#35 The Number One Thing to Look for in Hiring

The candidates queued up for their chance to land the job interview. You went through the resume and many reads:

“President of Debate Club”

“First class honours from Ivy League University”

“Led a team of young entrepreneurs”

“Volunteer in a charity organisation”

“Ability to work on a varied task”

And the list goes on and on..

Different people have different life experience. The question is what is the number one thing to look for in hiring talents? The term “talents” are used in many ways but not understood by many. In fact, talents can be in many forms. In could be a personal mastery in a particular subject or it could be the knowledge obtained from formal and informal education. However, hiring based on this does not capture the true essence of talent. When hiring, it is important to look at something that is different from others. Your company does not need another sheep in the bunch. The greatest asset of talent is the ability to think for themselves. To have a set of believe system, values and principles in what he/she is doing. These talents usually have something worth listening to. What is the point of a bright superstar when their talent is not fully used?

Great talents are usually disruptive and their actions cannot be limited, but it’s worth listening to their ideas. We look at the likes of Richard Branson and Tony Fernandes on how they changed the whole aviation industry. They have an in-built energy inside of them that is self-driven. They look highly to themselves and are generally positive in life. Anything is possible for them if you let them to do the things they believe in. In short, when hiring a talent, look out for their ability to adapt and think for themselves.

In this fast moving world, skills can become obsolete in split seconds. Time span for a decision to be made has to be quick. What differentiate businesses are the people. Their ability to think and adapt rather than follow instruction from the top. Find talents who can fit into your organisations based on their believe system, values and principles. Put them on “auto-pilot” and let them fly.

Photo taken from: http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/08/talent-not-hiring/