Have you ever sat on an interview panel and heard something like the following……
Panel:
Can you tell us three strengths that you bring to the role?
Candidate:
My top three strengths are Communication, Teamwork and Problem Solving. I communicate clearly and effectively with my team and I can explain complex things in a simple way. I am also a great team player which means I can work with people from all backgrounds and build good relationships with my team. I also get great feedback on my problem-solving skills. I can work through problems in a logical way and I know when to escalate to get input from others with more experience or expertise.,
Panel: Yawn, yawn, yawn 😴.
In my interview coaching sessions, at least 90% of clients respond to ‘What are your strengths?’ with “teamwork, communication and problem-solving”.
Unoriginal, boring and likely to send the panel to sleep five minutes into the interview.
But what if you could explain your strengths in an interesting way?
Using language that will intrigue the panel and get them sitting up and paying attention to you right away.
That’s the benefit of learning the language of strengths, being able to firstly identify your unique strengths and then being able to articulate them in a more sophisticated way.
With a knowledge and understanding of strengths, the same interview might go like this:
Panel:
What three strengths can you bring to the role?
Candidate:
I have many strengths but the three that I receive great feedback about are Pride, Esteem Builder and Catalyst.
I take enormous pride in my work. I deliver work that is consistently of the highest standard and I get it right the first time. I set high standards for myself and I encourage my team to do the same.
I am great at building esteem in my team. I can see the possibility and potential in people and I can help people recognise it in themselves.
I am also a great catalyst. I enjoy getting new projects off the ground and putting ideas into action by involving others. I can motivate others to work on things that otherwise they might never have done and I give stale projects a boost to get them up and running again.
The benefits of strengths
The ability to identify your true strengths will not only increase your energy levels, engagement, confidence and performance at work but by knowing the language of strengths you can make a much bigger impact during the interview process.
To learn more
To find out more about our Individual Strengths Coaching Sessions and/or our Team Strengths Workshops, feel free to send me a message to arrange a time to discuss.
Leah Lambart, Relaunch Me
Career, Interview & Accredited Strengths Coach
My top three strengths:
- Unconditionality
- Connector
- Rapport Builder
