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Every recruiter wants to find the best candidate for the job.
But the application process is set up against them. The first step is usually to review the resume and possibly a cover letter that describes the applicant’s challenging skills and experience. Unfortunately, many job seekers fail to make it past this initial screening stage and don’t have a chance to showcase their personality during the interview if their past experience doesn’t exactly match the job posting. This process he repeats thousands of times a day in human resources departments across the country.
It doesn’t seem to be very effective, but according to some people, study A study conducted by education company Hyperisland shows that it’s worse than you think. Hyper Island asked more than 500 company leaders in the communications, technology, and business development industries what attributes of a candidate make them want to hire. 78% of respondents cited “personality” as the quality they most looked for in employees. Next was “cultural adjustment.” Guess who died last on the list? “Skillset.”
Technology can help recruiters overcome this obstacle.New platforms, e.g. Candidate view, ask potential employees to record themselves answering customized interview questions. This way, the recruiter can quickly get a feel for the person behind the resume before deciding whether to make a call or not.
So what are the key personality traits managers should look for before hiring an employee? Here are five attributes that experts say will help predict whether this person will be a good fit for your company. Shown below.
Related: Avoid costly hiring mistakes with these 5 top tips
1. Excellent interpersonal skills
Playing well with others sounds important in kindergarten, but it’s just as important in the workplace. You want to hire employees who are good communicators, collaborative, and easy to work with.
Billionaire Richard Branson claims that good character “always trumps book smarts.” In an article on LinkedIn “You can’t fake character, passion, and purpose,” he writes, “You can learn company knowledge and job-specific skills, but you can’t train character. I’m looking for someone who likes to work with others. ”
2. Problem solver
A resume may state how long a potential employee has worked at a particular job and what they have accomplished, but how good are they at solving problems? • The ability to tackle challenges head-on and solve them is a trait worth its weight in gold in any business.
How do you find problem solvers? If you’re using a video pre-interview platform, start by asking about problems they faced in previous jobs and how they overcame them. This is a powerful question that will determine whether you will take the time to meet the candidate in person.
3. Be confident
A job applicant’s resume may list a lot of accomplishments in their career. However, ability and competence are two different things, and having confidence is what gets people across the finish line.
Whether candidates join the company at a junior or senior level, their confidence is important when communicating with others, making decisions, and taking risks.
Look for employees who can explain their strengths with examples from past work. If someone avoids eye contact or has difficulty speaking clearly during the interview, it could be a red flag.
Related: The arrival of “quiet jobs” – what employers and employees need to know
4. Reliable
Trust is the basis of strong manager-employee relationships. Without it, you will always feel uneasy about delegating responsibilities, and you will avoid or micromanage that colleague. Neither is a good strategy.
Dependability is one of those soft skills that is difficult to predict based solely on a person’s past experience. Be sure to identify candidates who have a stable work history and don’t move from job to job every few months. Trustworthy employees tend to stay in their roles for long periods of time.
Also check those references. If you don’t want to ask upfront if they are trustworthy, ask about their attendance records, consistency, and whether past employers felt comfortable trusting them with complex tasks.
5. Coachable
Are your potential employees open to learning, or do they think they know how everything should be? If the answer is the latter, you’ll want to stay far away. One important personality trait is openness to learning. You want to hire employees who are willing to grow and have the humility to ask questions if they don’t know how to do something.
To determine if someone is coachable, ask about their past experiences learning from colleagues. Ask them to share an experience in which they learned a new skill from someone at work. Ask them what they learned and why it was meaningful to them.