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Tips for Showcasing Soft Skills During an Interview

A well-written resume can attest to your experience and education, but in today’s competitive job market, healthcare employers expect more than a strong skillset – they want to ensure a new hire is a good fit with the company culture and has the necessary people skills to provide excellent care to patients and their families.

Potential candidates can stand out from the crowd by cultivating and highlighting their soft skills during job interviews. The Oxford Dictionary defines soft skills as “personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.” In other words, they’re the traits necessary for effectively collaborating with coworkers and managers.

Some specific examples of soft skills that employers look for when hiring employees are emotional intelligence, adaptability, professionalism, the ability to think critically and on the spot, and the ability to collaborate. If you’re a candidate aiming to showcase these skills during an interview, here are a few key ways to do so:

Practice describing “how,” not just “what.”

In order to convincingly demonstrate to a potential employer that you possess leadership capabilities or other soft skills, it’s important to respond to behavioral-based questions with exactly how you navigated the situation, not just with the outcome of the situation.

For example, when asked about a time when you displayed leadership skills, it’s not enough to say, “I’ve been the team lead on several projects.” The more effective answer would be, “When I served as team lead for several projects, I harnessed the strengths of my team members and helped guide the projects to completion before the actual deadlines.”

The more persuasive details you can provide to showcase just exactly what you did to accomplish a task or overcome an obstacle, the more clear it will be to your interviewer that you have the right soft skills and know how to apply them to your job duties.

Become an active listener.

Active listening is a critical communication skill. It involves giving your full attention to the words the other person is saying in order to understand the actual message being relayed.

You can practice active listening any time you have a conversation. While the other person speaks, be sure to make eye contact and try to mirror the facial expressions they make. When it’s your turn to reply, summarize what they’ve said or ask clarifying questions.

It takes time to get into the habit of actively listening. During a conversation, many people start to think ahead about what they will say next. This is even more common in high pressure situations like a job interview. Practicing mindfulness, in which you consciously focus in on your thoughts from moment to moment, is a great way to get in the habit of redirecting your thoughts to the present moment.

Be friendly and positive.

When it comes to showing your ability to communicate and work with others, being friendly and remaining positive can go a long way. A casual and personal conversation with your interviewer makes it easier for them to actually envision working with you. After all, no one wants to work with an unhappy person who can’t – or won’t – hold a conversation.

When it comes time to talk about your skills, be confident and clear in your abilities and what you bring to the table. Avoid phrases that show hesitancy or uncertainty in favor of more assertive language. An example would be using “I am confident I can lead this team through change,” instead of “I think I could help colleagues navigate change.” You want to appear confident, so you should enter the interview with the belief that you have the right skills and experience to be a great fit for the job.

Provide an impeccable presentation.

Interviewers pay attention to more than just the responses you give. They’re also making a judgment based off your physical appearance, as this can say a lot about a candidate’s level of professionalism.

It may seem like a no-brainer for many job seekers, but it’s important to make the right first impression by dressing and grooming yourself appropriately. A shabby, ill-fitting suit or a revealing dress can disqualify you from the start. Instead, always go with a tailored outfit that’s slightly more formal than the actual dress code and avoid cosmetics or accessories that are too distracting.

Your body language also demonstrates your confidence and communication skills. You may not notice you’re slouching or that your handshake is weak, but your interviewer definitely will. To project poise and confidence, be sure to make eye contact (but don’t overdo it, as that can seem confrontational), keep your posture upright, and try to avoid any restless fidgeting like tapping your foot or twirling your hair.

Achieve a competitive edge by emphasizing soft skills

Soft skills may not seem that important when compared to more quantifiable hard skills like clinical knowledge or a certification, but both are essential in order to meet the demands of a job, especially in healthcare.

By employing the tactics listed above, candidates can make their soft skills apparent to interviewers, which can often make a difference in whether or not they progress to the next step in the hiring process.

If you’re a resident or fellow that would like to know more about soft skills and how to showcase them, Jordan Search Consultants can help. Email us or give us a call at 866-750-7231.

Five Benefits of Using an Executive Search Firm

Benefits of Using an Executive Search Firm

Finding the right candidate for the C-Suite is an intense process for any industry. It can cost as much as $2.7 million for a single failed high-level executive hire. There’s even more pressure in healthcare, where a bad fit can have disastrous consequences for patients and employees alike. That means it’s imperative that a candidate possesses all the necessary qualities for success, like a high level of emotional intelligence, the capability to think critically and strategically, and plenty of business acumen.

