The Savvy Professional: Curiosity

Technical skills may get you an interview, but it’s the soft skills that will get you the job and keep you there. Most companies look for candidates who are creative and innovative. Curiosity is an essential component to creativity and innovation. Curious individuals tend to be the company’s superstar employees. These employees are typically highly engaged and interested in their work and take the initiative to explore new ways of doing things. They bring high levels of energy and fresh perspectives into the workplace. Curiosity is a driving force to keep learning new things. 

A strong desire to learn and experiment leads to new discoveries and innovation. To avoid stagnation, individuals need to continuously learn and improve, and companies need to create a workplace culture that encourages curiosity.

Curious employees tend to:

1. Pursue new knowledge
2. Do more than is required of them
3. Take initiative at work
4. Ask questions and search for out-of-the-box solutions
5. Recognize new opportunities and possibilities

A good career growth strategy is to learn to properly hone curiosity. It means evaluating learning needs and actively seeking learning as well as opportunities for personal and professional development. It also requires an open mind and a keen desire to dig deeper and look further than what’s obvious. It is our professional duty and responsibility to keep well-informed by asking questions and investigating possibilities. Asking questions is the key to unleashing excellence. The ability to ask the right questions is one of the most important professional skills. Powerful questions have a purpose and result in learning. Always ask yourself whether your question would generate new knowledge and insights. The right questions challenge assumptions, stimulate thinking, trigger insights, and drive progress.

To ask the right questions, always consider the three P’s: Purpose, Possibilities, and Progress.

• Purpose: what can be learned and achieved?
• Possibilities: what new ideas and paths can be generated?
• Progress: how to support development and growth?

Professional growth is all about having the right attitude towards work and personal and professional development. Employers look for people who are keen to develop and learn. Most jobs involve change, and employers want people who are adaptable, who would learn new things quickly and who would embrace change. Typical interview questions to gauge curiosity are:

1. Tell me something you have taught yourself in the last six months. How did you go about teaching yourself this new skill or idea, and what was the outcome?
2. Tell me about the last time you had to learn something new on the job. How did you go about learning it? What tools, if any, did you utilize?
3. Describe a work project that you volunteered for at work, even though you weren’t 100% sure you knew how to proceed at the beginning.
4. In which work areas are you really interested in expanding your knowledge? How do you intend to achieve this?
5. How do you stay on top of developments and trends in your field?

And again interviewers always ask what questions you have for them. Curious people will ask original questions. 

I invite you to record your answer to any of the questions above and share with me via Google Drive, Dropbox, or your favorite collaboration platform. I will respond to everyone within 3 business days but can commit to providing detailed feedback only to the first 5 who contact me.

More about interviewing skills in my next blog posts. Be sure to follow the savvy professional series for job search and interviewing tips and offers for free feedback and critique.

Email me at info@choicefulpath.com.