Leadership ability

As you progress through your career, you are likely to move into more of a managerial role. This can involve responsibility for delegating work, leading and motivating large teams, training juniors, recruiting the right people, ensuring projects are completed on time and to the standards expected, and so on. 

Although you might not be afforded this level of responsibility until further down the line, firms still need to know that once your career progresses, you’ll be able to step up and effectively lead others. And highlighting at least some foundational leadership experience can go some way to convincing firms that you’ll rise to the challenge. Note that leadership and teamwork are intertwined, as both competencies require an ability to work effectively with others.

Q. Tell me about a time when you’ve had to lead a team.

Q. What challenges have you faced when carrying out a leadership role and how did you deal with them? 

Hannah Salton explains how you can demonstrate leadership skills

Think of the qualities you associate with a great leader and reflect on when you have displayed such qualities across a variety of contexts and environments. For example, you may think that strong leaders motivate and inspire others, and you might have demonstrated such qualities when experiencing low member engagement as president of a university society, or whilst captaining a losing sports team. You may think that active listening and clear communication are essential to leadership, and may have demonstrated these skills when mentoring others.

Jake Schogger explains how you can demonstrate leadership skills

When discussing leadership experience, try to draw out some of the key characteristics of effective leadership, if only to demonstrate your awareness of these. For example, you might discuss instances in which you have motivated others, led by example, delegated effectively, built and managed a cohesive team, and so on. 

If you haven’t been elected or hired into a leadership role, perhaps you could highlight an experience where you had to assume a leadership role. For example, have you previously worked within a team that wasn’t particularly focused or was running out of steam, and did you consequently decide to take the reins and get everyone back on track? 

If you mention experience motivating others, perhaps explain how you did this. Did you lead by example? Help them to see the bigger picture? Encourage them to take ownership over their roles (e.g. by giving them more autonomy)? Did you give them more responsibility to reward their effort and performance? And did you ensure they had sufficient access to any guidance and resources needed to support their role?