Starting your Career
When starting out in your career, it’s all about landing the right interview and your “dream job”. You may have all the right technical skills and cognitive ability, but how do you look on paper? With the weak economy and competitive job market, it’s a struggle getting someone to glance at your résumé, let alone call you for an interview. Did you know that many resumes are rejected immediately based on poor grammar or spelling? Good writing skills are a must in today’s competitive and communication-crazed employment world.
As for interviews, most companies today are using the style of “behavioral interviewing”. By carefully constructing the interview questions, the interviewer can predict the future performance of a candidate by looking at their past performances in a similar situation. Candidates must accurately prepare for a behavioral interview to avoid sounding nervous and inexperienced. They also must prove they have essential business communication skills and business etiquette within the first five minutes of an interview! And you thought interviews were stressful before!
During a behavioral interview, the interviewer is looking for examples of soft skills you exercised at your previous jobs, such as leadership, motivation, communication, decision making, problem solving, team building and how influential you can be with others. If you look at an interview from the interviewer’s point of view – what kind of candidate they need, what kind of interview answers they expect, the legalities of hiring, etc. – any interview you have will be a piece of cake.
According to a study by Reed Employment, 80% of college graduates strictly use the web to hunt for jobs, compared to only 3% that look in the newspaper. That means that candidates are not restricted to looking for a job in the area in which they live, so the competition goes from local to literally all over the World Wide Web. What soft skills do YOU possess that will set you apart from everyone else?
Compiled in the following SoftSkillsEQ curricula, you will get job interview tips based on both the interviewee AND interviewer points of view, learn proper business etiquette, negotiate your starting salary, brush up on basic business, communication and other soft skills, learn how to manage your boss and give and receive feedback to use it to your advantage. We will also help get your career on the fast track and get you prepared for your bright and successful future. All of this will uniquely shape your qualifications compared to the other cookie-cutter candidates. In addition, we have put together an interview simulation to apply and practice what you learn.
When you add effective communication skills and can present yourself professionally, you’re sure to make a great first impression during your interview. Better yet, the communication, management and other skills you gain with SoftSkillsEQ will guide you throughout your entire career and put you on the fast track to success.
Starting your Career Curricula: