Your CV has been prepared by a professional and the basic ‘C’s are in order:- the content is comprehensive, concise, current and correct, the format is clear, cutting-edge and clinical and the paper is crisp and clean. But is that enough? What qualifications on the CV and beyond is it that the employer is looking for as he/she analyzes your suitability for the job? One answer sums it up in a few more ‘C’s: employers are basically looking for a certain level of Competence, Chemistry, Confidence, Character, Commitment, Charisma, Communication Skills and Capacity for Growth and Learning in all hires and in lines of work.
Obviously the relative importance of one criteria relative to the others will vary depending on the nature of the job:- charisma for example, while always helpful with the internal politics, may be of lesser import for some back-office positions relative to key client-facing front-line positions. Capacity for learning will also be more or less critical depending on how high up the career ladder you have progressed and what the learning gradient ahead of you looks like. However basically speaking these eight criteria are at the top of the employer’s mind any time a new position is on the table.
Interestingly a new poll by Bayt.com research indicated that superseded only by technical skills, candidate character is the area that employers find it most difficult to meet required standards in their candidate sourcing and hiring activities. 21% of polled employers cited candidate character as the area in which they find it very challenging to meet the required standards in their candidate sourcing and assessment activities (very closely following technical skills at 24%). “Character” summarizes all these intangibles that determine the “real” person behind the resume – intangibles like attitude, emotional stability, integrity, dependability, responsibility, respect, trustworthiness, flexibility, ethics, determination, values, curiosity, ambition, loyalty, drive, willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty and other traits that define a person’s actions and relationships and determine success. Companies that neglect candidate character and face their hiring decisions solely on skills and credentials tend to be less productive, less cohesive and have higher turnover.
Many employers today are resorting to sophisticated psychometric testing and psychological profiling of candidates particularly for the more senior positions to make sure that issues that relate to candidate character can be objectively quantified and assessed.
Questions often asked during an interview to determine candidate character include:- What are your strengths and weaknesses? How would your friends describe you? How do you react to stress? What is your ideal work environment? Tell me a story about yourself. How would you react if you were placed in a situation where something unethical was taking place? Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty to get a job done. How do you deal with difficult people at work? Give me examples. Can you tell me about a situation where your values were challenged. Tell me about a mistake you made and how you overcame it. For more tips on hiring decisions Bayt.com, the Middle East’s #1 job site takes a look at What Employers are Looking for.
