Top Interpersonal Skills To Land a Job and Grow Your Career

There are certain qualifications you know you need to land the job you want. From industry experience to proficiency with a certain type of software, there's a slew of technical skills that prove you check the boxes of that open role.

But then there are the traits that are harder to quantify, yet can make all the difference in your job search success: interpersonal skills.

What Are Interpersonal Skills?

Interpersonal skills are the behaviors and characteristics that you rely on to effectively interact and work with other people. Here's a quick breakdown of both parts of the word:

• Inter: among or between
• Personal: relating to a person

Those two pieces tell you everything you need to know. Interpersonal skills are the characteristics you use to work with people.

You might also hear these called "soft skills" because they are indeed skills, but they're not necessarily the technical kind that require formal training and certifications.

Use Teal's Skills Database to identify your current skills and potential skills that you want to acquire. Once you've identified those, enter them into Teal's Skills Identifier.

If you want to access this tool, click the "Copy Tool" button in Teal's Skills Workbook.

Why Do Interpersonal Skills Matter in the Workplace?

It's tempting to roll your eyes at interpersonal skills—as if they're nothing more than buzzwords or fluff you use to fill up space on your resume.

However, regardless of what job you work in, you're likely going to work closely with other people. Interpersonal skills make it easier for you to:

• Build trust and rapport with your coworkers
• Collaborate and communicate effectively
• Prevent or resolve conflicts

With that in mind, statistics show that your less technical and quantifiable characteristics actually carry a surprising amount of weight with employers:

• 93% of employers say that soft skills play a critical role in their decision about who to hire for a job
• When employers were asked to name the top skills they want in employees, soft skills like dependability, teamwork, flexibility, and problem-solving topped the list
• When a new hire doesn't work out, 89% of recruiters say it came down to a lack of soft skills

See? Interpersonal skills are way more than jargon or resume fluff—they're important character traits and behaviors that set you up for success in both your job hunt and your entire career.

Can You Improve Your Interpersonal Skills?

Soft skills matter. But, since they're different from the technical competencies that often have a huge variety of resources—courses, guides, seminars, and more—attached to them, is it possible to actually learn or improve interpersonal skills? And if so, how?

Yes, interpersonal skills can absolutely be practiced and refined. You can even learn other interpersonal skills in the process. One thing we recommend that you do before you go into the interview is to do a little bit of introspection and self-awareness work on your work style by taking Teal's Work Style Assessment.

Other great ways to improve your interpersonal skills is by soliciting feedback, whether that's through:

• Asking colleagues or supervisors (past or present) about your strengths and weaknesses
• Use the 360 review from Teal's Work Style Assessment to understand how others see you. Send out the survey on behalf of yourself to coworkers, friends, family, etc. This will give you a sense of how they perceive you, and you'll get a real understanding of how the world thinks you show up. It really helps you build that self awareness.
• Reviewing past performance reviews
• Reflecting on jobs, tasks, or projects where you've struggled and where you've excelled

That can clue you in on the soft skills you already possess, as well as the ones you need to work on. From there, you can pursue more structured knowledge and training. There are plenty of educational materials about how to become a better communicator, for example.

However, even simple awareness can help you vastly improve your soft skills. For example, if you realize that you struggle with interrupting and steamrolling conversations, that mindfulness can help you put smaller efforts into play, like pausing before you speak or asking more questions during interactions.

After taking the Work Style Assessment to help you better understand and identify your strong interpersonal skills, review your results using the tool. Go to it, read it, read the job searching section, and read about interviewing. Hopefully that will give you some tips to better understand your style and skills as you go into the interview.

5 Interpersonal Skills Employers Look For

You know that employers are keeping an eye out for soft skills, but which ones? Are there certain that are better or more desirable than others?

Not necessarily. The importance of different interpersonal skills will vary based on the company, role, and even industry. For example, a sales job at a startup might require that you're a top-notch communicator and multitasker. In contrast, a software developer role might prioritize problem solving and attention to detail.

Whatever role you are applying for, you want to make sure you're highlighting your most impressive skills on your resume. One trick for seeing which qualities and skills are most important to highlight for this role:

Use the matching mode feature in the Teal AI Resume Builder. You can compare your resume and the job description side by side to review the highlighted keywords and hard and soft skills, and from there, emphasize those keywords to show the hiring managers and team that you are the best candidate for the position. 

