If, like many an employer, you’ve worked with a fair few Recruitment Agencies in your time, the likelihood is that you will have also talked to them a lot about ‘candidate fit’. It’s often said that you should ‘hire for fit, train for skills’, and it’s not a bad philosophy for your company to have.
So, what are the specific qualities that indicate a certain candidate is a great ‘fit’ for your company?
1. They’re Enthusiastic You just can’t teach enthusiasm. If the given candidate reaches back out to you of their own accord, rather than simply walking into the interview, walking out and never being in touch with you again, that’s a sign that they almost certainly want to work for you.
2. They Ask Meaningful Questions Yes, candidates may be urged by ‘how to…’ guides to ‘show interest’ in an interviewer. But do the questions they ask seem vague and clichéd, as if they’re simply asking you questions so that they can be seen to be asking you questions? Or are they asking about more specific and sophisticated matters, even at this early stage of their relationship with you?
3. They Genuinely Own Up To Their Mistakes Every employer under the sun has heard plenty of repetitions of that classic ‘humblebrag’, “my biggest weakness in work is that I’m just too perfectionistic…”
However, it could be worse – they might blame external factors, such as their boss, team or computer malfunction, for certain failures of theirs. Someone who can admit to specific mistakes, while explaining how they recovered from them, is someone with a motivated, self-improving and responsible mindset, which is a great asset for your team.
4. They’re Willing To Learn New Things Does the candidate’s CV indicate someone who is constantly on the up? Have they taken on projects that push their capabilities and are clearly outside the obvious bounds of their past or present role? Have they been involved in certain work that may not have been a massive success or failure, but which they nonetheless loved?
5. Their Passion Matches Well With Your Vacancy What would this person do with their life, from a professional perspective, if they could do anything? Do they want to create or write? What about working closely with people? Their answer should help to give you a sense of whether they would be happy in your open role – because after all, happier people are more productive people.
