Degrees and experience may get you an interview, but intangibles like communication and teamwork are what land the job
Many job seekers cling to the belief that degrees and experience make them “qualified.” Employers don’t see it that way. They’re looking for communication skills, adaptability and character—the intangibles that separate a safe hire from a risky one.
On one hand, you have tangible qualifications: degrees, certifications, hard skills and quantifiable results. These are your baseline requirements. They’re what get you interviews, hence the importance of showcasing them properly throughout your résumé and LinkedIn profile.
On the other hand, you have intangible qualities such as communication skills, adaptability, teamwork, problem-solving skills, time management skills, leadership skills and creativity that make you truly qualified. When you don’t consider these intangible qualities as part of being qualified, you fail to recognize what “being qualified” means to an employer.
Here are some of the most common ways candidates disqualify themselves.
Your written and verbal communication skills are substandard
All workplaces require effective communication.
An all-too-common scenario is a candidate with an impressive résumé, which they have paid to have written, making it seem as if they have strong writing skills. However, when they interview, they struggle to articulate their career story and sell themselves. Communication skills are the most important factor influencing your job search and career. If you can’t express yourself confidently, you’re not qualified.
An aside: Communication is primarily about word choice. When selecting words, less is more. The key to powerful and persuasive communication, whether written or spoken, is clarity and, whenever possible, brevity.
You don’t provide numerical proof of how you impacted your employers
Numbers, the language of business, provide tangible proof of your contributions. When a job seeker fails to support their claims with specific numbers, they’re simply boasting. Making unsubstantiated claims doesn’t make you qualified.
Your digital footprint is controversial
Employers will Google you and review your LinkedIn activity when assessing your candidacy. Don’t cross your fingers hoping they won’t. If they find inappropriate comments or questionable behaviour, you’re not qualified. Align your online presence with the professional image you want to project.
You’re unwilling to work on-site
If you want to prolong your job search, insist on working from home. Companies are enforcing a return-to-office mandate, which is well within their rights to do so. A candidate who tries to negotiate working from home when the job description states the job is on-site shows a sense of entitlement and, regardless of their skills, isn’t qualified.
Failing to consider these aspects, along with many others I haven’t listed, explains why many job seekers meet the skills and experience requirements in the job posting, secure an interview and then receive a rejection email.
When you get the standard “We decided to go with another candidate” response, it’s not about your qualifications on your résumé and LinkedIn profile. You wouldn’t have been invited for an interview if you didn’t appear to be qualified. Essentially, the employer is saying, “The candidate we hired has your education and experience, more or less. In addition, they have attributes and evidence that make us want to work with them.”
From speaking with hiring managers, it would be safe to say that employers don’t have a hard time finding tangible, qualified candidates, which in today’s job market are ’a dime a dozen.’ The challenge employers are facing is finding candidates who meet the intangible, non-measurable aspects of being genuinely qualified.
While there’s no guaranteed method of getting hired, being a candidate whom the employer and those who’d be your colleagues want to work with is as close to a guarantee as you can get. From an employer’s point of view, this is the essence of being “qualified.”
Stop worrying about being the most impressive on paper. Start proving you’re the least risky choice in person. That shift in thinking is what separates job seekers who keep waiting for the phone to ring from those who get hired.
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers advice on searching for a job.
The views, opinions, and positions expressed by our columnists and contributors are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of our publication.
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