Even so, there are a few common soft skills that will always pique employers interest. There are other interpersonal and people skills, but here are five that are helpful to emphasize—as well as how you can successfully showcase them throughout your job search.

1. Communication

Today's working world requires near-constant communication, whether it's with colleagues, vendors, or customers. The format changes too, with verbal communication happening in-person, on the phone, and through video calls, and nonverbal communication occurring digitally through emails and instant messages.

Regardless of the audience or method, employers want candidates who are able to express their viewpoint and share information in a way that's respectful, thoughtful, clear, and organized. All communications should be positive interactions for each person involved.

Part of being a good communicator and having strong interpersonal communication is the ability to display strong active listening skills, too. And active listening is not just being a good listener. In order to effectively communicate with the people around you, you need to make a point to listen, process, and digest the information before offering thoughtful response in return.

How to Demonstrate Interpersonal Communication Skills In Your Job Search

Whether job seekers are aware of it or not, most of your communication chops will be expressed through your interactions with an employer as you move through the hiring process. Make sure that you:

• Respond to any and all outreach from the employer in a timely manner
• Reach out proactively about questions or concerns
• Proofread all emails or other messages before you send them
• Practice your answers to commonly-asked interview questions
• Pay attention to your nonverbal cues, like posture, body language, and eye contact, during conversations
• Listen attentively when someone else is speaking

Communication templates for different situations throughout the entire hiring process are located within Teal's Job Application Tracker.

2. Teamwork

Teamwork or collaboration goes hand-in-hand with communication. Like we mentioned above, nobody works in a vacuum. Employers want to know that you'll be able to work together with other members of a team without endless conflicts, confusion, and problems.

Effective communication undoubtedly plays a major role in teamwork, but so do other soft skills like dependability and emotional intelligence.

The strong interpersonal skills of teamwork and collaboration tie directly into possessing leadership skills.

How to Demonstrate Teamwork Skills In Your Job Search

Figuring out how to prove that you're good at teamwork can feel challenging—especially since you're going through the hiring process independently, and not with a crew of coworkers by your side. However, there are still a few things you can do to prove you're a team player, such as:

• Follow through on any promises you make (if you said you'd send along your references, do so promptly)
• During interviews, ask thoughtful questions about the people you'd be working with and the overall culture of the team
• Highlight past experiences when you worked effectively as part of a team

Being asked to provide examples of teamwork in an interview is an example of a behavioral interview question. Employers are asking you to reflect on your strong interpersonal skills in past experiences in order to show how you might act in a new job. Another great strategy to use to prove you have great interpersonal skills like teamwork is to implement the STAR method when answering.

Outline the situation, task, action, and result and highlight how you displayed teamwork throughout, and maybe even helped improve interpersonal skills of your teammates. Discuss how you kept a positive attitude and fostered and encouraged collaboration and teamwork to ensure a successful outcome.

Just because you are going through the hiring process individually does not mean you can't advertise your exceptional teamwork. When you do accept that job offer, start off strong in your role and make those connections and form your own relationships right away. Reach out to coworkers, offer assistance, prove you’ve done your research, and show your excitement to help grow the company.

3. Time Management

Particularly with more and more teams working in remote or hybrid environments, managers need to be able to trust that their employees are getting their work done—and that's a lot easier for them to do if they know that you have adequate time management skills.

As the name implies, time management involves planning and allocating both your hours and your energy to make sure that your assigned tasks are completed by (or even ahead of) the deadline.

How to Demonstrate Time Management Skills In Your Job Search

Your job search is a project in and of itself, which means there are plenty of opportunities to call attention to your time management capabilities. Here are a few ideas:

• Show up early (10 minutes early is ideal) to your job interviews, whether they're virtual or in-person
• Promptly reply to any correspondence from the potential employer
• Track your interviews with examples, extra resumes, and any other materials you think could be helpful
• During the interview, speak to your organizational skills and how you prioritize work related tasks
• Provide examples of your ability to delegate tasks to ensure completion of tasks in a timely manner

4. Problem Solving

When you think about it, problem-solving is at the root of any job. In any role, you're focused on finding and developing solutions to help your employer achieve a goal.

