What Every Employer Assesses for When They Hire
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
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What does a company want to find out about you when they interview you? What are they trying to find out when they evaluate and assess you? In most cases, hiring staff or temporary workers starts out with a job description. Someone sat down and consciously thought of what skills and experience they needed on their staff.
Competence
Can you do the job and deliver results? Companies want to know you have the right skills, education, and experience to succeed in the role. Be prepared to discuss specifics from your background that make you qualified. Show mastery of the required abilities and highlight relevant accomplishments from past jobs. Competence builds confidence you’ll perform well once hired.
Most firms hopefully start off by assessing for competence. I say “hopefully” because so many people report that they work with incompetent colleagues. Hopefully, an employer has developed a series of questions that help them evaluate and assess skills competency for the skills that are needed.
But skills competency is only one element of what a company is evaluating. The rest all fall into the category of soft skills—hard to assess for qualities that differentiate one person from another.
I’ve seen time and again the traits and qualities hiring managers and recruiters look for in people beyond just skills and experience. While competence in your field is crucial, it’s not the only thing companies evaluate when deciding whom to hire. Here are 7 key things every company assesses when bringing on new talent.
Self-Confidence
Along with skills, employers look for self-assurance. They want people who believe in their abilities and will take initiative. Exude confidence when interviewing, even if you have to fake it a bit. Speak with conviction about handling responsibilities required in the position. It’s fine to acknowledge areas you still need to develop, but emphasize strengths. Self-confidence indicates you won’t need excessive hand-holding to reach goals.
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Character
Hiring managers assess character traits like honesty, integrity, ethics, and reliability. They want employees who will make wise choices when faced with tough situations and represent the company well. Behave professionally throughout the interview process and avoid saying anything that could call your judgement into question. Be ready with examples of how you’ve exemplified strong character in the past.
Chemistry
Will you fit in well and work effectively with the team? Demonstrating chemistry gives hiring managers confidence you’ll collaborate smoothly with colleagues. Research the company culture in advance and emphasize aligned values. Be personable, ask questions, and show interest in working together. Discover shared experiences, interests, or connections you have with the interviewers. Chemistry is key for integration and retention.
Charisma
While more difficult to assess, charisma can make you stand out. Employers look for a level of charm, appeal, and likability in candidates, especially for client-facing roles. Warmly greet your interviewers, make eye contact, and smile. Keep responses succinct but enthusiastic. Share laughs over appropriate moments of levity. A dose of charisma makes you more memorable and engaging.
Caring
Hiring managers want to know you care about the company and role, not just landing any job. Express genuine interest and enthusiasm for the position’s responsibilities and future projects. Ask thoughtful questions that show investment in the employer’s mission and success. Convey how excited you are to dedicate your skills and efforts towards shared goals. Caring reflects motivation and passion.
Connection
Interviewers look for a sense of connection during the hiring process. Finding common ground builds rapport and makes collaboration smoother. Listen attentively for hints of shared experiences or interests you can bond over. Be prepared with anecdotes and conversation starters you can engage interviewers with. Making a connection on a personal level fosters goodwill and chemistry.
Trust
Ultimately, hiring comes down to trust. Employers want to feel confident entrusting you with responsibilities, information, resources, and representation of the company brand. Back up your qualifications and abilities with facts and figures. Be honest and forthcoming throughout the process. Project reliability, discretion, and commitment to the role. Building trust is essential for any employer to take a chance and hire you.
While your resume gets you through the door, performance in the interview evaluation plays a huge role in determining job offers. Ensure you make great impressions by demonstrating these qualities and not just your work history. With competence, self-confidence, character, chemistry, charisma, caring, and connection in your corner, companies will be eager to bring you on board.
Remember, every interview question you will be asked is going to have a macro and micro component to it.
The micro is going to be the specific answer to the question you are asked. The macro will be how is your manner and behavior congruent (or not) with their image of someone in the job. Your mannerisms are observed; your behavior is scrutinized in an effort to see how you “fit” the job, too.
So, before your next interview, remember to program into your mind these additional variables so that you can see yourself as an interviewer would.
Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2022
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ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves career coaching, as well as executive job search coaching, job coaching, and interview coaching. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2600 episodes.
Are you interested in 1:1 coaching, interview coaching, advice about networking more effectively, how to negotiate your offer or leadership coaching? People hire me to provide No BS career advice whether that is about a job search, hiring better, leadership, management or support with a workplace issue. Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
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