One of the biggest skills you can hone in your career are your listening skills. Learning how to listen – and recognizing that this is an important skill – is something that you’ve hopefully already figured out.
Interviewing hundreds of people while working as a recruiter has shown me in more ways than one how not listening properly can hurt you in interviews and in other aspects of your career
Personally, I’ve seen where people start answering a question before I’ve finished asking it or where they immediately answer a question without taking a second or two to think about their answer before beginning to speak.
From a hiring manager’s perspective I can recall many times where they turned down a job candidate in part because they felt the person wasn’t listening properly and seemed too eager to answer a question.
Sometimes, taking a few seconds to think of your answer to a question instead of immediately blurting one out can help you in more ways than one. Not only does it make the interviewer see that you’re thinking about your answers but it also ensures you don’t cut the interviewer off if they stop speaking for a second with the intention of continuing.
I discussed this issue in more detail a few weeks ago in an earlier post if you’d like read more on the subject.
