In the business world there are two types of skills; job skills and people skills. Both are very important and help in building our relationships, but there are times that it’s not what you know, it’s your people skills that can help you attain your goals.
Part of being successful is about your job skills. Your capabilities are what will get you an interview, promotion, etc. This hold true for companies as well, especially advertising agencies. More often than not, at Stone Ward, it is our perceived capabilities that will get us on the list for an RFP. Just like your resume, your capabilities get you in the door. However, it’s your people skills that will 99-percent of the time land you the job or promotion. Just like an agency, it’s the feeling the potential clients gets due to the people skills of the team presenting.
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People skills give you the winning edge. For example, let’s say there are two candidates up for a promotion/new job. If the person making the decision is anything like me, they really aren’t going to hire anyone they couldn’t see themselves going to lunch or dinner with. Is this fair, who knows, but when it comes down to it, it’s reality.
Candidate A comes to lunch dressed appropriately but can’t look the interviewer in the eye, doesn’t engage in conversation and eats like it’s his/her first lunch in 10 months. Candidate B is also dressed appropriately, looks the interviewer in the eye, asks questions and tries to relate one-on-one with the interviewer and eats their meal in a normal manner. Who gets the job? You guessed it, Candidate B. Not because he/she had better capabilities, it’s because they had better people skills which is what etiquette is all about.
