The title is a quote by Peter Schutz and it means that, more than the skills that can show on one’s resume, the hard skills that come from college, that are teachable and easily learnt by a person, the focus should lie on an applicant’s personality, ambition, compliance, values, in a nutshell, one’s character.
According to a study 77% of employers believe that soft skills are as important as hard skills (the knowledge learnt to perform a specific function). Talent matters, of course, these hard skills are more than welcome in any company, but so does character, without it a candidate could be rejected, even if they have the perfect set of skills for the job but don’t present the right values to fit the organization.
Attitude, character, is not something that can be taught, while abilities can. It would be quite hard to keep reminding a person to behave a certain way because they are at their work place. However, if the attitude is already right, teaching someone the perks of the job would come easy. Most leaders would say that a company is only as good as the talent it recruits because it’s the people who shape and define the culture of a place. It doesn’t matter if the values and mission of your company are well defined if the people you hire are not in sync with them.
Although personality traits are difficult to see on a resume, they are something to look for during the first interview, have some hypothetical situations to solve, problems with the team, clients or suppliers and ask how the person would solve them. Look for pro-activity, team-work, be mindful of the traits that are on display so you can foresee possible stands and reactions. Not only employers want to know if a person is qualified for a position but it is also important that they fit with the company culture.
We have all seen/met that kind of people who are just “trouble” and we just think “How on earth were you hired?”. The reason behind it is simple, just an interviewer that was blown away by a resume and did not pay attention to someone’s character. And this may lead to a lot of problems, especially to leaders who might be surprised by a different opinion at the wrong time, or a challenging situation that just gets worse because a certain person doesn’t know/ shares the company’s values. And normally these people can be quite professional and have a lot of technical knowledge but they just keep adding stress to already stressful days. After all, 99.9% of positions, regardless of the industry, require dealing with co-workers, managers or customers and a person’s attitude should be a top priority in the hiring process to make sure the company’s environment doesn’t take a turn to the worse.
Many companies hire employees aiming for character and a fit with the company’s culture and then train the person on the job once the idea is that you can train skill but one cannot change character, and an experienced and talented employee tends to fail at the job while an inexperienced employee with a great attitude tends to succeed long-term.
Well, character has become more important than MBA’s, PHD’s or training courses because the traits and techniques necessary for getting a superior education don’t really involve social skills, collaboration or even integrity. Actually, 89% of new hires, skilled employees even, lose their job due to something involving their character. Selfishness, poor teamwork, wrong work ethic, cheating, lying, stealing or even toxic attitudes, like microaggressions, are the most common reasons why otherwise competent people are let go. The pattern is obvious in most companies and institutions and this abnormal cycle will continue until employers start prioritizing staff character.
What to look for in a future employee?
Nowadays, the skills for almost any job are developing and changing at the speed of light, due to technological discoveries and advancements, therefore, a person with the ability to adapt and learn constantly would be extremely valuable. Then we have integrity, passion, resiliency and honesty, these are key principles of a good character. A good person that is energetic, persistent and optimistic, that can learn quickly and not be outdated as fast as the technology it works with is also mandatory - the mindset becomes more important than skills because technology moves so quickly that skills may be well out of date in a short time.
The ideal situation, of course, would be to have character and skills blend together in a healthy way, but reality tends to push us towards making a choice between the two. If you must make a critical decision, make sure to prioritize human values.
So, remember: “talent will get you in the door, but character will keep you in the room”.
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