Below you will find two discussion posted by my peers. Please respond to each post individually.
Discussion on K
You’ve been assigned the role of a hiring manager for your organization. What interview questions would you use to gain insight regarding a candidate’s emotional intelligence?
Understanding that there are 5 key elements to Emotional Intelligence, I would ask questions about self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.
Self-awareness:
1. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
2. Describe a time when you allowed your feelings to get in the way of a job you were asked to do.
3. Describe a time when you had to ask for assistance from your direct manager.
Self-regulation:
1. Describe a time in your career when a project didn’t go according to plan, and as a result, you were upset but were able to control your emotions. How did you handle it?
2. Tell me about a time when a new program or initiative was introduced, where the majority of employees were resistant to the new change.
Motivation:
1. What motivates you?
2. What do you take pride in?
3. Describe a time when you were able to stay motivated at work, even when the cards were stacked against you.
Empathy:
1. Describe a time when you made an effort to understand co-workers’ viewpoints who may have been different than your own.
Social Skills:
1. How do you influence others to work within a group project?
As you reflect on your emotional intelligence, which of the competencies is an area of growth for you, and what are two immediate actions you could take to enhance that competency area?
Self-awareness is an area of growth for me that I have recognized over the past several years. Not only from a professional point of view but also from a personal standpoint as well. One immediate action I could take to further enhance this area is to continue to self-reflect on a frequent basis. Additionally, I could take the time to understand what my triggers are and work on those triggers to become more aware of how they impact me and may lead me to make decisions.
What are some proactive steps you have taken or witnessed that have been used to lessen the effects of unconscious/implicit bias?
I have witnessed my previous organization take several steps to focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). It’s not just a buzzword to the organization, but they have put in the work to become a diverse organization, in an effort to have it reflect the communities they serve, but to also face many biases that we all have, whether unconscious or implicit.
From a personal perspective, I have made several gains through working with people who may not look like me and trying to understand specifics about their different cultures. I’ve also taken the time to become more aware of biases that I may have towards certain groups of people, and develop relationships with them in order to counter some of the biases.
Discussion two
You’ve been assigned the role of a hiring manager for your organization. What interview questions would you use to gain insight regarding a candidate’s emotional intelligence?
The questions that I would ask are:
– What are your strengths and weaknesses? How have you improved your weaknesses?
– Can you describe a time when you and a colleague disagreed on something? How did you handle it?
– Have you ever received feedback you didn’t agree with? What did you do?
– Tell me about a mistake you made at work. How did you handle the situation?
– If you notice a teammate is having a bad day, how would you approach them?
– How do you form new relationships with colleagues?
As you reflect on your own emotional intelligence, which of the competencies is an area of growth for you, and what are two immediate actions you could take to enhance that competency area?
Emotional Self-Awareness is an area that I have recognized that I need to work on. Often times, I can let emotions drive my decision or how I handle things. This can be attributed to anxiety! I can come off as aggressive or forceful when delegating duties or responsibility but I do not mean to come off as rude/aggressive. As I have grown in my role, I have learned to be more empathetic towards other people and “read the room.” I have also learned to control/management my anxiety which helps to make more logical decisions vs emotional.
What are some proactive steps you have taken or witnessed that have been used to lessen the effects of unconscious/implicit bias?
Proactive steps to reduce unconscious bias is truly learning what the biases are and how it may affect you. Understanding diversity and what it means to incorporate both diversity and inclusion could help to reduce unconscious biasness. Diversity and inclusion can foster creativity and open discussions on various issues.
