Over the last few
months I have been involved in the hiring for quite a few positions and it got
me thinking; What are the most valued qualities that will get you hired or
cause you to progress in your career? I realized that persistence is one of
those that has come up again and again over the last 10 years of being involved
in job openings from all angles. I am
not saying this is right or wrong, this is only
my observation over the years working with many different hiring
managers, HR professionals, candidates, and my own job searches.
Persistence can be
displayed in your behaviors with past jobs, projects and personal endeavors. It
can also be found when trying to schedule an in person meeting, continuing to
call back to find out an answer after the interview, continuing to maintain contact
even when there is not a job opening at the company you want to work for. These
same things also indicate a healthy level of want for both the job and the
organization. If a hiring manager isn't convinced you truly want the job, you
will not be receiving an offer. Showing persistence is a great way to
accomplish this.
When it comes to
interviewing to uncover past behavioral patterns, tenacity can even be viewed
as form of persistence. If a candidate has a track record of overcoming
challenging situations where others might choose not to, this is an indicator
they will likely behave the same way in the future.
All of this is for
naught though if a candidate does not have humility. For example, I had a
position come down to candidates last week and one had a track record of
persistence and slightly more "conventional experience than the other. The
second candidate had an equal amount of persistence but had a lifetime of
humility built into his experiences.
We hired the second
candidate quickly after completing the full interview process. This is a
personal example but I have seen it time and again over the last 10 years. Most
hiring managers don't spend a lot of time interviewing, they spend time leading
people in their respective industries. This means that they will often hire
people that they subjectively feel comfortable with. Persistence without
humility is a little like a nice car sitting on the side of the road after
running out of gas; it might look good but eventually people realize it is not
going anywhere. Persistence will come off as arrogance, annoying or even worse
without humility.
These are a few (not
all) of the qualities that give others a positive impression of job
candidates. I would encourage you to
evaluate yourself in these two categories (persistence and tenacity.)
What other
subjective qualities do you think make or break hiring decisions? (Good or Bad)
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