So you have been trying to recruit for a stellar candidate and you are having challenges. I get it – you are getting hundreds of resumes BUT they don’t have what you are looking for right? You are doing all the right things, you are using social media, advertising on various job boards, your job description and ads are top notch – you are even targeting passive candidates too! It is a pain that is all too familiar to many companies these days.
The good companies are getting smarter, they are learning to keep their talent by working on their internal systems and the overall employee experience. These good companies hold good people. So you could keep plugging away or you could look at things a little differently. There are still a lot of great candidates out there who have the potential to be even better with some guidance, mentoring and training to fit your job description completely. So why not look at keeping an open mind and tap into this talent? This is a tough concept to “get” as we all want that perfect fit when we are hiring. Sure, this is ideal, but as I just described above, it is getting tougher to secure this talent easily.
If I have managed to sway your thinking slightly….let’s look at what the things you will want to look for in great candidates to make this happen!
1. A love of learning. Look in the resume for a track record of recent and on-going training, courses, seminars. Look to ask about this in an interview. You need someone with a desire and commitment to continue to learn and grow, thus growing into the position you are hiring for.
2. A Positive and “can do” attitude. You will want to question the candidate with some behavioural and situational questions to assess these traits. Look for people that want to dig in, stay positive and work to get the job done with an attitude that is contagious.
3. Desire to grow. A desire to grow will propel these individuals to do what is necessary to gain the skills to be able to not only fit into the role that they have been hired for, but also to continue to grow with your company.
Absolutely the candidate needs the basics to be successful in the position you are hiring for – I am not suggesting you attempt to make a square peg fit into a round hole – look for the “must haves” and then look for the ability to train the others with the traits listed above.
If you are having challenges recruiting the right person, I encourage you to think outside of the box, keep the above in mind and bring in talent that you can be proud of, that is grateful for the opportunity to learn and to contribute back to your goals and objectives. Committing to their success in turn creates commitment to you and your bottom line.
I love to research ways to make me a better employee so that I can advance in my career. I appreciate this advice here for hiring better workers, because it will help me be a better employee! Continuing to grow in your education even after graduating is really great advice! This is something I never thought to put on a resume.