How Do You Know if You Want to Be in an Professional Orchestra
At that place'south tons of advice on how to evaluate soft skills at each stage of the hiring process. But, permit's take a step back for a moment, from the 'how' to the 'what': out of the dozens of soft skills and personality traits in existence, which exactly are the qualities of a good employee and candidate you should always look for?
Knowing these of import qualities to look for in an employee ways yous have better chances of hiring the best people and fugitive the scary costs of making a bad hire.
So, we narrowed down the list to five disquisitional chore candidate qualities:
- Teamwork
- Willingness to acquire
- Communication
- Cocky-motivation
- Culture fit
This doesn't imply that you should evaluate only these skills and nothing else. But these are traits you should evaluate no matter the role you're hiring for. Hither'due south why:
1. Teamwork
Most jobs require a degree of collaboration with other people – and sometimes managing others, as well. Fifty-fifty work that's often seen every bit solitary, such as accounting or software evolution, may involve considerable input from other people. So unless you're hiring for a truck driver or a night baby-sit at a museum (which is an awesome task, by the mode), you lot demand people who are able to interact well with others.
ii. Willingness to learn
Life-long learning is a must nowadays – new technology and knowledge come out all the time, and organizations and systems modify. Whoever doesn't acquire risks staying behind, no matter their accumulated noesis or position. A willingness, and ultimately, an power to learn are very important qualities of a skilful employee – not but for learning new hard skills, but also for growing as a professional and as a person. The concept of adjustability is also ane of the qualities of a skilful employee and candidate associated with willingness to acquire.
iii. Communication
Beingness skilled in advice doesn't mean yous have to exist great with words or even actually sophisticated and eloquent (although this helps). You demand to exist able to clearly go your message across, in verbal or written speech, and be able to grasp other people'south meaning (especially through asking the correct questions). Having issues with this can drastically affect job functioning.
4. Self-motivation
This trait is sometimes used past companies equally a euphemism for "I won't ask for a higher salary and will work long hours without lament". But that'south not what this skill is virtually (needless to say, you should always pay people a living wage and avoid overworking them). Self-motivation is about liking what yous exercise enough to want to do a proficient chore regardless of the external reward. Self-motivation tin besides be called "passion" – though this term might exist a flake over the top.
5. Culture fit
The exact meaning of "culture fit" changes with every arrangement. But information technology's non every bit uncomplicated every bit being about who you desire to have lunch or an after-piece of work drink with; it'south much more virtually who understands and embraces the workplace and mode of work, from the open-space layout to the dress code. Culture fit might even modify among different teams. It'south a practiced thought to sit downwards with your team members and discuss about what constitutes civilisation fit for your team and narrow information technology down to specific traits or values.
How do you evaluate these qualities of a good employee?
Now it'southward time to retrieve about the 'how', so permit'due south get through an instance together: Think near the role you're hiring for most oftentimes – be it software developer, sales associate, customer support specialist or other. As our case, we choose the generic role of "software programmer".
Let'southward say you have three candidates to interview: Sam, Cassandra, and Joe. Let's meet our hypothetical candidates:
Sam
He's an experienced developer with a background in motorcar learning. He'southward polite and confident in his knowledge.
Cassandra
She'due south a mid-level developer who'southward currently working towards an MSc in machine learning and information science. She's assertive and sharp.
Joe
He'south a mid-level developer who wants to try his paw in motorcar learning. He'due south curious and easy-going.
By these basic descriptions, all of those candidates seem like a good fit for the office. And they might be. Now, we'll evaluate them against the five critical qualities of a good employee and candidate using a conspicuous simply effective tool: interview questions.
Teamwork
Can you tell me more near this projection you worked on? Did y'all encounter any difficulties and how did y'all solve them?
Sam:
I was the leader of this projection and organized the whole workflow from start to end. My squad was slow to grasp requirements merely, after a few meetings I organized, everything went well. In the end, I completed the project ahead of fourth dimension and presented the last solution to the CEO herself – which she liked very much.
Cassandra:
I worked on this projection when I starting time arrived at the company, and so it helped me get to know my colleagues amend. I liked the frequent stand-ups and the fact nosotros were all free to ask for help from one some other. Personally, I believe I did a great chore and had no difficulties to speak of.
Joe:
In this project, we were a team of five which was the largest team I've always worked in. We had frequent meetings and worked in pairs with our leader checking in with us every calendar week. We had some organizational issues at the kickoff, merely later on we implemented a structured agenda in our daily standups, we clarified things and got on faster.
In this question, the best answer comes from Joe in terms of teamwork skills. He uses the pronoun "nosotros" instead of "I" and speaks about his "team" instead of his own contribution. Cassandra clearly values collaboration, just she displays less squad spirit than Joe. Sam speaks about his own work and doesn't recognize his team members (he really hints on having problems with them) – this is a big cerise flag considering he was the leader of the project.
Here's more than information well-nigh constructive teamwork interview questions and potential cerise flags.
Willingness to learn
Tell me about a time you received negative feedback on a specific area of your work.
Sam:
1 of my managers once told me that my lawmaking had a lot of unnecessary lines and was tough to read. I immediately asked him to have a coming together with me and show me how I can do this differently. We spent a lot of time going over my code and I was able to apace improve my skills.
Cassandra:
My former director told me that I needed to piece of work faster to meet deadlines. I recognized this every bit a problem with my organizational skills – at that point, we were working on several projects at once and I had a hard fourth dimension juggling everything. So, I sat downwards to sort out everything, created a to-do list that I felt comfortable with and asked for relevant training. I swore to myself that I'd never miss a deadline again.
