I love asking Career Buzz guests to name their top few strengths that help them be successful. Educator Amena Zafar (Aug. 19, 2015) gave a unique twist to a generic response: “Communication skills for influence, which is knowing what the bigger objective of your communication is, and making a plan to achieve that objective through communication.”

Amena’s other strengths of “compassion, empathy, and networking” served her well in her job coordinating a government funded bridging program for internationally educated engineers.

How the clues apply to you: Take a page out of Amena’s playbook and ‘try on’ the skill of ‘communicating for influence.’ Think of an example when you used that skill: What was the situation or challenge? What actions did you take? What was the result? Presto, you now have an answer for one of those tough behavioral interview questions.

Download and enjoy learning from the Aug. 19, 2015 podcast, also featuring Ambrish Saini who participated in the bridging program, Licensing International Engineers into the Profession. Also, listen to any of our 300+ archived Career Buzz podcasts. (Hint: Use SEARCH at bottom right of any CareerCycles.com webpage for your topic, e.g. “circus”).

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA