Interviews have always come with a healthy dose of nerve-inducing feelings. How can I impress the interviewer? How can I highlight my main strengths and compatibility for the role? How will my interviewer perceive me? Am I skilled enough? Am I likeable? Am I hireable?
In an ever competitive job market, the interviewing process has evolved from being more than just a case of what you know, but also who you are as a person. Relying on experience and merit is no longer sufficient. You’ll need a few extra ticks in the box to set you apart from your competition.
Even if you have a heap of experience under your belt, years of know-how in your industry, and a shiny cabinet of qualifications to show off, you can still trip up in your career, both when it comes to looking for a new job and when trying to progress within your existing company. There’s a little ‘p’ word that can make all of the difference: personality.
If you’re still not hitting the mark when it comes to your amiability factor, you may find your career is hindered. There are a few undesirable personality traits that interviewers look for when assessing a candidate’s persona, and likewise that your current employee is going to recognise when assessing your progression hopes.
Let’s look at three personalities you may be guilty of and talk about how to turn these around in order to reach your career ambitions.
“It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.” — Oscar Wilde
The Yawning Workaholic
Loving your job is a great thing. Loving nothing but your job can be a bit problematic. Eat, sleep, work is a vicious cycle. After all, it’s no secret that having a healthy work-life balance is vital, but it comes down to than that. Hobbies aren’t just for highschool; having interests outside of work has multiple benefits.
Hobbies and interests are what make us rounded people. Whether that’s participating in a sport (solo or part of a team), expressing your creativity through an artistic venture, travelling the world and blogging about it, playing in a band with your friends, or just hanging with a local girl gang petitioning for change – every little thing you do outside of work can spark interest in a future employer.
It’s this enthusiasm for something that offers intrigue. And in the words of Aldous Huxley, we’re never too old to have hobbies and to find excitement in things, no matter how small:
“The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.” — Aldous Huxley
Need some inspiration on where to start? Matt Cutts’ TED Talk, Try Something New for 30 Days, provides some interesting thoughts on how to try something new and, most importantly, why.
The Shrinking Violet
Shyness is not something that should be condemned. In fact, having a balance between introverts and extroverts in the office can lead to a much smoother working dynamic. Nevertheless, if left unchecked, shyness can fester into a ‘shrinking violet’ scenario.
It’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed in a crowd of loud personalities (let alone the inferiority complex of there being ‘better candidates’ out there), shrinking away into yourself either due to a fear of speaking up or a fear of not being heard. Shyness can be easily misinterpreted for lack of curiosity, lack of creativity, lack of dedication, and worst: disinterest. It can lead to you being forgotten.
Let’s get one thing straight though — you don’t need to transform yourself into an uber-confident person in order to succeed, you don’t need to be the loudest one in the room or always in the spotlight (have a read of this article on Inc for some surprising self-claimed successful introverts through history if you disbelief this statement); but, making your ideas heard is crucial, whether you’re job seeking or not.
It all comes back to this idea of enthusiasm being one of the most desirable qualities. If you do struggle with speaking up (or being heard), preparation is key. Before a job interview, anticipate the questions your interviewer may ask you and have some points prepared. Likewise, prepare a few questions of your own — this will show your interest in the role.
In an office scenario, the same applies. Before any meetings, go prepared with a list of ideas or talking points. You may need to work up the courage to voice these, but as soon as you do, you’re moving yourself away from that ‘shrinking violet’ stereotype and positioning yourself as the curious, creative and dedicated individual that you are.
“Life must be lived and curiosity kept alive.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
The ‘Me’ Instead of ‘We’
Strong leadership or solid team-working skills — which is important? This may seem like a trick question, but the you think about it, the harder it can be to answer. Unless you are actively seeking a leadership role, nine times out of ten, the ability to work well in a team will be valued much greater.
It’s logical for employers to want to hire likeable people. Having a ‘me’ instead of ‘we’ mentality can send instant distress signals to a potential (or current) employer. It can make you seem unapproachable, difficult to work with, or even hostile.
As previously discussed, it doesn’t matter whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert; what matters here is whether you can build relationships with people. The way a person communicates with others can reveal a lot about a person. Some of the most successful people have proven time and again that it is their ability to earn trust, create lasting connections, and listen to others that leads to success. (Margaret Heffernan captures this expertly in her TED Talk Forget the pecking order at work.)
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.” — Plato
That’s not to say you need to befriend everyone in your office, but pleasantness and kindness do go far. We’ve all been on the receiving end of office politics (if you haven’t, it’s only a matter of time), so it’s clear that the influence of office relationships is powerful.
Independence — the ability to bring forwards and carry your own ideas and actions into practice — and teamwork — the ability to listen, get the best from others, and together achieve the greatest end result — should be harnessed in equal measures.
It’s really time to swipe away that me, me, me attitude.
If you’re falling into the trap of any of these three personality traits, it’s time to step back and assess how you can move forwards. You don’t need to mould an entirely new version of yourself in order to succeed, but taking small steps really can make all the difference.
And this isn’t exclusively in relation to your career, but can be applied to create fuller happiness in your life as a whole.
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