Emotional Intelligence Part III: The Job Interview
By Ruth Silverman(Published in The Recruit, August 18 – 31, 2006.)
In the first two articles in this series, I explored ways that emotional intelligence can impact on how you cope with job loss and the job search and career change processes. Emotional intelligence is also crucial to your functioning in the workplace. Do you have positive relationships with your coworkers? Are you able to focus on work during stressful periods in your personal life?
Because emotional intelligence is so important on the job, employers ask job interview questions that are designed to assess aspects of emotional intelligence in addition to exploring skills and experience. For example, the question "How do you handle stress?" measures stress tolerance and emotional self-awareness. Give an example of when you recognized a stressful situation and dealt with it, both in the workplace (e.g.: communicating with coworkers, using your sense of humour) and in your personal life (e.g.: exercise, supportive friends). It is emotionally unintelligent to deny that you experience stress; employers will worry that you will let it build up and eventually explode!
Several interview questions are frequently asked to assess your interpersonal relationships. Communication skills, including teamwork and interpersonal relationships, consistently occupy the number one position in Business Council of BC surveys of what employers look for. Frequently employers will ask for an example of a time you worked well as part of a team. When giving your example, it is advantageous to talk about your role in creating a positive environment within the group, as well as your contribution to the team's end product. Questions about previous jobs, such as "What would your former manager say about you?", and "What did you like most and least about your last job/ manager?" are also designed, in part, to probe your interpersonal relationships in the workplace.
"How do you handle conflict?" is one of the more challenging interview questions regarding interpersonal relationships. It also probes other aspects of emotional intelligence including empathy, assertiveness, and impulse control. The employer wants to know whether you are able to deal with conflict through assertive communication while preserving a positive relationship. Discuss a specific time when you did this. The employer does not want someone who avoids conflict and allows resentment to build and poison the work environment. Nor does the employer want someone who is insensitive to coworkers' or customers' feelings and deals with people impulsively or aggressively. Occasionally an employer will attempt to directly observe your reaction in a stressful, conflict-prone situation by provoking you with a question such as, "What would you say if I told you that you were doing poorly in this interview?" In the language of emotional intelligence, the interviewer is attempting a "neural hijacking", trying to stimulate your brain chemicals that promote impulsive aggression. To diffuse these chemicals, take the "six second pause." Think about something mentally engaging for six seconds, such as six South American countries and their capitals. Or think of six of your second cousins. Research has shown that six seconds of mental engagement will diffuse the brain chemicals that lead to an impulsive, aggressive response. After the six second pause, you can calmly respond, "I would ask you if you had any suggestions to improve my performance."
Relate to the interviewer in an emotionally intelligent way. Use empathy by attending to the interviewer's body language, facial expression, and attempts to speak, to recognize when she or he wants to move on to another question. Be kind to yourself and engage in self-regard and optimism in the interview's aftermath. After all, you have just effectively communicated your skills, both job-related and emotional.
Ruth Silverman, MEd, CCC is a Counsellor/ Facilitator with SCCI Project Restart Ltd.