It’s not that hard to get a job in Chicago. As long as you’re available to work flexible hours, you don’t have a felony record, and you didn’t have a disturbing history at the previous job, you can be a promising candidate.

So, let’s assume you’ve already filed a job application, and seem like the right fit for this company. You have an excellent skill set and are ready for the next stage. But how to find the best way to showcase your strengths?

Your resume might look impeccable (if using the executive resume writing services ), your skills are well-polished, and your qualification is solid. Moving to the next step (which is the job interview), you might still feel nervous.

So how to build a successful profile as an applicant during a live interview? Find a comfortable place for the next five minutes because we will share some interesting insights from Skillhub.

Examples of Strengths You Can Leverage

Once you know yourself from the best side, you can use this information to advance in a career field.

Here’s the list of key skills you can leverage at a job interview in Chicago:

• Hard skills: the ones defining you as an in-demand employee (writing, coding, website development, graphic design, etc.)
• Soft skills: the ones helping you to build and sustain professional relationships (communication, leadership, critical thinking, problem-solving, etc.)

We’ll go over the tools to complete your job application and give a snippet of what you’re all about to get a dream job.

Create a Brief but Informative Introduction

Some recruiters call it “elevator speech” in professional communities. To summarize quickly, it’s a brief intro where you need to “sell” yourself to employers.

Many Chicago companies support a hybrid work model. It means you don’t have to stay in the office the whole time, and you can choose to work remotely, connecting with your peers via Zoom or Teams.

What should you include in the introduction to showcase your strengths and get employed?

• Work history: tell about the most relevant previous experiences.
• Educational background: don’t start with a high school diploma. Tell about what you’ve accomplished at college or university.
• Leadership style: present yourself as confident and hint to the recruiter about what they can expect from you.
• Key skills: what have you got to be an excellent fit for this job?

When introducing yourself correctly, you’ll create a positive first impression and allow recruiters to ask the right questions. The best time to give a mind-blowing speech is when the job market professionals ask you to tell more about yourself. So, don’t hesitate and prepare in advance!

Find Your Passions and Promote Them

Before leveraging your strengths, take a minute to re-assess yourself and your primary abilities. You must present as a reliable team member and a unique individual who can bring significant value to the company.

Your career depends on your skills and activities that you enjoy doing. Make sure you review the key attributes that make you a professional and be able to present them so that the employer has no choice but to hire you.

Tell Your Best Stories

When looking for new job opportunities, candidates usually keep a formal tone. It seems that a hiring process is not a reason to share some very personal things.

Today, we’re going to disprove this statement. As the recruiters are still humans, they are very interested to hear about you being YOU (until it still relates to the jobs you apply for). Therefore, answering questions with “Yes” or “No” only is not common practice anymore.

Job seekers often face the requirements to describe specific problems when performing work duties. Be ready to tell from six to eight stories. You’re supposed to show how you handled the situation and which abilities you used.

Be ready to answer the not-so-comfortable questions about the times you failed. This is not supposed to set you off track but to evaluate how you’re learning from your own mistakes.

Tips for Leveraging Your Strengths

Take note of some additional tips to stand out and make an employer recruit you:

• Your personality is the main focus: keep in mind that comparing yourself to others is not always effective in getting a job offer.
• Include both hard and soft skills: all your strengths are equally essential and can be beneficial to build the overall candidate’s portrait.
• Fill in the gaps: if you need to fill an educational gap or a certification to pursue, do it! It’s good to remember if you’re applying for supervising positions.
• Define your values: reflecting on your beliefs helps find a foundation for acquiring new skills.

Go through your resume. Find a way to describe the issues you’ve encountered and how you overcame them.

Did you use these strengths in the most recent interview? How much has changed in you? What do you want to accomplish? Be ready to provide the whole timeline: from the person you used to be through the one you are now to the professional you aim to become.

The Short Summary

The job interview is all about selling yourself to a potential employer. You’ll have more than one opportunity to showcase your strengths, but the main pitfall — you have to do it properly.

Align yourself with a resume and tell a little more. Don’t try to cheat, be honest, and don’t answer the questions with a simple “Yes” or “No” option. Talk about the plans for the future, the experiences that helped to shape the real you, and have the courage to face your mistakes.

Most Chicago-based companies want to see a confident applicant who can afford to be a team player and an impeccable professional. Make sure you get some recommendations before seeing a recruiter. Review your work history or give your resume to resume builder service and prepare an elevator speech that will leave no choice but to hire you!