The ZenHR Blog

Hire character, train skill. - ZenHR's Blog

Written by Saja Qattan | 309/November/2018

To all HR managers and employers, choosing the right person for a certain job can be a real head spinner. But after you read this maybe you will find it easy to judge your potential employees based on traits that will do you good on long terms.

As you create the job description for the role you’re hoping to fill, pay attention to how you see the position growing within the next few years. How does your ideal candidate fit into your growth plan for your business? Do they seem open for that kind of growth? This is a very important question to ask yourself.

If personality wasn’t that important, a face to face interview wouldn’t have existed and people would be hired solely based on the skills mentioned in their resumes. Which is both unfair and misleading.

What would happen if, before making your final decision about whom to hire, you created a grid and checked off boxes related to two separate categories: skills and personality? Would you weigh each category evenly, choosing the candidate with strengths evenly distributed between the two?

A study was made and Employers has chosen “personality” as the quality they most desired in employees. “Cultural alignment” was next; “skill-set” came last. As for the personality traits employers most value, they include—in descending order—“drive”, “creativity”, and “open-mindedness”. Which are definitely the traits you want in the person who will contribute to your company’s growth!

These results may come as a surprise, particularly as they relate to the tech industry, in which skills cannot be overlooked entirely. But the conclusion that personality matters more than skills when vetting job candidates relies basically on the fact that skills can be easily adapted and learnt whilst a great ambitious personality is a rare trait that can hardly be taught or changed.

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