Make Your Interview Soft Skills Shine: A How-To Guide

Today’s job market is complex and competitive. Companies want to make sure they hire candidates who can do more with less without sacrificing performance – they’re placing more value on soft skills than ever.

To stand out as the best job candidate, you must not only have a strong resume and brush up on job-related skills but also show off your soft skills. Read on to learn more about the most important interview soft skills to showcase, how to highlight them, and what to prepare for.

What Are Hard and Soft Skills?

Soft skills, also called essential skills, reflect your behavior and attitude at work. On the other hand, hard skills, also known as technical skills, demonstrate your job-related knowledge and technical talents.

Soft skills may include your ability to collaborate and communicate with hybrid teams and other stakeholders, your drive to solve challenges, and your sense of ownership. These skills are, however, more difficult to measure than – but equally important as – hard skills. 

What Are the Most Important Soft Skills?

Every company has its own soft skill requirements, but those most in demand span a variety of organizations and industries. Some of the most critical soft skills at work are:

• Communication
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Leadership
• Time management
• Adaptability
• Ownership and accountability
• Problem-solving
• Creativity 
• Emotional intelligence 
• Drive to succeed

How to Highlight Soft Skills in a Job Interview

Many professionals wonder how to showcase their soft skills in a job interview. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to do this without too much extra effort. One way is to highlight your soft skills using the same examples you use to show off your technical or job-related skills.

You may want to use the STAR framework, which stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result, and allows you to communicate your experience comprehensively.

For example, a customer service representative candidate may use this framework to show how their drive and empathy helped fulfill a customer’s needs like this:

• Situation: I had a customer who was very upset that their order did not arrive on time.
• Task: I knew how important this order was to them, so I set out to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. 
• Action: First, I listened carefully to understand their needs fully and then found a way to address their concern before we ended the call. 
• Result: The customer went from upset to satisfied and gave me a five-star review that specifically praised my ability to solve their problem immediately while putting them at ease. 

Notice how this response not only tells a story but also weaves in soft skills throughout. Your interviewer may not ask you to elaborate on your soft skills, so you may need to incorporate them into your answers. 

For an even bigger impact, discuss the real results your soft skills have delivered. Perhaps you solved a significant business challenge – a win in itself – but did so by using your skills related to innovation and creativity. 

Common Soft Skills Interview Questions

Interviewers typically use behavioral questions to dig into your soft skills, seeking examples of specific times you’ve demonstrated particular qualities. Often, a behavioral question begins with phrases like “Tell me about a time when… ” or “Give me an example of… ”

Here are a few examples of common soft skill interview questions you may encounter:

• Tell me about a time you had difficulty communicating with a coworker. Skills assessed: communication, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and collaboration
• Explain how you handled a major change at work. Skills assessed: adaptability and problem-solving
• Give me an example of a time you had to step in and take the lead. Skills assessed: leadership, ownership, collaboration, and initiative
• Tell me about a time you had to learn a new skill. Skills assessed: initiative, ownership, and drive 

To prepare for these questions, brainstorm your top skills for your target job. You can also conduct a strength and weakness analysis. Then, note strong examples – from your career, education, or volunteer work – of how you’ve exhibited those skills. Practice those stories with the STAR format so you’re ready to project confidence in your interview. 

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Tips to Stand Out in a Job Interview 

How you speak about your experiences is nearly as important as the experiences themselves. Hiring teams want to make sure that you’ll be a proactive, collaborative, and conscientious employee. The language you use to frame your answers and examples is another opportunity to demonstrate your soft skills.

Here are some examples of what to say in a job interview:

• Show enthusiasm and drive with language like “I’m energized by… ” or “I get excited about… ”
• Display ownership and leadership with phrases like “I took initiative to… ” or “I took the lead on… ”
• Highlight self-awareness and growth by saying, “Something I learned about myself was… ” or “One area I’ve been working to improve on is… ”
• Showcase professionalism by speaking positively about past companies and colleagues, even when discussing a challenging situation. 

Shine in Your Next Interview With iHire 

Displaying your soft skills is one of the best ways to help an employer envision you in the role. Before you know it, they’ll be picturing you as a team member, ready to step in and get the job done. Paint the picture for them with specific examples and put your best professional foot forward!

Ready to wow your next interview panel with your professional skill set? At iHire, we have all the tools to support your career journey – from resume creation to interview prep and robust career resources. Create your free account today to get started.