When scouting candidates for a position, you probably have an image in mind. However, could your expectations be too restrictive? It is normal to have expectations, and you don’t want to hire just any candidate. If you can’t find the perfect person, you need to put effort into spotting rising stars and helping them grow into the position. It is easier to train skills than personality attributes!

Identify the Necessary Basic Attributes- Consider what attributes a person needs to be successful for the vacant position. These are the non-negotiable qualities that you expect from a candidate, focusing more on personality and learning skills. Do they need to work well on a team? Do they need to be self-motivated? Once you determine your non-negotiable talents, use that as a guideline to recognize your candidate pool.

Focus on Potential- Maybe your candidate doesn’t have all the certifications or skills that you expect them to have, but they’ve shown that they have promise via past experiences. For example, a candidate hasn’t worked in a managerial position, but they’ve taken on special projects and managed those independently demonstrating their ability to take responsibility and ownership of a task and its people. These experiences show you their familiarity with the needed skills and may suggest how trainable they are. Invest in developing them!

Look beyond the resume- This is arguably the most important thing when it comes to scouting candidates. A person cannot fit their entire lifetime of experiences and acquired skills on a single sheet of paper. Pay attention to how the person appears during their interview. Are they engaged? Eager? Do they present good communication skills? Often, the interview can be more telling than the resume itself, so keep an open mind and take note of how they handle their interview. They may be the person that you need!

If you are looking for Leadership Development, don’t hesitate to give us a call! 407.628.0669