Vital Interpersonal Communication Skills To Nail Any Job Interview

Interpersonal communication is the way that we verbally and non-verbally interact with other people in the office, and the world, every day. Developing your interpersonal communication skills can be essential to making a good first impression in a job interview. In fact, those skills may set you apart from the job hunting competition. That is why improving these characteristics should be first on your list of smart goals. To learn more about how you can practice and improve these communication skills to nail any interview and land any job, keep reading below for more.

What Are Interpersonal Skills?

If you want to improve your interpersonal interactions, you need to know what exactly those interpersonal skills that facilitate these communications. So what are these interpersonal skills you need to work on?

• Verbal communication skills
• Non-verbal communication skills
• Listening Skills
• Team-working abilities
• Negotiation skills
• Persuasion and influence skills
• Conflict resolution
• Mediation
• Problem-solving
• Decision-making

If you want to better your social interactions for your career and your personal life, you need to be constantly learning more about these skills. Always be improving upon these factors of interpersonal communication to improve your life and career.

Focus

Focus is an integral part of communication and one of the most underappreciated leadership characteristics. If you want to show someone that you care about the conversation, you should do your best to express your interest. Looking down at your lap or glancing around the room can be construed as signs of boredom or disinterest. Instead, stay focused on the person you are communicating with by maintaining eye contact. This will keep your mind from wandering during the interview and help to show them that you are engaged in the conversation.

Stay Calm

A calm, relaxing demeanor will help benefit you on job interviews. It will continue to help you throughout the duration of your career as well. Having a calm demeanor allows you to communicate more clearly, directly and effectively. Throughout the course of your career, you will be better able to deal with conflict and high pressure situations if you are able to remain calm. This will impress superiors and colleagues alike, no matter whether you work at a tutoring business or a corporate office. Obviously, that is sure to give your career a boost. One of the best interpersonal skills to have that will benefit your career is the ability to stay calm under pressure.

Positive Attitude

Maintaining a positive attitude is one of the most essential interpersonal communication skills to utilize during an interview, particularly if you want to work in a field that requires a lot of customer/client interaction. To exude positivity, be mindful of your word choice. Choosing negative phrases or using self-deprecating humor in a professional environment can be harmful to the conversation, especially if you are a patent attorney. Additionally, your facial expression can say more in a conversation than you may even realize. Keep these verbal and nonverbal forms of communication in mind when you are speaking with a potential employer.

Ask Questions

Active listening is essential. A good listener is a good conversationalist which makes for a great recruiting interview. Listen to your interviewer when they speak and be sure to ask follow-up questions. This shows them that you are interested in what they have to say and would like to know more. You may also find that something as simple as nodding or otherwise reacting through your body language can make a huge impact on the conversation. Asking questions requires you to listen to what the individual conducting the interview is saying, which in turn improves your interpersonal and communication skills.

Be Self-Aware

One of the best ways to use interpersonal communication effectively in an interview is to be self-aware. There are several factors that play into verbal and nonverbal communication. Your tone, posture, word choice and facial expressions all subconsciously indicate to your potential employer how you are feeling. If you are self-aware, you can monitor these factors more easily, which will help you to steer the conversation. Keep your tone calm and level. Remember not to fidget while the interviewer is talking. If you follow these simple rules, you will do well in any interview.

Interpersonal communication skills are an essential part of the job seeking process. They are even more useful than having an elevator pitch about yourself. Whatever job you are trying to land, having a stand out interview is the only way to stand apart. Follow the interpersonal communication tips above to improve your interview skills, and you will secure a job in no time.