The best candidates aren't defined by checklists - so why are you relying on them?
Posted Monday February 28th, 2011
Last week one of our clients rejected a candidate we knew was a perfect fit for their opportunity. When we asked why, the answer was, "Well, we had a list of 10 skills and experience bullet points we needed to fill, and he only met 9 of them. Yeah, I know he was awesome, but I've got this list..."
So the client missed out on a fantastic employee, and went with the second-best candidate, who checked all the boxes but doesn't have the right fit for the organization and probably won't deliver as much value.
Hire for attitude, train for skill
The recession of 2008-2009 made companies cautious, and the caution hasn't entirely disappeared: Hiring managers are under more pressure than ever to defend new hires, and checklists are 'safe'. If a new hire doesn't work out, it's easy to escape blame by saying "Well, he ticked all the boxes of the skillsets you said you wanted..."
But the most successful companies have learned that hiring for attitude, training for skill is actually a more successful strategy in the long run.
This guy may or may not check all the boxes, but he's definitely the kind of passionate, invested, interesting employee you want working for you:
Southwest Airlines says that they're more focused on hiring for positive, entrepreneurial, customer-focused attitude than on sticking to a skills checklist - and that it's kept them successful for 40 years.
Paul has one simple goal: To help companies hire great people - and get the most out of every recruiting dollar they spend. That's why he's recognized as one of the best recruitment-industry thinkers in Canada.