In my first article, I put a lot of emphasis on the importance of setting goals.
I will now insert this skill into a much larger field: emotional intelligence.
One of the faults of our educational system is to put too much emphasis on the ability to memorize and retrieve a large amount of information and knowledge.
This is what is generally called a shapely head.
But a well-made head is far from being synonymous with professional success.
We have already seen it with the ability to set goals and follow the resulting action plans.
But, from the moment of integration into working life, which turns out to be a real obstacle course, the importance of emotional intelligence is already felt.
What allows you to persevere in your job search after having already suffered several refusals and sent applications without response?
What allows you to keep a positive attitude by telling yourself that the next interview may be the right one, after so many disappointments?
What allows you to ignore the pessimistic or miserable comments of relatives or family, who, believing they are doing the right thing, only make you sink?
What keeps you going after hearing so many times: “Your application is interesting, but we are looking for someone with so many years of experience”? (and yet these experienced people have started somewhere: look for the error!)
What allows you to ignore comments like: “in this country or this region, there are no jobs, there is too much unemployment, you have to be boosted to find a job , if I were you, I would try my luck elsewhere”?
It is your level of emotional intelligence that allows you to integrate well into professional life, even in an economic situation marked by a high unemployment rate.
It’s your level of emotional intelligence that allows you to take a broader view of what you really want in your first job.
Some recruiters also practice hiring techniques designed to select candidates with the highest levels of emotional intelligence.
I will always remember this job interview I did at Hewlett Packard France.
One of the steps in the recruitment process was to discourage us from the position for which we were applying.
The recruiter therefore spent a good quarter of an hour listing all the negative aspects of the position.
And at the same time, he was monitoring our verbal and non-verbal response.
Its objective was to know:
– Candidate readiness (and how much was actually known about the job)
– His motivation (is he easily discouraged)
– If his emotional profile corresponded to the profile sought
I am proud to have succeeded in this hiring step (the recruiter congratulated me at the end), even if I did not finally integrate Hewlett Packard France, for other reasons.
These are experiences that forge professional success, once you have set foot in the company, because a good dose of emotional intelligence is more than essential to climb the ladder.