May 15, 2020
Interpersonal skills involve the ability to communicate and build relationships with others. Often called “people skills,” they tend to incorporate both your innate personality traits and how you’ve learned to handle certain social situations. Effective interpersonal skills can help you during the job interview process and positively impact your career advancement.
What are interpersonal skills?
Interpersonal skills are traits you rely on when you interact and communicate with others. They cover a variety of scenarios where communication and cooperation are essential.
Some examples of interpersonal skills include:
Active listening
Teamwork
Responsibility
Dependability
Leadership
Motivation
Flexibility
Patience
Empathy
In a work environment, strong interpersonal skills are an asset that can help you navigate complexity, change, and day-to-day tasks.
Why are interpersonal skills important?
Strong interpersonal skills can help you during the job interview process as interviewers look for applicants who can work well with others. They will also help you succeed in almost any job by helping you understand other people and adjusting your approach to work together effectively. For example, while a software engineer may spend most of her time working on code independently, she may need to collaborate with other programmers to bring a product to market effectively.
This is especially true as more companies implement collaborative, agile frameworks for getting work done. Employers will be looking for workers who can perform technical tasks with excellence and communicate well with colleagues.
Interpersonal skills examples
Unlike technical or “hard” skills, interpersonal skills are “soft” skills that are easily transferable across industries and positions. Employers value interpersonal skills because they contribute to positive work environments and help maintain an efficient workflow.
Here is a list of interpersonal skills for you to identify interpersonal skills you may possess that are valuable to employers:
Active listening
Active listening means listening to others to gather information and engage with the speaker. Active listeners avoid distracting behaviors while in conversation with others. This can mean putting away or closing laptops or mobile devices while listening and asking and answering questions when prompted.
Dependability
Dependable people can be relied on in any given situation. This can include anything from being punctual to keeping promises. Employers highly value dependable workers and trust them with important tasks and duties.
Empathy
A worker’s “emotional intelligence” is how well they understand the needs and feelings of others. Employers may hire empathetic or compassionate employees to create a positive, high-functioning workplace.
Leadership
Leadership is an important interpersonal skill that involves effective decision-making. Effective leaders incorporate many other interpersonal skills, like empathy and patience to make decisions. Both managers and individual contributors can use leadership skills. In any role, employers value people who take ownership to reach common goals.
Teamwork
The ability to work together as a team is precious in every workplace. Teamwork involves many other interpersonal skills like communication, active listening, flexibility, and responsibility. Good “team players” are often given important tasks in the workplace and may be seen as good candidates for promotions.
Jobs that require interpersonal skills
Any job you apply for will require interpersonal skills of some kind. Some jobs that rely on strong interpersonal skills more than others include:
Teachers
Teachers need strong interpersonal skills to work collaboratively with each other, administrators, students, and parents. An empathic and patient teacher can help students learn and grow effectively in their education.
Administrative Assistants
Administrative assistants need to be highly dependable, among other interpersonal skills. Administrative assistants also contact customers or clients regularly, making interpersonal skills a necessary function of the job.
Registered Nurses
Comfort and care for patients is a key skill for nurses. Interpersonal skills of all kinds are integral for the industry, especially empathy and patience.
Marketing Managers
Marketing requires several technical and soft skills. Interpersonal communications skills are an important part of marketing and marketing management, as marketing professionals work collaboratively in developing marketing campaigns and with clients and sales teams.
Customer Service Agents
Customer service requires a high level of people skills. Those employed in customer service spend most of their work hours engaged with customers who may be frustrated, confused, or angry. Communication skills are necessary, especially patience, empathy, and active listening.
How to improve interpersonal skills
While interpersonal skills can seem easy to practice as you interact with others daily, making a deliberate plan can help you quickly improve. Consider the following ways to improve your interpersonal skills:
Attend workshops or online classes. There are several workshops, online classes, and videos on ways you can practice building interpersonal skills. While many are free, some are available at a cost.
Seek out opportunities to build relationships. If you work from home or do not otherwise have many opportunities to build interpersonal skills, you might consider joining a group. This could be related to your work like networking or industry-specific groups, or simply a group that shares a similar interest or hobby.
Be thoughtful about ways your interactions could improve. Take time to review the interactions you have and consider ways you could have interacted more effectively. This might be certain words you said, ways you reacted, or body language you used.
Ask trusted friends or colleagues for constructive criticism. It is helpful to get a third-party perspective about your skill level and specific ways you can improve. Ask friends or trusted colleagues to provide constructive criticism regarding your interpersonal skills.
Observe other positive interpersonal interactions. It can also be helpful to learn by seeing others use interpersonal skills. Observe positive interactions of those around you and apply those qualities you admire to your own relationships.
Seek out mentorship. Asking someone you trust, admire and respect to counsel you on improving interpersonal skills and advancing in your career overall can be an extremely effective way to learn.
