Emotional intellegence importance for finding employment

Ninety percent of success has nothing to do with book smarts.

Instead, emotional intelligence expert, author and instructor Daniel Goleman said it comes down to one factor — emotional intelligence.

While the idea may be shocking to many, it is something that University Career Services has identified and is trying to emphasize.

Psychology professor Barbara Fredrickson said emotional intelligence is a trait that can help prospective employees distinguish themselves from the rest of the applicant pool.

“Emotional intelligence can be defined as knowing your emotions, as well as being able to label and know other people’s emotions,” Fredrickson said, adding that the trait allows people to adapt their emotions to their surrounding conditions.

To enlighten students on this subject, University Career Services will hold a workshop Sept. 21 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Room 239B of Hanes Hall. The program will stress the importance of emotional intelligence to career advancement.

Many employers look at emotional intelligence as one of the main factors when hiring a new employee, said Jeff Sackaroff, associate director of career services.

“Looking at recruitment, it’s your communication skills, teamwork and how you look at the world that is important,” he said.

Sackaroff added that relating to other people is an important skill, because much of a person’s success can be attributed to their relationships with others.

In order to strengthen emotional intelligence, Sackaroff said he recommends that students not shy away from difficult situations and people.

The workshop will focus on improving emotional intelligence and analyzing students’ strengths and weaknesses with interactive exercises.

Tim Stiles, associate director of career services, said it involves delving into your past experiences and taking the good and bad from them.

“Part of it is figuring out how to couch those experiences and how employers will look at them,” he said.

Stiles said it is important to look at individual traits and experiences, explore them and use only the most valuable moments.

Career services officials said they hope to get a sizable turnout for this event because students often think that they need only a knowledge of particular subject areas — and not of themselves.

“It’s not something you’re either good or bad at,” Sackaroff said. “It ebbs and flows, and sometimes we handle things the right way and sometimes we don’t.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.