I find that interviewers very often focus on the hard skills, but I think it’s the soft skills that can make/break a candidate. So my question is- how do you recommend working in my soft skills and their importance in the job interview when not directly asked? I usually try to highlight within the context of my “STAR” stories.

Question

Eric Chang · Accepted Answer

I am a huge fan of the STAR format (and also keeping answers to two minutes or less)! For any interview, I think it's important to identify and prepare your key 3-4 examples, which you can then use to display a wide range of skills depending on the question type. When you're responding to a question using one of these examples, make sure to take the opportunity to quickly highlight some of those soft skills.

Example: If you're asked about a time where you had to analyze data, of course you should convey how you analyzed the data, but you likely had to work with someone from analytics to identify the right data set, perhaps you got a second opinion from a different team that differed from yours which you had to reconcile, and then you had drive cross-functional alignment when you created recommendations based on that data.

If you are an experienced product marketer, you should naturally have lots of examples that can display your soft skills. For candidates in other functions that want to transition into product marketing, make sure to identify examples where you've partnered with other teams or engaged with customers that will give you the opportunity to let your soft skills shine through.

Valerie Angelkos · Answer

I'd weave these topics in as you answer the hard skill questions. Depending on your examples, theu could be easier to be included. Things to touch upon:

1. Leadership + Influencing without authority

2. Collaboration with XFN teams

3. Dealing with ambiguity (in particular in startup/smaller companies)

4. Managing conflict

5. Inclusiveness (this is something I look for frequently but hardly ever touched upon by candidates)

6. Communicating across stakeholders

However, please note that a good interview process should cover both hard and soft skills. If no one in your interview panel is asking you the soft skills questions, I'd do a deep dive to see if this is a red flag - you want to work for a company that cares about these areas and that pushes their employees to develop them as well. Both the WHAT and the HOW are equally important.

Robert McGrath · Answer

Bring your behaviours into your answers. The relationships you've built, the challenging people you've persuaded etc. It's important to be clear on the activity and the task, but ensure, within the STAR framework, you're not only answering the "what" you did but the "how" you did it.

As an interviewer the "how" means more to me, as it's a signal not only to your ability to succeed in the role but your ability to be the best you can be within the culture of the organisation.

Abdul Rastagar · Answer

While interviewers focus on your response to the hard skills question, they are simultaneously evaluating your soft skills as well. Generally, they are evaluating your EQ and your communication skills, your ability to interpret questions and think critically in real time, and your ability to provide direct and concrete answers.

Here is an example that I hope really illustrates my point: if an interviewer asks “Tell me about yourself,” they are looking for a concise career narrative but also watching how the candidate will respond more generally. Is the answer succinct and can the candidate narrow the message on the most important points? Does the response highlight how it is applicable to the job the candidate is applying for? If it’s a 5-minute long (verbal diarrhea) response, it’s a red flag that the candidate is unable to focus on the important key messages. It also betrays a certain lack of self-awareness. So long rambling answers (which are surprisingly common) are concerning for multiple reasons.

To answer your question about how to work on your soft skills:

1. Be succinct in your answer. I can’t stress this enough. Answer the question that was asked directly, without long background or detail. (I recommend you research the concept of ‘core answers’)

2. For those who are shy: make eye contact and work on being confident in your answers. You do that by owning your answer and your career path and by not making apologies for yourself, such as gaps in your employment or not having the 100% right background. You chose your career path so don’t be afraid to take pride in it. Also, smile lots because that will help you be more relaxed.

3. For those who are really confident: Please don’t come across as arrogant. I’ve seen numerous really strong candidates sink their job opportunity because they came off as condescending (they were besserwissers, they talked over people, they didn’t listen to the questions that were being asked, they made strong and off-putting statements, etc.) They may have been perfect in every other way but no one wants to work with a jerk. EQ matters and if you are perceived as arrogant, you are communicating to everyone that you don’t have the right level of EQ.

4. Some interviewers try hard to throw a candidate off balance during the interview. They purposefully push and push and push to see how you react. Don’t let them rattle you – it’s a cheap trick designed to get under your skin.