Emotional Intelligence Interview Preparation Guide

The job candidate's answer often gives the interviewer a peek into who the interviewee models him or herself after. The response can also highlight the sorts of behavioral patterns the interviewee respects.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability of an individual to understand his or her own emotions and the emotions of others. Testing job applicants for their emotional intelligence (in the form of psychological-based tests) is a growing trend in employment today.

If a worker has high emotional intelligence, he or she is more likely to be able to express his or her emotions in a healthy way, and understand the emotions of those he or she works with, thus enhancing work relationships and performance.

Instead of asking that outright, you might tell a quick anecdote about a family member or colleague who annoys you. Then ask if there's anyone at the candidate's last job who really bothered them and how they dealt with that.

Of course, a savvy candidate will focus on solutions-like how they've smoothed that relationship over-but it can still give you valuable insight into how they perceive other people. You'll probably also learn something about how well they understand the effect of their behavior on others (and its limits).

Emotional Intelligence is commonly defined into five traits

► Self regulation: The ability to control where necessary, redirect your emotions and impulses, adapting to changing circumstances

► Self awareness: It is an ability to understand your strength, emotions and goals and their importance
Empathy: It is an ability to relate and understand the feelings of others

► Motivational skills: It is an ability to push yourself towards a certain goal or outcome

► Social skills: It is ability to communicate well with others and building relationship

Strategies you can employ to develop your self-control are

► In stressful conditions, analyze the "self-talk" that drives your emotional reactions
► Introduce a pause before speaking
► Give adequate thought to the impact of your words and actions on other

Every good relationship starts with trust and aligned values. Insight into a person's priorities -- as well as honesty and integrity -- can emerge in the candidate's answer

The answer to this question can determine whether a person is selfless or selfish. "When people talk about their own success, listen to whether someone talks about 'me-me-me' or 'I-I-I.' Or whether they talk about 'the team,' 'we' or 'us.'"

Interview questions that assess emotional intelligence tend to focus on how the interviewee manages oneself and manages relationships with others.

The questions asked are often behavioral questions, meaning that they ask the interviewee to explain how he or she acted in a past employment-related situation. Below are some examples of typical EI interview questions.

Consciously or otherwise, we tend to model some of our behaviors after those we admire. Ask your interviewee to reflect on that. Is the object of their admiration a "people person," someone who inspires and encourages others, or more of a tactical thinker who's better left down in the weeds, working things out on their own? There are no categorically wrong answers here, and sometimes the person a candidate says they admire reflects attributes they wish they possessed, not those they do.

All this is useful to find out. Listen carefully, then dig further by asking if there's anything they've picked up from the person they admire. You can even ask whether there's anything about that person the interviewee doesn't like, in spite of the things they do.

EQ question should be asked in interview to check if

► The person has a strong understanding of the driving force behind his behavior
► Is the candidate's reaction is intentional or does he/she react to something or someone
► Is the candidate defensive? Is he self-aware
► Do the candidates reveals much about him or herself