When it comes time to search for a new employee, it can be a little daunting to know what exactly to look for. Apart from specialized skills needed for a role, you need to think about what character traits might be the most important, and how do you go about spotting them.
Related:Why You Should Hire For Personality, Not Just Experience
Whether you're choosing to hire a new recruit yourself or using the services of a recruitment firm like Robert Half, there are three key traits that should definitely be on your “must-have" list.
1. Positive Attitude: Do you want to work with a grouch?
A job candidate's attitude is a major aspect you want to assess in an interview. Former Southwest Airlines CEO Herb Kelleher is quoted as saying, “We can change skill levels through training, but we can't change attitude."
Indeed, the right kind of attitude goes a long way in business and can make the difference between a positive team willing to pull all the stops to make a business the best it can be, and one in which negativity is rife and people can't wait to leave. Simply ask yourself: Do you know anyone who wants to work with an unhappy, negative team member? Of course not, so keep an eye out for job candidates that have approachable body language, smile and laugh a lot, appear quite relaxed, and generally seem to have a 'glass is half full' outlook on life.
Enthusiastic staff members will help to bring a team together, will refuse to get discouraged, and will be more willing to learn on the job and do what it takes to get things done. These types of workers contribute to a positive company culture that benefits not just team members, but also customers, prospective employees, and investors.
2. Initiative: The autonomous worker
The right attitude alone does not, however, guarantee a great hire. You also want to make sure that your candidate has the ability to take initiative. While some employees will do the bare minimum during their work day, and always wait to be told what to do, others will find ways to add value to their employer and their company.
Autonomous workers will be able to get their job done without being micro-managed, and will also find other tasks to complete without needing to be told. People with a “self-monitoring" personality type generally like to work independently and efficiently, and will often be the ones to come up with innovative ideas or ways to save money or increase sales. As an added benefit, self-motivation in employees is a very valuable trait that can also tend to rub off on other staff members. You can determine if a job candidate is likely to be a self-starter, by asking various open-ended questions in interviews so that you can get some insight into their thought processes and patterns of behavior.
3. Flexibility: Prepared for ever changing environments
Last but not least, you have to keep an eye on the flexibility of your candidate. Adaptable team members can bring a lot to a business, especially in small, growing companies where job roles tend to have to expand and change over time as the firm gets bigger and more established.
Flexible staff members will be happy to help out in other roles or departments when needed, and will cope better in constantly-changing business environments or industries. Versatile employees also tend to have a higher level of problem-solving ability, and are more likely to learn new technologies or come up with creative solutions for company problems. To find out if a job candidate has a flexible style, ask them for examples of problems they've solved in past roles, new systems or technologies they have learnt or implemented, and skills they'd like to learn in the future.
If you are good at spotting these vital character traits in your candidates, you should not have to fear a bad hire!
This post was originally published at an earlier date.
Tim Windhof is a published and enthusiastic Resume Writer and Career Coach who is fascinated by helping people take their careers to the next level. Tim is a resume expert and educator for the American Writers and Artists, Inc. and their Resume Writer Training program. Tim has written interview-yielding resumes for clients from the US, Canada, India, Australia, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a CAREEREALISM-approved expert.
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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