Each day there are more and more folks throwing the green banner on their LinkedIn picture seeking their next career move. The #GreenBannerGang is hungry for opportunity and now comes the inevitability of job search frustration and interview hell. I was musing on some ideas that might help in this journey. If you or someone you know is interviewing, this might spark some ideas, so give it share :)

Effectively communicating your personal values system is as important as being able to succinctly communicate your job experience in an interview. Can you tell a good story to a hiring committee about your levels of integrity & compassion? Furthermore, can you ask the types of questions that would lead you to understand if the people interviewing you are values-based individuals? For many, this is not intuitive.

In sales, we hear a lot of candidates talk highly of themselves and their consistent quota achievement. Some of it can sound very soulless and unconvincing. However, if a candidate can communicate their sales achievement was driven by genuine compassion to see their clients successful, that candidate will stand out. If a project manager can tell stories about how their inherent passion for teamwork and seeing their colleagues successful is what drives their behavior each day - you've just produced some high grade oxytocin in your interviewers and they are much more likely to trust and sympathize with you.

Sidebar: get after that oxytocin. Good story telling produces this hormone, directly attributed to empathy and trust - and ultimately being able to change someone's behavior. Why do you root for the hero in the movie? You empathize with them, believe in their mission and identify with their values.

I can already hear the alarm bells in many of your minds. “Tobias, what if the people doing the hiring don't care about values, and care only if you did the job well or not?” This now speaks to why every candidate should also interview the interviewer(s). If you are not asking questions about values and specifically the kinds of values that are present [or not] within the team/organization, then you are gambling. Joining any new company comes with its risks - but there are controllable things you can do to try and minimize specific kinds of risk associated with toxic work cultures.

Try asking the hiring manager: "How would you rate the levels of civility among your team/company?"

More and more executives are being interviewed for values like empathy and compassion. The assumption is most prospective leaders already come to the table with the necessary KSA’s (knowledge, skills and abilities) & the experience to effectively serve in the C-Suite. What’s more difficult is ascertaining if they will be a values-based leader or not. Will they have guiding principles in their decision making process? Will their value system pass on when they hire their own executive team? Will those executives then hire directors who also share those similar values? Everything stems from leadership. Hiring one morally bankrupt leader has the potential to doom an entire organization to widespread moral bankruptcy. Toxic work cultures are analogous to a respiratory illness. It takes one infected person to impact an entire population. Sound familiar?

Try writing down 3 values that are most important to you. They could be: integrity, citizenship/teamwork, adaptability, compassion, etc. Then, think about times you have emulated your values in personal or professional environments. Practice those stories out loud if you are prepping for an interview. Not everyone shares the same values and that’s fine. However, not knowing or not caring about your own value system won't benefit you. Mastering how to communicate these values will be a competitive advantage for you and ultimately lead to more fulfilling connections with others.