Joe:
My first manager had given me a listing of things I had to exercise to learn to write better code. I was a junior and then, and then I worked really hard to do everything he told me, so I could abound to exist a developer who didn't demand whatsoever feedback.
All three candidates gave satisfying answers in this question, but there were notable differences. Joe gave the least well-thought-out answer because he's implying that the more senior he gets, the less likely he is to expect feedback, which doesn't bode well for his willingness to keep learning – information technology's possible he lacks 1 of the qualities of a good employee and candidate. Sam and Cassandra both described the feedback they received with more details, which could mean they took it very seriously. Cassandra displays a slightly stronger drive to better.
Advice
Your manager asks you to nowadays the plan for a new vocalization recognition app to a grouping of prospective customers from dissimilar departments (e.g. software development, finance, marketing). How do you structure your presentation?
Sam:
I would try to steer clear of technical lingo in my presentation. I would present the idea for the app beginning and then go into details about how information technology works without getting too technical. Probably, I would likewise get together relevant data that people from finance or marketing would like to come across. Another affair I'd do is spend a lot of time preparing to answer questions, as I think this is the best way to connect with the audience.
Cassandra:
Starting time, I'd run across if I could learn who exactly will be in the meeting. If I know their exact roles, I can better tailor my presentation. Then, I'd make sure they can grasp the idea behind the app – I'd expect for a prototype I could bear witness them or real-life similar apps. Multimedia is a bully mechanism to get the bulletin across, and so I might add a relevant video or a graphic. In general, I'd proceed the presentation short and to the point and I'd brand sure to give the audience room for questions.
Joe:
I'd ask my manager what they think this audience wants to hear and what they are interested in. Do they need the technical details or do they need an case? Do we already have an initial version of the app we tin bear witness them? And and so, I would rehearse the presentation in front of a couple of my colleagues from different departments and incorporate their feedback.
All iii answers look good (wouldn't y'all similar to always have candidates who show the qualities of a good employee so easily?). Cassandra and Joe take thoughtful ideas almost presenting to their audition – and they first with the most important question: what does my audience want/need? They too talk almost presenting examples, and Joe shows his collaborative spirit again by saying he'd ask for help from an audience that's similar to the ane he's presenting to. Sam is the only i who may be assuming too much nearly his audience, which might signal a communication problem.
Hither are more communication interview questions.
Self-Motivation
Should y'all exist hired, what do you think you would like and dislike in this part?
Sam:
Based on what you've told me, this part is exactly what I want to do at this point in my career. My previous role didn't allow me to properly experiment with machine learning, but this role volition. I can't wait to acquire more about your stack and your tongue processing projects and I also have this idea nosotros can effort out as a side project. The merely thing that I might not like is that your teams don't seem to use Scrum, which I'1000 most familiar with, but I'm sure I will quickly larn your current framework.
Cassandra:
I really similar the visitor and the role. I've heard a lot of proficient things about your development teams as well as your workplace. The new projects y'all're working on are very relevant to my Master's so I'll be able to apply my knowledge on the task and learn more about the applied aspects of automobile learning – and also come up with new projects. I think I could exist quite happy here.
Joe:
I like that the task involves car learning, which is something I e'er wanted to learn more about. The experience I will get in this role will help me a lot in this way and I remember I can practice a very good job. I'chiliad as well thinking of doing a Chief'southward in automobile learning and I want to be sure that this is what I want.
Sam gave the best respond in this question; thoughtful, enthusiastic and honest. He seems to consciously want this job. Cassandra bases her initial response on external factors (the company and the teams); although, she does connect her studies to the role and says she'd similar to offer new ideas, afterward. Joe's reply was neutral and he also seems to consider this job as a stepping stone in finding what he wants to exercise (which could be fine, depending on individual hiring manager requirements and the seniority of the role).
Culture fit
What's one affair you like about your current (or prior) job and you'd desire hither as well?
Sam:
I liked the fact that we were having lots of fun together with my colleagues – both men and women. Some of us were skilful friends and notwithstanding are. This makes information technology so much more than satisfying to come to work each morning time.
Cassandra:
In my previous company, we valued both teamwork and independent working. Non a day would go by when nosotros wouldn't have impromptu meetings to discuss current projects and new ideas, but every bit soon as anybody had their headphones on or went to a meeting room, we would respect their serenity time.
Joe:
I like an environment that'south structured because I piece of work better this way. If y'all tell me that I need to come up to work at 11 each forenoon, I'll be in that location on time. Simply if you tell me to come in whenever I desire, I'll spend my nights worrying.
In this question, Sam seems to value the importance of liking the people he works with. He's probably looking for a workplace where a sense of "community" is important. Cassandra appreciates the diversity in modes of piece of work and respecting each person's choice. Joe likes structure, which would make him more comfortable in less-flexible workplaces.
We probably need a disclaimer here: Culture fit is one of the most subjective qualities of a expert job candidate and it'southward unique to each team and visitor. If yous're certain you know what civilization fit means for your team, y'all'll be able to evaluate it by looking at answers to culture fit questions as well as at each candidate as a whole.
Do you agree with our 5 qualities of a good employee?
Nosotros hope these examples gave you an thought well-nigh how to evaluate qualities to expect for when hiring an employee. Do evaluate other difficult and soft skills specific to the role, but these questions provide useful insights into candidates' fit. I have a preference toward Cassandra who gave good and thoughtful answers without showing whatever major scarlet flags. Only that's just me. Who would you hire?
Source: https://resources.workable.com/stories-and-insights/qualities-of-good-employee-and-candidate
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