Emotional Intelligence: Do You Have What it Takes to Land the Job?

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is one of those qualities that most employers look for in their potential candidates – and for good reasons too. Not only are people with higher EQ empathetic and able to work with different personalities, but they will also have a better time accepting feedback and criticism.

Employees with EQ also tend to invest more time into creating relationships with their colleagues and clients. Another selling point is that people with EQ tend to become much better leaders, which ultimately can affect the whole team and their performance.

With most employers looking for candidates with EQ, it’s become increasingly important for employees to develop this quality in order to be competitive in the job market. This guide will take you through some of the qualities that people with high EQ possess and help you assess if you have what it takes to land the job.

People with EQ aren’t ashamed of their failures

One of the main differences between emotionally intelligent people and those that are not is how they cope with their own failures. Failures happen all the time in almost every line of work, so you shouldn’t be trying to convince your potential employer that you’ve never experienced the concept.

Emotionally intelligent people are aware that failures play a huge role when it comes to self-growth and building experience, so they won’t ever have a problem publicly acknowledging their own mistakes. Your potential employers know this, as well, so you may very well expect a question to pop out at the interview, asking you to describe a situation where you tried to do something and failed.

Try to focus on the things you’ve learned from your failures, rather than trying to explain why you failed.

Emotionally intelligent people are natural leaders

People with high EQ rarely stand by when their co-workers are in trouble – instead, they do everything they can to help them. There are two types of employees, those that thrive on others to make mistakes in order to for them to look better and those that push through by setting examples for everyone else.

High EQ means that you’d be able to work well with various personalities, while also being a force that attracts people to you. Employers have recognized that leadership development is extremely important for any business out there, mostly because leaders don’t only boost morale and create a more positive workplace, but theyalso have an easier time mentoring new employees.

If you want to have a better chance at landing a job, try to highlight your leadership skills during an interview. A history of helping and doing things without being asked to can help a lot with this.

Being reflective matters

There’s a huge difference between people who brainstorm about the impacts of a certain situation and the ones that just don’t care. Ask yourself, are you the type of person that replays a certain situation in your head and thinks about all the things that could’ve been done differently in order to affect the outcome? While there are executive and leadership coaching courses that can teach you how to manage a team better, becoming a problem-solver is a bit more difficult to come by.

Try to think about a situation where things went wrong and try to figure out what could’ve been done differently in order to change the outcome. Practice this with most situations that don’t go your way and your reflectiveness won’t go unnoticed during an interview.

Self-awareness

Candidates with EQ are almost always more self-aware than the rest and if there’s some humility included, their chances of landing a job are great. To figure out if you’re self-aware enough, you can try to imagine how your co-workers would describe the pros and cons of working with you. This is because a good candidate will always have an idea of just how their co-workers see them since they’ve already brainstormed about it. Being honest about your strengths and negative qualities is what’ll differentiate you from the rest of the candidates and show the interviewer that you’re emotionally intelligent.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Situations where people are too proud to ask for someone’s help happen all the time and more often than not it’s the business that suffers in the end. People with EQ tend to know their strengths and limitations much better than others, so they won’t be afraid to ask for help when they’re certain that they can’t pull something off in the acceptable timeframe. This isn’t to say that asking a million questions is a good thing, no one likes people who can’t do anything on their own, but not being embarrassed to ask for help when you need it is extremely important. Learning from a situation like that is even more important, so the next time a similar situation happens you’ll be ready to provide the same type of assistance.

During an interview, be ready to describe a situation that you couldn’t handle on your own and you asked for help from someone more knowledgeable.

Bottom line

Emotionally intelligent people are easier to work with and they contribute to the healthier atmosphere in a workplace. By highlighting your emotional intelligence you’ll have a much better chance of impressing your interviewers and landing a job. Try to highlight just how important your work is to you and how you can impact the team’s productivity in general. Employers today are always looking for people who can push their business to the next level, so showing them that you’re the right type of person will put you in an advantageous situation.

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