In part one of our five part “Soft Skills” series, we covered speaking skills and how a job seeker can use those skills to improve their chances of landing the job. In this article we explore the importance of listening skills and how improving your listening skills can improve your chances at a job interview.

Sometimes one of the drawbacks of being a good speaker is that a person who speaks wells often falls short in the listening category. A good speaker may be so eager to share their ideas and thoughts that they fail to really hear what the other person is saying.  Below are a few tips on how a job seeker can improve their listening skills:

1. If you tend to be more talkative than most, then you may want to decrease the amount of talk you engage in during the interview.  Make sure that you leave pauses and space between thoughts so that the interviewer has an opportunity to share their thoughts, ask questions or delve deeper into what you’ve just said.
2. Don’t interrupt the interviewer.  While it may seem like a “no-brainer” some job seekers don’t realize that they are interrupting the interviewer until it’s too late.  Always wait until the interviewer has completed their thought before jumping in to speak. Interrupting can leave a bad impression, especially if it is done more than once during the interview.
3. To avoid missing out on what the interviewer is saying don’t allow your mind to wander. When you enter the interview room put all other thoughts out of your mind, including worries about whether or not you will get the job.
4. Make sure that you have a pen and some paper available so that you can take notes during your interview. If questions pop up while the interviewer is talking, don’t interrupt, simply write down your question and ask once they’re done speaking.