Hiring managers definitely want to hire people who are passionate and excited about their work. After all, it’s a lot easier to train someone in hard skills than in an attitude or enthusiasm about life and work. If you hire a truly passionate person, they’ll be willing to learn new skills, habits, and procedures. But how do you convince a hiring manager that you’re passionate about your work? Especially when every other candidate is trying to convince them of the exact same thing. Here’s how you can show your passion for a job interview.
Break it down
Instead of saying generic something like, “I’m really passionate about this industry,” break it down into smaller pieces that really show how excited you are and about what. Be more specific and describe the details about your industry that you really love and why. Maybe you love working as part of a team and that joint celebration that occurs when your team achieves success. Or maybe you love working with customers and meeting new people. The more specific you are, the more convincing you’ll be.
Describe your perseverance
Perseverance is an incredibly valuable soft skill no matter what industry you’re in. Talk about some examples of when you worked hard to overcome obstacles or failures and what you learned from prior mistakes. Show that you don’t give up—that even in the face of a setback or complication, you kept a positive attitude and carried onward.
Detail your creativity
If not creativity, then your other relevant trait that’s useful in your industry. It might be your attention to detail, diligence, strong work ethic, positive attitude, communication skills, or problem-solving skills. Whatever it is, give concrete examples of how that characteristic really proved valuable to your previous employer or to your commitment to the industry. In other words, excitedly explain how your meticulous attention to detail results in a much more complete product at work.
Show off your willingness to learn
Even if you’re not the most experienced candidates, if you can convince the hiring managers that you’re committed to learning and developing your skills, you’ll stand out from the rest of the candidates who simply claim to be passionate. Instead, show them what you’ve been reading or watching to prepare for the interview. Tell them about the online classes you’ve been taking (or at least looking into), which workshops you’ve attended, or which relevant organizations you’ve been volunteering with.
In other words, you don’t even really need to use the word “passionate” in order to show the hiring managers how truly passionate you are. You just need to describe what drives you and how you spend your free time and energy.
Are you looking for a job you can be passionate about?
SSi People Staffing has nationwide opportunities for IT, engineering professionals and more. Contact our team today and let us place you in a better place to work.
