What emotional intelligence can do for your career

30 May, 2017

As a forward-thinking institution, IEU values the study of psychology as a way of showing students how to enhance their decision-making skills.

As an innovative, forward-thinking institution of higher learning, IEU values the study of psychology as a way of showing students how to enhance their decision-making skills. This training prepares students for the challenges they will face in their future, both personally and professionally.

Now more than ever, soft skills are becoming increasingly sought-after as top companies recruit new employees. According to Kenneth Freeman, Dean of the Boston University School of Management, companies that have successfully built teams of individuals who are able to engage with the company’s core values demonstrate a stronger overall performance. Today’s recruiters are on the hunt for those candidates who can show a deeper comprehension of the company’s values, and express a connection to them.

While technical skills continue to be remarkably important in the recruitment process, soft skills can often prove to be the deciding factor when it comes to hiring a candidate. It was rational thought, after all, that brought about the Scientific Revolution, and forever changed the world we live in. As we come to place more value on soft skills, are we at risk of understating the importance of rational thought?

Leading business thinkers tend to believe that we are not at risk of placing one above the other. Martin Reeves of the Boston Consulting Group argues that the business world must make more room for intuition and creativity. In order for companies to stay relevant, every employee must be prepared to expand their horizons and learn new things.

Lee Newman, Dean of Human Sciences and Technology at IE University, maintains that companies would be better off looking for behavioral traits, such as mindfulness, self-awareness, and empathy in their recruitment criteria. By extension, Newman believes that graduates would do well to pursue emotional intelligence as an academic interest in order to benefit their future careers. Role-specific skills remain important in the short term, but technical know-how will only get you so far. For long-term success, students must work to develop their soft skills.

**Written by: The Report Company

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Gabriel Rodriguez

Gabriel Rodríguez was born and grew up in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. He speaks English and Spanish fluently, and has basic proficiency in French.

He completed his primary and secondary education in his home city’s Instituto Cumbres de Caracas. An outstanding swimmer, Gabriel was part of the school’s swimming team throughout his primary and secondary education, competing nationally and internationally for over 15 years.

In 2005, he started his undergraduate education at the Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas, where he studied for the next five years, graduating with a Bachelor in Business Administration. He completed a Major in Management and Graduate Specializations in both Marketing and Financial Engineering. During his studies, he took part in internships in the energy sector, working at multinational companies Technip and Andritz Hydro.

After finishing his undergraduate studies, he decided to travel to Paris where he enrolled in the Université Paris-Sorbonne a Cours de Civilisation Française, studying there for almost a year before returning to Venezuela in 2011. He then joined Novartis, a multinational pharmaceutical company as a marketing and sales assistant for the next couple of years.

In 2012, Gabriel began pursuing a Master in Market Research and Consumer Behavior at IE University. In 2013 he graduated from the program and joined the prestigious academic institution as Associate Manager of Business Development. Two years into this new adventure he joined IE University’s Marketing Department as a Marketing Manager. Since then, he has led international marketing for IE University’s undergraduate programs as Senior Marketing Manager, and now as Head of Marketing.

In 2019 Gabriel returned to education to pursue his second master’s degree at IE University in Digital Transformation and Innovation Leadership. He completed the program in July 2020.

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