APU Careers Careers & Learning

A lesson in listening

By Kristen Carter, Guest Contributor

Effective communication skills are essential when conducting business, building relationships, and during the job search process. While you may think that having a combination of experience and correct responses to interview questions will help you land a job, it actually may be what you are not saying that disqualifies you.  Let me explain.

Communication is a two-way street. One person talks, while the other person listens. Without listening, proper communication is not taking place. If you have ever taken a counseling course, active listening skills are a common topic discussed, and counselors are encouraged to weave them into their process of building therapeutic relationships since they are crucial in developing a warm, safe, and inviting environment. Such skills include eye contact, posture, paraphrasing, summarizing, and clarifying.

You may be asking how these skills will benefit you in an interview. Well, Dorothy Tannahill-Moran does a nice job addressing this topic in her post, “Are Your Listening Skills Your Job Search Problem?” by pointing out three key ways that active listening skills can properly assist you in your job search:

Limit your responses to two minutes or less– at times, you may not be aware at how long you have been speaking. So, it may prove beneficial to practice your responses to sample interview questions with a third party in order to track how long your responses are and if you tend to ramble.

Practice active listening– simply think ‘Pause, Repeat, Ask.’ You will want to pause a few seconds prior to responding to indicate that you are giving the question some serious thought. Then, you will want to repeat back the questions (either aloud or in your head) that you have been asked before responding. Finally, simply ask if you have answered the question to their satisfaction once you are finished.

Self-examine– if you are one that talks excessively, this may be a sign that you are nervous. So, you will want to proactively seek out relaxation techniques to help calm you down in stressful situations.

While active listening skills are not the only ammunition you need to succeed in an interview, it is most definitely an important component that hiring managers will be looking for. So, you will want to be prepared to demonstrate you are adept in these skills.

Comments are closed.