Job seekers come into an interview with a unique viewpoint or angle they want to show to the interviewer. Likewise, employers have something they are looking for in potential employees. However, the big question is: Will your skill set or mindset get you the job?
Skill set
Your skill set is your biggest selling point in an interview. It is what gets your resume and cover letter noticed and gets you invited to come in for an interview. It might surprise you to learn, though, that your skill set might not be the most important thing employers are looking for.
Mindset
Conventional wisdom would suggest that employers are looking for people who have the right skills for the job. However, even if you only have the bare necessities for the job, you might still get the job by demonstrating that you are a fast learner and that you can have a bigger impact on the business over time.
Having the right mindset in an interview gives you an advantage over your competition. The necessary skill set is something that can be easily gained with the right mindset, not the other way around. You can’t teach people to want to improve themselves, but you can easily train motivated programmers to program or eager marketers to promote.
At the end of the day, both the skill set and the mindset are important for employers who want to hire people who will help them grow the business. The skill set is the first thing that employers look at when choosing a potential employee, and then they move on to evaluating the applicant’s mindset.
