What is better than an interviewer asking you to judge your communication skills than judging it themselves? Well, this truly makes them sound smart but don’t forget you can use this opportunity to play smart yourself with a diplomatic yet powerful answer. Don’t worry! We know not everyone doesn’t know how to be diplomatic and powerful at the same time in the same answer. We will be assisting you through the entire process of how you can prepare your answer with the help of some sample answers.
What Should Be the Tone of Your Answer?
When appearing for the interview, it is important to watch your tone. It is most likely not about what you say but how you say it. Firstly, you must ensure that the tone of your answer is constant throughout the interview. Ideally, a soft and calm tone is the best. It would be best if you made the interviewer believe that you are completely prepared for this interview and do not have any doubts about your caliber and knowledge system.
There are a few things that are worth mentioning at this point. For example, never use a loud tone, meaning you can defend yourself, and it is fine if once in a while your tone gets defensive. But never get too aggressive while putting forth your point. Yes, if there are ideological differences, then you need to ensure that you put across valid reasons to support your ideology. Interviewers are always looking for a candidate who has a thinking mind of their own. But watch out for your tone. You can begin with, “I see your point. However, there is yet another way of looking at this situation.”
Pro-Tip
Sometimes, it is fine to lose a few arguments for your future. You are not here to win any competition against your interviewers. You need to look at the result and ensure that you grab the job opportunity.
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Introducing A Personal Experience Can Be a Nice Touch
It is important to notice that this question is highly subjective in nature, and the interviewer wants you to assess yourself. It will be an honest answer that can get you through the interview. You can always add your personal experience and how that helped you develop or improve your communication skills. For instance, you may have worked on some project where you were part of a team or where you had to deal with the client directly. You can always mention that experience. Try to focus on how being a part of the team or dealing with the client has improved your overall communication skills. Adding this kind of point while answering this question assures one that as an employee, you have been focused on assessing yourself. You have been trying to improve in the process, which is a place where you can score more than others.
It is Ideal Not to Grade Yourself
Remember that grading yourself in numerical values is not the best solution when dealing with these interview questions. Especially if you have been a non-native English speaker, you can answer and try to project yourself as being fairly well in your English communication. This way, you can show them that you are competent enough to grasp any new aspect of the language you face during your career. Being a non-native English speaker could leave you at an advantage as you can easily show them your struggle to learn a foreign language and come a long way with it. It is the accumulated effort and growth that counts in the interviews. If you are a native speaker, however, you can quickly flip the situation around by showcasing how you were able to adapt the language inside your work circle to help multi-cultural people feel at ease. Because language is just a medium, in the end, what matters is that you can communicate what you want to.
This allows you to sell yourself without being too obvious. This is precisely what the interviewers are looking for.
Sample Answer
Honestly, I may not be the right person to answer this question about how good a communicator I am. It can only be judged by others who I am trying to communicate with. However, so far in my career, I have never come across any difficulty with communicating. In fact, I’d say that my brief has saved folks a lot of time and effort that they would have otherwise spent reworking a project. Also, most of my previous work required me to communicate very complex information in simple terms, so I’d say that in the past, I have been a very effective communicator.
Analysis
This answer makes the candidate shine out and establishes them as a pro at what they do. It also keeps their humility at play and doesn’t make them look too out there. The candidate doesn’t make it about overcoming any challenge but about never facing an issue because of that. For example – “I have never come across any difficulty with communicating.” This shows that the candidate disregards any possibility of facing a challenge concerning communication. Numerous examples of how they have previously been able to tackle any situation are quoted to show their real expertise.
Sample Answer
I have fairly good communication skills. Since school, I have excelled in debate competitions and recitation. I’d say that oration is an art. Still, efficient communication requires you to reach out to the other person in a way they understand the best. Efficient communication requires one to understand the context entirely, which also means that you need to be a good listener. A good listener is a good communicator.
Similarly, reading is important too. Because when you read, you fill your mind with information and knowledge and never fall short of thoughts and ideas to put forth. Also, it leaves your vocabulary enriched, and you can work on your diction to perfection.
Analysis
Now, when we look at this answer, we find that the candidate is confident and taking charge of the interview. He/she, through their detailed answer, shows how much knowledge they possess with regards to communication. This answer may have as many personal details as the previous one, but it is still a fulfilling answer. This is because here, the candidate has used a generic tone and provided factual information. We all know that good communication is directly linked to listening and reading.
Here the communicator uses this answer as an opportunity to not boast about their achievements but to show their knowledge system with regards to the topic in question. However, the candidate doesn’t miss the point that the question was directed at them by the interviewer. This is why the answer begins on a personal note and that in the first-person voice – “I.” The candidate directly answers the question, quotes an example from the past, and subtly moves on to flaunt his/her knowledge on the topic.
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Summary
Appearing for an interview can be one of the most difficult parts of your career. But if you are well-prepared for some of the most basic questions generally asked in interviews, you are good to go. Mostly, it is the nervousness that troubles the candidates in the interview. This is why it is essential to be confident and show your best self to them. You do not have to do the interview just about yourself. You need to balance understanding their questions’ points of view and adding your personality to the answers. We hope by now you will have grasped the process of formulating an answer on the spot to best suit their requirements. Here are certain points to remember.
- Always be confident.
- Establish yourself as a good communicator.
- Don’t oversell yourself.
- Keep your tone consistent.
- Don’t drag any argument.
- Resolve any conflict within a few minutes.
- Don’t shy away from apologizing for raising your tone.
- It is okay to accept their point of view.
- It is equally fine to put forth your point but ensure that you explain it with logical arguments.
