Showcase your Skills during your next Interview​

A job interview is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your skills and expertise to a hiring manager, and prove to them why you’re the best fit for the role.

During an interview, you will be asked a series of questions and given the chance to describe your skills. Use this time wisely by focusing on ways to make your skills the focus of the discussion and to show how your skills and expertise distinguish you from other candidates.

So how can you highlight your skills during an interview in a way that stands out? Follow these simple tips when showcasing what vital skills you can bring to the company.

Talk About How Your Skills Will Benefit The Company

It’s imperative throughout your interview that you not only talk about your skills but also showcase how your skills and attributes will benefit the company. Help the interviewer understand exactly how you’ll be a great asset to the company and the team.

Ensure while you’re describing your skills that you also talk about their impact. Illustrate how you used specific skills in your current or past jobs to get results or to drive change. Describe how you used a particular skill to collaborate with a colleague or how you used your skills to motivate your team. Or if you know any particular issues or problems the company is currently facing that you think your skills can help them with, showcase this. For example, if you’re naturally good at budgeting, you might discuss how you could reduce costs across your department and save the company a considerable amount of money.

Showcase Your Soft Skills Too

Employers ask about soft skills during an interview because they want to hire a candidate who can adapt to numerous situations. Showing your interviewer that you have a diverse set of skills will help you establish yourself as a flexible and hard working candidate. Interview questions on soft skills will allow you to explain your personality traits that you can showcase in the workplace. 

Soft skills, such as critical thinking, leadership, communication, and problem-solving, are some of the most important skills you can have. Soft skills are extremely valuable to a company as they are harder to teach than technical skills. By showing your interviewer that you can utilise your soft skills, you will position yourself as an asset to the company.

Providing examples of soft skills can be done when you’re answering many common interview questions. And because soft skills are complementary to technical skills, describing the two together can help show your expertise.

The STAR Technique

During your interview, you will have the opportunity to highlight your skills that would specifically benefit you in this role. You can use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, and Result) method to describe a situation you had in work, how you used your skills to approach it and what kind of result you received. The STAR method is a useful way to help you develop clear and concise responses to interview questions using real-life examples and your key skill set. It shows the interviewer you can perform well under pressure, while also demonstrating that you grow from your experiences.

Ask Questions

Make sure at the end of an interview you ask questions. It shows the interviewer that you have a genuine interest in the role and the company.

Try to ask questions that relate to your skills or that show your knowledge of the industry, and of the company you're applying to. For example, you might ask questions about their procedures, technology, or systems the company uses. Or about the company culture.

Show that you’re knowledgeable and experienced in this area, while also showing that you’re interested and curious about the company. This will help your chances of getting hired!

If you are preparing for your next interview, check out our blog on “The Perfect Interview: Plan, Prepare, Perform” for a more tips to ensure your job interview is a success.

And if you are looking for your next career move reach out to Mason Alexander today! We are always here to help you with your job search and career move in any way we can.

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