Speak Up to Prove Your Skills in the Job Interview

Do you have a good work ethic? Do you have good communication skills? Are you a team player/a strong leader/an enthusiastic, innovative, driven job candidate? Well, so is everyone else.

In job interviews, candidates tend to speak in generalities. It’s one of the most common flaws. Everyone says that they are persuasive, or that they have great communication skills, or that they are strong in some way—you get the idea. And those are all great things, but even the candidates who aren’t really telling the truth say those things, too.

How do you make yourself stand out? By being specific.

To separate yourself from other candidates and prove that you actually have the qualities the hiring manager wants in a new hire, prove it. Provide specific examples that support your claim to fame.

Think of it like your resume: One of the most effective ways to write a killer resume is to include hard numbers that back up what you say your skills are. And everyone has them. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in sales, marketing, operations, manufacturing, engineering, retail, food and beverage, or whatever: you can use numbers to show that you’ve saved the company time or money, or that you’ve made the company money, that you’ve improved your performance in some way, that you’ve completed your projects on time, etc.

In this same way, you can provide examples or stories that support what you’re saying:

“I’ve got a great work ethic”:

“My last boss can tell you that I was the only reason we were able to achieve X goal in Y days, because of my work ethic and my desire and drive to succeed. I was the reason we were successful in that project.”

“I’m very persuasive”:

“When I present a sales pitch to someone, I know my product very well, I give them the information they need to make a decision, and then I ask for the business. And I’ve been able to turn that into a fine art. I know exactly what the hot points are, the fears I have to alleviate, and I know exactly how to ask for the business: When will we be moving forward? Where should I send the paperwork? Should I send the first set of _____ out tomorrow?”

Give your interviewer examples of how you have been whatever it is that you say you are. How have you exemplified that quality? Prove that you are what you say you are.

Specific examples set you apart from candidates who can also talk the talk, but who can’t walk the walk.