The 3 Key Factors that Lead to a Perfect Hire
By: Christina Seal
Tags: Learning And Development, Personality, Recruitment, Learning, Recruiting

*This is a short story about Personnelity (est. 2018), my boutique technical recruitment company.

I’d like to tell you a little story about a good friend of mine.

It starts in 2007, at my first ‘real’ job at a Senior Care Facility. Being right next door to a high school, they had a 4–8 evening shift that was every student’s dream. One day this bright-eyed, freckle-faced, 5-foot tall girl started working there. We became fast friends. Endlessly positive, hard-working, and sharp as a tack, we were quite the team!

Fast forward to University, where I joined a great organization (briefly) that canvassed passers-by for monthly donations to places like the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA). Knowing my friend had a huge heart and the resiliency to handle the constant rejections (some nice, some not) with a smile, I brought her along.

Last year I found myself in a situation where capacity became a real issue in my company — especially given the service level I wanted to provide. I knew I could go out and hire someone who had done technical recruiting in the past — but I didn’t. I did a calculation in my head of all the competencies I needed on my team and the values that were key to what I was trying to create, and did a ‘behavioural interview’ in my head of my good friend. She passed with flying colours. She had NO experience in recruiting but all the qualities and characteristics that could help her be successful. Empathetic. Deep level of care and a desire to connect with others. Communicative/responsive. Resilient. Positive. Astute. Discerning. Able to assess without being judgmental. Balanced perspective. Scientific intuition. Conscientious and hard working. Openness and high learning aptitude. Balanced with an incredible career in change management and management consulting, giving her a much wider perspective on the types of challenges you’re trying to solve for the business through their people, as a recruiter.

I called her up and said, “Hey. What are you up to?” It took a small amount of convincing and deliberation, but the timing just so happened to work, and I can’t tell you how ecstatic I was to have the dream team back together. We started at ground zero and we had many, many calls over WhatsApp and Slack, dealing with a huge time zone (did I mention she was in Bali? That’s another story!). She learned so much, exploring the world of recruiting, and specifically, technical recruiting, and absolutely excelled at understanding how the field worked — even with no prior experience and with working remotely.

Last week, she placed her very first candidate. Our client is thrilled and is so excited to see how this individual will change their organization. It is such a great match for this candidate as well, and they seem just as excited about what they will achieve together!

Photo by CoWomen on Unsplash

This story is important to me for a number of reasons, and for highlighting all the things I believe about what good recruitment is all about:

Hire for 3 key factors that lead to a perfect hire: Personality, Values, and Learning Aptitude . Experience absolutely helps make the journey easier and should never be undervalued — but if you are hiring someone who has the right personality/values and learning aptitude, even with no prior experience, anything is trainable. CAVEAT — It depends HIGHLY on the amount of time and energy you have and are willing to invest!!

that lead to a perfect hire: and . Experience absolutely helps make the journey easier and should never be undervalued — but if you are hiring someone who has the right personality/values and learning aptitude, even with no prior experience, anything is trainable. CAVEAT — It depends HIGHLY on the amount of time and energy you have and are willing to invest!! Diverse teams are important! My dear friend found a candidate that I may not have found, because she’s wired differently, she searches differently than me, she tried new techniques with fresh eyes, and she sees things that I don’t see. If you’re not already searching for diversity in your workforce, you are missing out on a massive opportunity within your business.

Don’t be afraid of remote teams — especially in light of the current concerns revolving around coronavirus and many companies facing a challenge of preparedness around working from home policies. Results can be delivered remotely when you have the right people on your team.

Hire people who are better than you!! There is always a bit of insecurity that can creep in when you see someone excel at something that you believe yourself to be good at. But there is always room for everyone to grow, together, and finding someone who is better than you at something is the most incredible way to learn and grow together. Save your competitive edge for your actual competitors — not your collaborators.

This also highlights perhaps a bit of a challenge for people who are searching for a job, especially in communities that they are new to. I never posted a job for this. And I never considered any candidates I didn’t know. It was a quick call over to someone that I knew and had worked with personally — even if I still used an ‘assessment’ process to know I had the right person. My recommendation there would be to get involved in as many communities as you can — volunteer, join community groups, etc. and meet people. SHOW people how you work, and opportunities may come your way that you never expected.

I am so incredibly proud of this woman, who started from ground zero and managed to tackle an incredible challenge with a smile on her face and a successful outcome — she is so awesome, in so many ways, and I can’t wait to see what she learns and tackles next. ❤