1. Is the Candidate Capable of Adapting Quickly?
The ideal candidate is one that’s quick on their feet in adapting to changes in the work environment because change is currently the only constant in the vast majority of organizational systems.
Is the candidate able to provide examples of how they managed to shift, grow, and evolve to changes in the workplace in their previous position?
Adaptability, which is the capacity to embrace new ways of thinking and taking on new roles are critical once the winds of the economy start swirling.
2. Does the Candidate Ask Great Questions?
Everybody is aware that you should come to a job interview having researched the position. However, after they are in the interview, what do they “hear” about your work or the business.
Is the candidate capable of listening, synthesizing, and asking thoughtful questions about the heart of the business?
If the candidate asks great interview questions, you can tell a lot about he/she thinks as well as whether they are capable of diagnosing a market problem as it unfolds and respond to it.
3. Is the Candidate Insatiably Curious?
What else does the candidate wish to know? Is he/she lit up with questions? Todd Kashdan notes, in a new book about curiosity, that curiosity has everything to do with seeking out and appreciating the new.
Instead of seeking certainty desperately, he says that it has everything to do with accepting uncertainty.
Since every great employee should be a great learner, being insatiably curious is the secret to breakthrough thinking and high productivity.
4. Is the Candidate Able to See Patterns in Disparate Information?
Every work environment is now overwhelmed by an overabundance of information and mountains of data.
Is the candidate able to demonstrate their ability to identify patterns and sense important trends in workflows, information, and organizational crises?
In traditional work environments, employees were required to respond effectively, but today’s market conditions require the ability to proactively “see” exactly what is happening in the market synthetically, and be capable of communicating it to others.
The ability to identify patterns in mountains of data and information should be something that you hire for, from the receptionist at the front desk to IT security personnel, to the regional sales manager.
5. Is the Candidate a Good Team Player?
In Netflix, where corporate culture has everything to do with freedom as well as the responsibility to lead the market in terms of innovation, the emphasis is on hiring and retaining stunning colleagues that are amazing collaborators.
Some businesses might tolerate ‘jerks’ that are brilliant, but today’s increasingly competitive business environment requires deeply cooperative individuals that possess the skills needed to help groups be productive and thrive.
It is never a good idea to hire a “swan” or somebody that’s so self-directed and creative that they have a hard time collaborating, or an “eagle” who only thinks about himself/herself and their personal competitive gains.
It means that you need to look for a candidate that understands the fact that their thinking is improved by diversity and collaboration and also possesses the interpersonal skills to add to the team.
6. Is the Candidate a Good Manager of Resources?
Knowing how to do your best with less is a key new skill as the world increasingly downsizes and is more focused on owning, using, and consuming less.
Is the candidate able to use both sides of their post-its? Is the candidate morally committed to the project of more or less since it is the best thing for everybody?
7. Is the Candidate Enthusiastic About Relationships and People?
Spirited workplaces are full of people that are creative communicators that are affirming of other people and attentive to how their interactions with others make people feel.
Enthusiastic individuals usually elicit positive feelings and productive energy for their initiatives and projects since they are creative in connection and savvy about what impact they have on other people.
This energy is something you need in your company. Are you able to feel it when you talk to this candidate? Take a look at how to write outstanding achievements and see if the candidate has these – it should give you a good idea of what to expect from the best.
8. Is the Candidate Capable of Admitting to Mistakes?
Most people learn in school that making mistakes is indicative of a lack of ability. However, new research describes how adaptive learning requires making mistakes since it is impossible to move forward if your never experiment.
The really capable learners usually make many mistakes and often glean important lessons from such. Look for candidates that can easily describe 3 failures as well as what they learned from them. If they are unable to readily describe their mistakes, you should take this as a warning.