That's why problem-solving ranks high on any employer's list of desirable interpersonal skills. Plus, being a solid problem-solver means that you have the creativity, flexibility, and critical thinking abilities to respond to any unexpected challenges your job might throw your way.

How to Demonstrate Problem Solving Skills In Your Job Search

Problem-solving skills can be a little bit harder to call attention to during your job search, particularly when you don't have the chance to actually do any on-the-job work. Even so, you can try the following to prove you're a critical thinker:

• Be prepared to answer any challenging interview questions or logic puzzles, if those are pertinent to your role
• Use answers to behavioral interview questions to highlight times you overcame difficult challenges and demonstrated good conflict resolution skills
• If your interviewer experiences technical glitches during a virtual interview, take initiative to help troubleshoot

5. Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (which you might also hear referred to as emotional quotient or EQ) is the ability to recognize and manage your own emotions, as well as the emotions of other people.

While you might think that the working world is "strictly business" and you should check your feelings at the door, our emotions have a huge impact on the way we interact with others. Being able to read between the lines can help you be an even more effective communicator and teammate.

Psychologist and author Daniel Goleman presents five categories of emotional intelligence.

1. Self awareness: Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses can help you be aware of how your actions affect others. A person who is self aware is usually better able to handle and learn from constructive criticism than one who is not.
2. Self-regulation: Once you have awareness of your emotions, the next step in the emotional intelligence journey is to manage them, especially the negative ones. Instead of exhibiting an emotional outburst, a person with a high EQ can maturely express emotions with restraint and control.
3. Motivation: Emotionally intelligent people are self-motivated. They set high standards and work consistently towards goals, not simply for money or recognition, but because they take pride in accomplishing things. Motivation is also about optimism and resilience.
4. Empathy: A key interpersonal skill, empathy is the ability to understand how another person feels and experiences the world and see a situation from their perspective. The ability to empathize allows a person to respond genuinely to others' concerns. Respecting diversity and inclusion, as well as communication, are important aspects of empathy and contribute to your overall emotional intelligence.
5. Social skills: People who are emotionally intelligent are able to quickly build rapport with coworkers and team members and have strong interpersonal interactions. They are trustworthy team players and confident in nonverbal and verbal communication skills. They also have great leadership skills and can effectively handle conflict resolution and conflict management.

How to Demonstrate Emotional Intelligence In Your Job Search

• Engage in some small talk ahead of your interviews to connect on a more personal level
• Practice managing your nerves so that you can keep them in check during your interview conversations and interview with confidence.

How to List Interpersonal Skills on Your Resume

All of the tips above can help you show your most important interpersonal skills during the interview process. But, before you get there, you need your resume to stand out—and including relevant interpersonal skills can help.

How do you list them on your resume? You have a couple of different options:

• Use your skills section: Your resume skills section is where you list your knowledge or qualities that present you as a relevant fit for the job. That will undoubtedly include technical qualifications, but you can round those out by bulleting out some soft skills as well. Need help? Teal's AI Resume Builder includes a skills section and will walk you through it all.

• Use your previous experiences: Listing your important interpersonal skills in your skills section is a super digestible and organized way to go about it. Supplement that by emphasizing how you've used your strong interpersonal skills in your previous roles.

For example, you could list "teamwork" in your skills section, but also include a bullet under your last job that describes how you successfully worked as part of a team to plan and host your company's largest event. It goes a step further than simply listing a key term on your resume and shows how you've actually put those skills to use. 

Using a combination of both of those options will be the most helpful for making sure your interpersonal skills aren't missed.

So Much More Than Resume Fluff

It's tempting to write off interpersonal skills as nothing more than resume padding—doesn't everybody say they're a "team player" or a "problem solver?"

However, your interpersonal skills carry a surprising amount of weight with employers. To stand out from the competition, don't simply treat soft skills like keywords to jam into your resume wherever they fit.

Instead, incorporate them into your skills section, use the descriptions of your past roles to show those skills in action, and most importantly, demonstrate them through every step of your job search.

After all, the most successful candidates don't just talk the talk—they walk the walk.

Ready for your resume to land at the top of the pile? Get started with Teal's AI Resume Builder.