovation, PCDNetwork

Thanks for following the PCDN Career Series, our hope is that you have prepared for your job search; finalized an amazing resume/cover letter and actually, all that hard work pay-off in terms of an interview. While you still don’t have a job, you are that much closer.

In this blog post I am NOT going to talk about how soft skills and being socially smart will get you jobs. Sorry. You still need to demonstrate qualifications, experience and demonstrable results. All things we have talked about. But these days, I hear a LOT of talk about soft skills. So lets “unpack” this term and lets put them to use to nail those interviews.

Chances are that you are like me, you have a degree in social sciences and these days it’s all about coding and engineers. But wait a second… what do WE HAVE that makes us very competitive and desirable for organizations? While I don’t want to generalize and I don’t believe that scientists are introverted and social change professionals are social. THAT’S wrong on many levels, it is time we explicitly advertise (during the interview) that we are socially competent and possess and demonstrate a variety of soft skills. Not a natural? No problem, we all need improvement, we include a section to learn those soft skills at the end.

Personal story before I start with definitions. For a job I loved I was finally called for a whole day of interviews. From employees, to my would-be direct boss to other leaders in the organization, I spend the whole day in panels; one-to-one and small group series of interviews.  I was short-listed but I could sense that one person in the leadership had doubts about me being overqualified (having a Ph.D can do that to you) while another person was rooting for me. Luckily, my personality and ability to genuinely enjoy and withstand the whole day of interviews sealed the deal. They saw beyond my resume and qualifications and saw how my personality (social, personable, happy) would be an asset for a job that basically consisted on making partnerships with leaders in many different countries worldwide. Also, I was sincerely impressed with the thoroughness of the whole “event”. I also got a chance to see the organization and in a way concluded that I loved them too. I got the job and stayed there nearly over four happy years.

In sum, your resume/cover letter shows your core technical skills but the interview reveals more intangible qualifiers that could get you hired or piled (in the NO, NO). Lets get you hired. With me?

What are soft skills?

According to Heather Huhman, from her article in the Magazine Entrepreneur,

“soft skills relate to the way employees relate to and interact with other people”. Huhman makes a point in the article that employers are now ranking soft skills as highly desirable qualities in candidates. Moreover, I think in the fast approaching era of the automation of work, communication skills, positive attitude and ability to work in a team are all soft skills that will get you hired.

Now that you know this, think how you are going to a) demonstrate that you actually have those soft skills and b) how can you put them to use in your new job. Other examples of soft skills include: being dependable, doing great presentations, being a problem-solver, having team-working skills, fitting into the company’s culture; open to feedback; flexible, focused and creative.

You will not be able to be a master at ALL these soft skills but choose what you really are good at and bring examples of how you successfully saved an event, how you improvised and pulled a presentation with no time to prepare, whatever it is.

Demonstrate how you have put soft skills to save the day. Remember, an interview is a way to advertise for your case. Soft skills are a great way to shine.

Not a natural? Not a problem. As a mother of a small child I hear constantly that social skills are formed in the first 5 years of a person’s life. In fact, preschool is usually there (to allow parents to go to work) and to introduce social skills. Ok. So you missed preschool, or you are painfully introverted, of you think you suck at social skills or in fact you cant succeed in job interviews. There are ways you can improve. First, recognize areas that you are better at and areas that need improving. A good athlete doesn’t only work on those skills that come easy to him/her. You only become good if you identify and work harder on those areas that you are not as great.

You can always look for classes on leadership, making successful presentations. In addition, you can seek for a mentor or if you have one, ask for recommendations on how to improve on soft skills. Your mentor should be able to help you identify which areas need improvement and have great suggestions as to how to get better. Volunteer in something you are passionate about, while volunteering you can have hands-on experience in leading projects, listening and working well with others.

Connect with others. You can do that online- and offline. PCDNetwork is an excellent option to find-like minded professionals and connect with someone that might be across the globe from you but facing similar challenges.  

Soft Skills while interviewing

Know yourself. I consider myself a person with higher than average social skills. I love every excuse to grab a microphone, yes. I am that kind of person. But I still get super nervous in the context of a job interview. My way of dealing with this is by preparing in advance. I know that I will be speaking loud enough and looking at people’s eyes, but if I don’t go prepared I will be a mess.

Now. Sound natural being how YOU are. This is similar than saying, put a LOT of make up so that you look effortlessly pretty and “natural”. When in fact, you spent two hours in your face. Do your homework and be prepared so that you can chill while they ask you questions. That is what works for me.

Once I didn’t know the answer to a question. Instead of just owing that, I tried (very badly) to produce a response, which showed –even more- my inability to produce a successful answer the question. If you don’t know something, say you will get back to them (and do it).

More than anything, OWN who you are. You might even say: “ I might come as shy and quiet. But you know what? I am an incredible listener, and when I speak its because this idea is missing in the entire conversation”. Score! You are honest and powerful while presenting a realistic image of who are you.

So hurry up and nail that job because until Artificial Intelligence perfects soft skills, we humans, ALL humans, most humans, have an edge with our soft skills.

Have a story to share about how you ace a job interview? Share here and thanks for following PCDN Career Series.

Dr. Catalina Rojas is Director of Innovation at PCDN. She helps lead strategic development, partnerships, content development and programming to engage over 37,000 academic members around the world.

Dr. Catalina Rojas is a noted expert on gender, development and conflict resolution. As director of Global Partnerships at Women Thrive Worldwide, she created a worldwide women’s network and led training and consultation processes to increase the advocacy capacity of women’s NGOs and CBOs in Central America and West Africa.

Prior to joining Women Thrive, Dr. Rojas was a consultant on gender, conflict and development issues with various international organizations including the IIS, OAS, USAID, UNIFEM.

Dr. Rojas has a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University. Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, she has over two decades of experience working with civil society organizations in the Global South, including working in the peace movement in her home country.

Dr. Rojas has taught, trained and conducted research in Latin America, South East Asia, West Africa and the U.S. including Georgetown University.