Setting goals for yourself can also provide structure, making your learning more efficient by understanding when and how you have made adequate improvements.
How to highlight interpersonal skills when applying for jobs
During the job application and interview phase, you can highlight your resume's interpersonal skills and cover letter. After you are successfully hired, you should continue to maintain your skills and develop new ones.
Including interpersonal skills on a resume
On your resume, include a few key interpersonal skills under the “skills” section. Generally, the best skills to put on a resume are that you are confident and verified by any of the references you list on your job application. Review the job posting to understand which of your skills are most relevant to the job you’re applying for and which you should prioritize on your resume.
Your resume skills section may look like this:
Technical skills: POS Systems, Excel, HTML, Digital Phone Systems
Additional skills: Effective team player, highly communicative and cooperative, active listener, innovative researcher
You can also provide examples of your interpersonal skills in the Experience section of your resume. Do this by including concrete examples of how you worked with others and the results you achieved. For example: “Collaborated with designers, copywriters, and strategists on a rebranding initiative that resulted in a 30% increase in website visits.”
Including interpersonal skills on a cover letter
For your cover letter, you may want to focus on one strong, relevant interpersonal skill. This can help the employer get a good idea about an area you see as one of your strengths. You may also want to briefly explain how that skill can benefit the employer and create a good work relationship.
An example section highlighting your skills in a cover letter could look like the following:
“With my previous employer, I was often called upon to help form collaborative teams. My managers pointed to my ability to listen to and understand my colleagues’ strengths to determine best how to assign effective roles.”
Related: How to Write a Cover Letter
Interpersonal skills in a job interview and on the job
Your interpersonal skills will be necessary both during the job interview and on the job.
During your job interview, the hiring manager may be looking to see how well you listen actively, maintain eye contact and whether you are courteous and respectful. The job interview is also a good opportunity to show dependability. Arriving early for your interview, for example, shows you are serious about the interview and respect the interviewer’s time.
Related: Job Interview Tips: How to Make a Great Impression
Once you successfully get a job, you will continue to rely on interpersonal skills. By demonstrating that you are dependable, taking the initiative to lead, and positively impacting your colleagues, you can develop a strong reputation as a collaborative teammate.
Employers in every industry increasingly value interpersonal communication skills. Regardless of what type of career you are looking to enter, your ability to work well with your colleagues and employer may make a good impression and result in positive career growth.
Interpersonal skills involve the ability to communicate and build relationships with others. Often called “people skills,” they tend to incorporate both your innate personality traits and how you’ve learned to handle certain social situations. Effective interpersonal skills can help you during the job interview process and positively impact your career advancement.
What are interpersonal skills?
Interpersonal skills are traits you rely on when you interact and communicate with others. They cover a variety of scenarios where communication and cooperation are essential.
Some examples of interpersonal skills include:
Active listening
Teamwork
Responsibility
Dependability
Leadership
Motivation
Flexibility
Patience
Empathy
In a work environment, strong interpersonal skills are an asset that can help you navigate complexity, change, and day-to-day tasks.
Why are interpersonal skills important?
Strong interpersonal skills can help you during the job interview process as interviewers look for applicants who can work well with others. They will also help you succeed in almost any job by helping you understand other people and adjusting your approach to work together effectively. For example, while a software engineer may spend most of her time working on code independently, she may need to collaborate with other programmers to bring a product to market effectively.
This is especially true as more companies implement collaborative, agile frameworks for getting work done. Employers will be looking for workers who can perform technical tasks with excellence and communicate well with colleagues.
Interpersonal skills examples
Unlike technical or “hard” skills, interpersonal skills are “soft” skills that are easily transferable across industries and positions. Employers value interpersonal skills because they contribute to positive work environments and help maintain an efficient workflow.
Here is a list of interpersonal skills for you to identify interpersonal skills you may possess that are valuable to employers:
Active listening
Active listening means listening to others to gather information and engage with the speaker. Active listeners avoid distracting behaviors while in conversation with others. This can mean putting away or closing laptops or mobile devices while listening and asking and answering questions when prompted.
Dependability
Dependable people can be relied on in any given situation. This can include anything from being punctual to keeping promises. Employers highly value dependable workers and trust them with important tasks and duties.
Empathy
A worker’s “emotional intelligence” is how well they understand the needs and feelings of others. Employers may hire empathetic or compassionate employees to create a positive, high-functioning workplace.
Leadership
Leadership is an important interpersonal skill that involves effective decision-making. Effective leaders incorporate many other interpersonal skills, like empathy and patience to make decisions. Both managers and individual contributors can use leadership skills. In any role, employers value people who take ownership to reach common goals.
