Characteristics to Look for When Interviewing and Hiring Employees

It is always a challenging task for employers to find a perfect fit for a particular opening in their company while digging through hundreds of applications received by them. However, it should be noted that finding the right employee from the pool of hundreds of applicants for a specific job is more of an art than just a process. You have to consider various factors while shortlisting potential employees and eventually finding a single candidate that is worth all the effort. There is no need to do everything in a hurry.

It is worth mentioning that some employers may make decisions in a hustle while considering a small subset of a candidate's overall profile and later end up regretting such a decision. However, recruiting an employee for your company is not an everyday affair, and you have to make an investment of your time, effort, and money to conduct interviews, so you better take the calm route for this process. Moreover, there is no need to focus on a single aspect of a candidate's profile, such as certifications or skills, while making a decision.

You should look for certain universally applicable characteristics in every person who applies for a job in your company, regardless of the role they will be playing in your company. We have discussed these characteristics in detail below to help you find the perfect candidate. Further details are given below: 

Ability to Showcase the Best Persona

First things first, before we move on to discuss what kind of soft skills are required in an ideal candidate, it is better to discuss a person's ability to showcase themselves in the best way possible. An obvious way of doing that is by submitting a tailor-made and polished resume articulated for a particular job. It is often observed that most candidates don't pay much attention to the resume-making process and use a single draft of a resume for multiple positions. There is no way a person can achieve anything with this "one size fits all" approach.

Every job opening has its own salient requirements, and a single resume draft can't cater to all those requirements. Hence, employers must use ATS (Applicant Tracking System) to shortlist people who have tailor-made resumes for the vacancy in their organization. Applicants can use a reliable resume builder to create a professional and optimized resume with the help of already available resume templates to stand out amongst the rest of the crowd and get through the shortlist. Employers should also look for such employees who have the ability to showcase their best profile with the help of resumes. 

Soft Skills to Look For

In addition to paying attention to the hard skills and expertise of applicants, it is also necessary to keep an eye out for essential soft skills that allow professionals to perform their tasks efficiently. By definition, soft skills are the non-technical skills that define how a person should work. It includes various skills; a few essential ones are discussed in detail below:

Attention to Detail

A professional who is committed to a job always pays attention to details before initiating a task. Lack of attention to detail can result in miscommunication and, ultimately, a huge monetary loss for a company or organization. Therefore, it is necessary to figure out whether a person you want to employ for a particular position in your company has the ability to pay attention to details.

You can easily figure it out while doing interviews or asking for applications. For instance, you can ask applicants to use a particular font style while articulating their resumes. Moreover, you can ask them to start their email with a specific code word while sending you the application. You can put all these instructions in your job ad, and you will be able to figure out individuals that pay proper attention to details.

Proper Communication

This soft skill relates to the aforementioned soft skill. While it is highly essential to pay attention to details and listen to the opinion and narratives of other people, it is also important for professionals to communicate themselves properly. Many times, a project's success mainly relies on a single's thought process. The person may devise a solution to an existing issue, but the inability to communicate it properly will hinder the entire process. This situation is especially true when a person is leading a team, and the whole team is experiencing the problem of a communication gap because of their leader's inability.

This inability to communicate appropriately can result in the problem of a communication gap between a client and a company as well, eventually leading to monetary losses. Hence, it is necessary for employers to make sure the person they hire is capable of communicating with their colleagues and clients properly. They can pretty much get an idea about applicants' communication skills through cover letters and interview sessions. A cover letter and interview session require applicants to communicate properly and make the recruiters believe they are a good fit for the company.

 Problem-Solving Attitude

While professionals working in a company generally have to use their hard skills (technical ones) to solve the issues on behalf of the company. For instance, a database engineer would make use of his expertise to solve a problem with the servers of a company. However, it is worth mentioning that problems encountered by professionals at their workplaces are not always related to their expertise. Sometimes, the nature of problems is way different. For instance, a QA engineer may spot a bug while testing an in-progress code; they can suggest the solution instead of leaving the process to the developer.

Recruiters should look for applicants who are willing to solve problems on their own instead of pointing fingers at others. This practice will help employers ensure a working environment that is free of any kind of issues. In addition, employers can evaluate applicants for their problem-solving attitude by asking them about a few problems and their responses to such situations.

Teamwork

Nobody works in an organization on their own; they have to work in combination with their teammates, subordinates, and supervisors. A person lacking the ability to work in a team can ruin the entire project. Hence, it is essential for employers to look for applicants who are capable of working in a team and keeping their entire team's confidence while making any move.

Overlooking the teamwork ability while selecting a person for a particular position can lead to significant losses for a company. Hence, employers should work on their interview model to determine whether the applicant they are interviewing can be a great block to an already formed team. In addition, digging through their past work history can help them evaluate whether the employee is a team worker or not. 

The Ability to Fit In

Another highly crucial soft skill that has become highly important these days is the ability of applicants to fit in a new working environment. Every company has its own work model and culture; people switching from one company to another should be capable of adapting to the new work culture swiftly. Otherwise, the inability to adapt to new work culture can lead to problems for the individual and the company as well.

Employers should make sure that the applicant they want to employ is fully capable of adapting to a new working environment swiftly. Moreover, they should make sure that their potential employees are fully capable of acclimating themselves to modern practices. This adaptability also helps employees learn new things and concepts as well.

 Consider their Certifications

In addition to educational background, it is necessary for employers to give special consideration to certifications listed on the resumes of various employees. While expertise and experience matter a lot in deciding the future of a job applicant, overlooking certifications is not a wise choice. Sometimes, these certifications play a significant role in the actions of an employee during a problematic situation.

For instance, an employee with safety certifications can respond better to an emergency because of a fire. Similarly, an employee with IT essentials certification will be able to deal with the problems happening to a router or computer as compared to one who doesn't have any relevant certification. Hence, in our opinion, employers need to make sure that they are taking certifications into account while selecting an applicant for a job.

Experience is Also Important

While soft skills and certifications have their significant importance, you can't overlook the hard skill of a person and the relevant experience of an applicant who is applying for a particular job in your company. Therefore, make sure the person you are selecting to fill the vacant position has mastered their trade. You should be pretty sure about any applicant's hard skills and experience before making any decision regarding their selection.

An effective way to properly evaluate the experience and hard skills of applicants are to break down the interviewing process into two different sessions. The first session should evaluate applicants for their soft and interpersonal skills, while the second phase should assess them for technical or hard skills they have mastered to ensure that you are choosing the right fit for your company.

 Putting an End to the Discussion

Companies have to fill vacant positions on and off to keep their work process flowing. However, finding the right person for a particular job opening is a tricky task. You need to consider a few factors before reaching a decision regarding the right applicant that is capable of fitting that position perfectly and playing their part in the success of a company. We have discussed a few essential factors that can help you find an ideal person for the vacant position in your company. Hopefully, this blog will help you thrive in the recruitment process and make the right decisions. We wish you luck with the process!