Emotional Intelligence in the recruitment process

‍What does it mean?

Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist, defines Emotional Intelligence as “the ability to recognize and understand emotions in oneself and others. This ability also involves using this emotional understanding to make decisions, solve problems, and communicate with others”. This was a revolutionary concept in 1995. Moreover, he said that Emotional Intelligence was the cause of success in people's lives, especially in the workplace. Sometimes, EQ can be more important than defining a candidate’s IQ (Intelligence Quotient) given the fact that if people recognize emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, they will have the possibility to work on how to manage them and they will make the best decisions in their work team.

Why is it so important to incorporate EQ when you are evaluating a candidate?

Assessing Emotional Intelligence helps predict how a candidate will perform within a team, collaborate with colleagues, receive feedback, and explain complex concepts. It also helps recruiters design a career path that aligns with the candidate’s emotional strengths, encouraging long-term professional growth.

What are the specific points that we take into account in Devlane interviews to identify emotional intelligence?

In the interviews carried out by the Human Resources team, we take into account 3 points:

Effective communication

We evaluate the ability to listen and communicate orally, by observing the candidate's  communication style, considering if they understand well the questions we ask, and how they handle their emotions when we cross- examine. Also, we observe their non-verbal emotions (body language) and the impact they have on the interviewer.

Empathy

This is evaluated by taking into account if the candidate respects the interviewer’s time and is punctual, if they describe their attitude in previous work experiences, and finally if they are honest when they do not know an answer, allowing themselves to be wrong and not to waste time. It is important to be adaptable and creative in the interview obstacles.

Leadership capacity

We evaluate this through their introduction : if their speech has the capacity to influence the interviewer and if it is possible to capture the added value they can give to those who work with them.

We pay special attention to the words they use and how they express their ideas. We celebrate candidates who have self-confidence, motivation to work towards a goal and take pride in the path achieved. 

One last reflection and desire

Emotional Intelligence is something we should all incorporate into the recruitment process.
Promoting emotional awareness within organizations strengthens belonging, motivation, and overall quality of work.

In HR we have a double challenge, to know and ask the correct questions to identify the EQ, and to continue studying and reading about human emotions

At Devlane, we understand that emotions have a place in the workplace. And if you feel that you haven’t found yours yet, we have space for you. 💙