Teamwork
The ability to work together as a team is precious in every workplace. Teamwork involves many other interpersonal skills like communication, active listening, flexibility, and responsibility. Good “team players” are often given important tasks in the workplace and may be seen as good candidates for promotions.
Jobs that require interpersonal skills
Any job you apply for will require interpersonal skills of some kind. Some jobs that rely on strong interpersonal skills more than others include:
Teachers
Teachers need strong interpersonal skills to work collaboratively with each other, administrators, students, and parents. An empathic and patient teacher can help students learn and grow effectively in their education.
Administrative Assistants
Administrative assistants need to be highly dependable, among other interpersonal skills. Administrative assistants also contact customers or clients regularly, making interpersonal skills a necessary function of the job.
Registered Nurses
Comfort and care for patients is a key skill for nurses. Interpersonal skills of all kinds are integral for the industry, especially empathy and patience.
Marketing Managers
Marketing requires several technical and soft skills. Interpersonal communications skills are an important part of marketing and marketing management, as marketing professionals work collaboratively in developing marketing campaigns and with clients and sales teams.
Customer Service Agents
Customer service requires a high level of people skills. Those employed in customer service spend most of their work hours engaged with customers who may be frustrated, confused, or angry. Communication skills are necessary, especially patience, empathy, and active listening.
How to improve interpersonal skills
While interpersonal skills can seem easy to practice as you interact with others daily, making a deliberate plan can help you quickly improve. Consider the following ways to improve your interpersonal skills:
Attend workshops or online classes. There are several workshops, online classes, and videos on ways you can practice building interpersonal skills. While many are free, some are available at a cost.
Seek out opportunities to build relationships. If you work from home or do not otherwise have many opportunities to build interpersonal skills, you might consider joining a group. This could be related to your work like networking or industry-specific groups, or simply a group that shares a similar interest or hobby.
Be thoughtful about ways your interactions could improve. Take time to review the interactions you have and consider ways you could have interacted more effectively. This might be certain words you said, ways you reacted, or body language you used.
Ask trusted friends or colleagues for constructive criticism. It is helpful to get a third-party perspective about your skill level and specific ways you can improve. Ask friends or trusted colleagues to provide constructive criticism regarding your interpersonal skills.
Observe other positive interpersonal interactions. It can also be helpful to learn by seeing others use interpersonal skills. Observe positive interactions of those around you and apply those qualities you admire to your own relationships.
Seek out mentorship. Asking someone you trust, admire and respect to counsel you on improving interpersonal skills and advancing in your career overall can be an extremely effective way to learn.
Setting goals for yourself can also provide structure, making your learning more efficient by understanding when and how you have made adequate improvements.
How to highlight interpersonal skills when applying for jobs
During the job application and interview phase, you can highlight your resume's interpersonal skills and cover letter. After you are successfully hired, you should continue to maintain your skills and develop new ones.
Including interpersonal skills on a resume
On your resume, include a few key interpersonal skills under the “skills” section. Generally, the best skills to put on a resume are that you are confident and verified by any of the references you list on your job application. Review the job posting to understand which of your skills are most relevant to the job you’re applying for and which you should prioritize on your resume.
Your resume skills section may look like this:
Technical skills: POS Systems, Excel, HTML, Digital Phone Systems
Additional skills: Effective team player, highly communicative and cooperative, active listener, innovative researcher
You can also provide examples of your interpersonal skills in the Experience section of your resume. Do this by including concrete examples of how you worked with others and the results you achieved. For example: “Collaborated with designers, copywriters, and strategists on a rebranding initiative that resulted in a 30% increase in website visits.”
Including interpersonal skills on a cover letter
For your cover letter, you may want to focus on one strong, relevant interpersonal skill. This can help the employer get a good idea about an area you see as one of your strengths. You may also want to briefly explain how that skill can benefit the employer and create a good work relationship.
An example section highlighting your skills in a cover letter could look like the following:
“With my previous employer, I was often called upon to help form collaborative teams. My managers pointed to my ability to listen to and understand my colleagues’ strengths to determine best how to assign effective roles.”
Related: How to Write a Cover Letter
Interpersonal skills in a job interview and on the job
Your interpersonal skills will be necessary both during the job interview and on the job.
During your job interview, the hiring manager may be looking to see how well you listen actively, maintain eye contact and whether you are courteous and respectful. The job interview is also a good opportunity to show dependability. Arriving early for your interview, for example, shows you are serious about the interview and respect the interviewer’s time.
Related: Job Interview Tips: How to Make a Great Impression
Once you successfully get a job, you will continue to rely on interpersonal skills. By demonstrating that you are dependable, taking the initiative to lead, and positively impacting your colleagues, you can develop a strong reputation as a collaborative teammate.
Employers in every industry increasingly value interpersonal communication skills. Regardless of what type of career you are looking to enter, your ability to work well with your colleagues and employer may make a good impression and result in positive career growth.
