Key Qualities of the Best Employees to Show in Interviews and Advance your Career

It's essential to have the right skills to excel in a job, but it's equally important to demonstrate the right character qualities of being a great employee.

Showing the top qualities of a successful professional will help you:

1. Leave a lasting impression on your colleagues and superiors.

2. Stand out during job interviews to help you land your dream job.

3. Develop and advance your career.

Let's dive into some of the top character qualities so you can express these attributes during your interviews and display them throughout your career.

Top qualities of a successful professionals

Strong Communication and Interpersonal Skills

Communication skills are crucial for success in any job role. You will interact with various people, including your boss, co-workers, clients, vendors, and board members.

A good communicator:

·        Acts and communicates professionally.

·        Understand when and how to keep colleagues/supervisors updated on projects.

·        Knows when to ask questions.

·        Communicate effectively through clear, concise, and friendly written and verbal messages.

·        Receives new ideas and feedback with an open-mind.

Passion

Demonstrating passion or interest in their work exhibits to employers an employee's strong desire to excel in their position.  Having this mentality helps you stay driven to bring creativity, innovation, and produce high-achieving work, all of which are qualities employers seek in their top-performing employees!

An employee showing passion can demonstrate a:

·        Drive to be successful

·        Willingness to learn

·        Continued desire for growth

·        Enthusiasm for the company, industry, or work at hand

Confidence

Confident employees know what makes them a valuable asset and demonstrate this throughout their career.  When you don’t show confidence in yourself, it can make your employer doubt your skills and abilities. 

A confident employee:

·        Establishes clear boundaries for work/life balance

·        Takes initiative on projects and ideas

·        Can adapt to a new role quickly

·        Can effectively communicate their career goals

·        Knows when to ask for help

·        Looks for ways to improve skills

·        Advocates for themselves for promotions, raises, etc.

Tip: If advancement is something you’re looking for, don’t wait for your boss to notice this skill.  However, clearly communicate your career goals so they can support you and keep you in mind for opportunities that present themselves.

Honest and Trustworthy

Employers want to know they can trust their employees. When you’re applying for jobs, you might be tempted to put experience you haven’t had, so you can land the interview and get the job. 

If you exaggerate or lie on your resume or in interviews, it will eventually show up if you can’t perform at that level once you start the job. If your employer realizes your dishonesty, it ruins the trust. 

An honest employee:

·        Demonstrates Integrity in their work.

·        Is forthcoming about their progress of their project or goal.

·        Takes accountability for mistakes. 

·        Learns from their experience and improves for the future, rather than placing blame on others for their mistakes.

Team Player

As a hiring manager and supervisor, I’m always looking to hire and promote individuals committed to the team’s success and not only focused on themselves.  Even if your job is working independently, your work still impacts the entire company, which affects other team members.

 A team player is someone a supervisor and the team can rely on.  They are flexible, can quickly jump in on projects/tasks, and easily adapt to different roles. 

 Team players know how to work through issues respectfully, take in different perspectives, and move forward with the decision. 

 Team Players :

·        Support projects, and provide solutions instead of complaints.

·        Show support, and encouragement towards their co-workers

·        Are flexible and adaptable to change

·        Are reliable and responsive

·        Collaborate efficiently and work well with others

Dependable and Reliable

Dependable employees do the work necessary to get the job done without much supervision.  They are also willing to learn by asking appropriate questions and putting in the required work/training to gain experience.

Reliable and dependable employees:

·        Follow through on their words with their actions

·        Consistently meet deadlines and fulfill promises

·        Take the initiative when necessary

·        Produce high-quality work on a consistent basis

Self-Reliant

Being able to work by yourself is just an important as being able to work well with a team.  No matter your skill level or role in a company, supervisors want to know you can work independently. 

Self-Reliant employees:

·        Problem solve and take initiative

·        Find solutions

·        Can critique and edit their own work

·        Project management and prioritize tasks

·        Take initiative and continue to learn

Takes accountability

Great employees don’t place blame or throw others under the bus when a problem arises; instead, they focus on learning from the experience, taking accountability, and improving things for the future.

These employees are proactive and raise concerns before issues arise.  Providing solutions instead of waiting for a team member to fail on a project you both are working on. 

Accountable employees:

·        Pay attention to the details

·        Acknowledge and fix mistakes

·        Are proactive and supportive of team goals

·        Take responsibility for their actions.

Self-Aware

Self-aware employees understand their strengths, weaknesses, and areas they can continue to improve on.  They also understand their role and how it impacts the team and company goals. 

Self-aware employees:

·        Know their strengths or areas to improve on for continued learning

·        Ask for feedback and/or grow from coaching/training

·        Strong understanding of their own skillsets

Leadership

Demonstrating leadership is important in so many roles and especially as supervisors consider individuals for promotions or advancement opportunities or hiring new candidates.  

Leaders are confidently, reliable, dependable, resilient during challenges, trust others, and area able to communicate effectively.  

Employees demonstrating leadership:

·        Are inspiring to others

·        Show empathy toward team members

·        Offer solutions to problems

·        Can prioritize tasks and stay organized

·        Understand their team’s strengths and weaknesses

·        Can give and receive feedback in a constructive way

Final Thoughts

Now that you know some of the qualities, think of ways you can highlight these skills on your resume, in interviews, and throughout your career to up as a top performer achieving success.

You got this!

- Melody Joy