Social intelligence is one of the many skills that are often ignored by many job hunters especially the fresh graduates. Most of them rely on their education and relative experience to gain the nod of the interview and be offered with an interview or even a job. But this is usually not the case. Many companies are still preferring to hire those who they can trust or at least have an excellent record in the industry. They often seek the recommendation of colleague to find the perfect candidate for the job. For that reason, they network instead of the usual job hiring process.

That is where your social intelligence should be realized. Through this form of knowledge, you gain information that others may not know of especially on job availability. Your network might even recommend you to the job which increases your chances of being hired.

Some see social intelligence as going out and meeting a lot of people. Although part of networking and social intelligence could be reaching out to as many people as possible, it’s not the main factor. There are steps on how you can harness social intelligence to increase your chances of being hired.

• Who Are You?

Before you expand, examine your capabilities first. You should know your skills, your areas of expertise and even the things that might not work well with you. By knowing yourself more, you’ll be able to identify which group you should be working with. Do not just think that because you are a graduate of a specific degree, you need to have that career. There are other relative skills that you can think of which will greatly help you in searching for available jobs.

• Know Where to Shine

Once you have identified your capacity and shortcomings, it’s time to look for companions. There are groups or organizations online and in your locality that only accepts individuals with your capacity. Ask your former professor and teachers for this information. Their knowledge of the industry is not just based on what they teach but on making connections. The internet is also the best place to find groups. You really don’t have to meet but information sharing is very significant.

• Connect

Once you found the group that could help you land a job, slowly establish connections to as many people as possible. At this point, communication is very easy since you have the same background. You don’t even have to be a very outgoing person to talk to as many people as possible. You can easily connect as long as you are with the right group.

• Deal with Situations

One of the best ways to gain notice and appreciation from the group is to be caring about the current situation related to your industry. Instead of simple knowledge sharing, you become part of an active group that seeks to help the industry.

By slowly helping the industry where you want to excel, you gain notice from a lot of people who will realize your experience. This can easily ease your job hunting because of recognition and you could even receive a job offer which could be your lifetime career.