Whatever your field or
experience level might be, your ability to get hired and then to succeed
is dependent on excellent communications skills. It's rare to see an
advertisement for a job that doesn't include this among the various
other requirements.
However
difficult it may be to evaluate any of your other skills, employers can
easily tell how well you communicate by the way you write your cover
letter and résumé,
and how you converse during phone or in-person interviews. Spelling or
grammatical errors are often "the kiss of death" for otherwise
well-qualified candidates. But the requirement for strong communications
skills goes well beyond this minimal standard.
Hiring authorities key in on these critical areas:
1. Well-ordered reasoning. Does the prose of your cover letter read well? When you answer questions in an interview, do you meander or get to the point directly? Do you present facts in a coherent way that is easy to follow?
2. Strong action verbs and vocabulary usage. Does your résumé read like a job description, with statements beginning with: "Responsible for ..." or do you actually say what you did? Effective communicators begin every bullet point with strong verbs like: built, managed, conveyed, analyzed, delivered, produced, maximized/minimized, etc. Do you use the same words or phrases repeatedly, or do you find new ways to communicate what you're trying to get across?
3. Wasting time. One way to waste yours and other people's time is to consume it by writing and saying the obvious. Don't bother saying what doesn't need to be said. Don't clutter your written documents or speech with things that everyone already knows and which don't add something to an understanding of your qualifications.
Examples: Objective statements or offers to provide references. If an employer is reading your résumé, he or she already understands that your objective it acquiring the job. Likewise, it is obvious that if an employer wants your references, you will provide them when requested. Getting rid of unnecessary words leaves more space on a résumé and time in an interview to convey the things about yourself that will do the most to advance your cause.
4. Interest in the position and company. You can demonstrate this by writing in your cover letter that you have been following the company on LinkedIn, or set up a Google Alert to get all the latest news about it. Then, you can remark on something you've learned about the company's work or mission that appeals to you. When you do your homework about the company before your interview and show what you've learned by the questions you ask, you communicate much about yourself and the way you go about things.
5. Passion. Of
course you have to be qualified in terms of education, experience,
degrees and licensing. But, chances are that many of your competitors
will share much of these in common. More than simply being able to do
the job, employers are eager to find candidates who show a passion for
the work by their tone of voice and general attitude. When you show that
you relish the challenges of a particular job opportunity, you can set
yourself apart from and above your competition.
6. Pride in results. Your résumé bullet points should provide examples of the challenges you faced and the results of your actions.
And when you speak of these things in your interview and employers see
that your work is meaningful to you and that you relish getting strong
and positive results, they will gravitate toward you. From an employer's
standpoint, a productive worker is important, but one who is engaged
and prideful of his or her contributions is invaluable.
7. Follow up. Your
actions say much about you and your work style. If, for example, you
state in your cover letter that you will call to make contact on a given
date, and you fail to do so, you have already proven your
unreliability. The same is true if you are asked to provide information
of any kind and you tarry or fail to do so. Instead, take the initiative
to promptly respond to a phone or in-person interview with a thank-you
note, provide references or other documentation. Thereby you demonstrate
respect and thoughtfulness, both of which are noted and valued.
8. Listen carefully. At
the heart of all effective communication is actively listening to your
audience to understand what they want and need to hear. Only this way
can you be certain to articulate the right content in an appropriate
fashion.
That can mean taking the time to deconstruct a job advertisement to see what the job is really all about before composing your cover letter.
Or, it can mean pausing for a second before responding to an interview
question to make sure that the information you are about to provide is
on point to the query that has been posed.
It takes much more than claiming to be an effective communicator to convince an employer that you are one.
You
will demonstrate that you're an effective communicator when you
carefully assess your situation, logically think out what you want to
say and then do so clearly and succinctly. You will make the best
possible case for yourself, and thereby convince an employer that you
represent the ideal answer to their needs.
Happy hunting!
Arnie Fertig, MPA, is passionate about helping his Jobhuntercoach
clients advance their careers by transforming frantic "I'll apply to
anything" searches into focused hunts for "great fit" opportunities. He
brings to each client the extensive knowledge he gained when working in
HR staffing and managing his boutique recruiting firm
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