Fortunately, with the help of an executive search firm, healthcare organizations can ensure they hire the best possible candidate without having to spend an extensive amount of time and resources on recruiting. Below are just a few benefits an executive search firm can bring to the hiring process.

1. Impartial screening for all candidates.

Biases in the hiring process can be a major problem, especially if there are internal candidates involved. An executive search firm provides an objective third-party perspective to guarantee that candidates are selected based on their merits and not just on who they know.

In addition, third-party search firms use advanced technology and marketing resources to identify candidates from a diverse passive and active candidate pool, which helps to eliminate unconscious biases based on age, gender, race, or ethnicity.

2. Comprehensive recruitment process to ensure a perfect fit.

Before the recruitment process starts, an executive search firm performs a detailed interview with key stakeholders to determine what an organization’s culture is like and what the assignment requirements are. This information is then compiled into a profile that lists out what personality traits and skills to look for in candidates.

Using that candidate profile, the search firm creates customized interview questions to screen for the right skills and qualifications. By engaging in such a comprehensive process, organizations can avoid hiring candidates whose culture doesn’t align with the organization or the community it serves.

3. Access to an extensive database of candidates.

Executives aren’t the kind of candidates that spend their time searching through job boards for open positions. More often than not, finding the right candidate for an executive position requires having the right connections and reputation to entice top performers to consider joining an organization.

Executive search firms specialize in those exact areas – they devote time to networking and marketing in order to develop a sizable database of highly qualified candidates. And because they have access to high-level contacts in the industry, they can cast a wide net that reaches candidates that would otherwise not be aware of the position.

4. Commitment to diversity and inclusion.

According to a recent survey by Gartner, 45% of HR leaders report that their leadership bench lacks diversity. When you take into consideration that diverse leadership leads to more innovation, and in turn higher revenue, it’s apparent that diversity is necessary for an organization to truly excel.

However, it can be difficult for organizations to find diverse candidates on their own. That’s why many executive search firms provide specialty services that focus on diversity and inclusion. This ensures that the talent pool candidates are pulled from contains a wide range of differing perspectives.

5. Discretion and confidentiality.

When it comes to hiring for an executive position, the best candidate is often already employed at another organization – sometimes even a partner or competitor. And in other situations, an organization may be seeking to replace an executive that isn’t meeting performance standards.

In both cases, working with an executive search firm guarantees that the hiring process is confidential and conducted with the topmost discretion. This creates a win-win situation where the best candidate is hired, and important business relationships remain intact.

Save time and money with an executive search firm

There are a multitude of obstacles and complications that arise in any hiring process. But because healthcare organizations face the additional challenge of meeting a rising demand for care with a limited supply of qualified physicians, there is even less time, money, and resources for filling key executive positions.

Outsourcing the hiring process to an executive search firm allows healthcare organizations to focus on more important priorities, like providing top quality patient care. And because search firms select from a diverse talent pool and perform a vigorous screening and vetting process, stakeholders can rest assured that their new executive hire’s values and skillset will be the perfect fit for the organization.

Jordan Search Consultants provides all the benefits listed above – and more. If your organization needs assistance finding the right candidate, give us a call at 866-750-7231 or email us here.

Giving Thanks to Providers This Holiday Season

The leaves are changing colors, the weather is getting chillier, and most of us are planning what we will be serving alongside the turkey at Thanksgiving dinner. As we gather with friends and families for the holidays, we hope you remember to give thanks for the ways in which the healthcare industry and providers are making an impact on public health.

At Jordan Search Consultants, we are grateful each day for the healthcare providers we vet and place at client organizations throughout the country who take care of thousands of people each year. Without these professionals, the health of populations could not be sustained or improved.

We are specifically thankful for providers who work in rural communities to provide care for populations that have previously been underserved. Their choice of working in a rural area is not an easy one – rural providers tend to have lower incomes than their urban counterparts, while operational costs usually remain the same. Yet their impact is significant in helping to lessen some of the disparity in access that has been overwhelmingly prevalent in healthcare. Patients that would normally delay or put off care are now receiving it in a timely manner from providers who are invested in making a positive difference.

In addition, healthcare providers make significant contributions to the rural economy, helping to stimulate growth and development. Plus, when new hospitals or medical facilities are opened, new jobs are created. An estimated 14% of employment in rural America comes from the healthcare sector.

During this holiday season, we encourage you to give thanks to the healthcare providers in your life. Not only do they take care of us and our loved ones, but they are also working to provide care to those that need it most in communities across the country and the globe.

Jordan Search Consultants

Jordan Search Consultants

113 Church Street, O’Fallon, Missouri 63366
call 866-750-7231 or email us

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