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Recruitment is a two-way street.
As a CEO, it’s always in my interest to hire the best person for the job. But that doesn’t just mean the candidate with the longest list of credentials. They also need to be the right fit—something that’s as important for the candidate to consider as it is for us. Does our mission match their values? Do they like our highly collaborative way of working? Do they see themselves growing with us for the long-term?
I’ve hired a lot of people over the years, and there are certain characteristics I’ve seen in the candidates that ultimately make the best employees. Here’s my take.
They’re Crystal Clear On Their Goals
One of the most significant mistakes I’ve seen candidates make is not taking the time to look at the big picture. I don’t mean just for the sake of nailing the common interview question “where do you see yourself in 10 years?” I mean engaging in some real soul-searching about the workplace conditions in which you thrive. What does your ideal culture look like? What are your expectations in terms of learning, growth, and advancement? Are you looking for an organization where you can grow and evolve, or a rapidly-expanding startup where you can earn your stripes and move on?
These questions matter, especially these days. A survey of 2,500 millennial and Gen Z applicants found that a shocking 72% of respondents were surprised by or regretted accepting a role, saying that the experience was very different from what they thought it would be. Moreover, 80% of those surveyed said it was acceptable to leave a job before six months if it didn’t live up to their expectations.
As with any relationship, knowing your own needs and desires will help everyone—both potential employers and candidates—discover if the job is the right fit. Doing your due diligence before you commit will prevent you from jumping into a potentially unhappy situation.
They Use AI…But Don’t Overdo It
Job seekers know that employers are using AI tools to help with recruitment. Conversely, employers are aware that applicants are capitalizing on it, too.
While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using AI to help with your job hunt, don’t overdo it. Just this week, a friend shared a recruiting story that left me shaking my head: A candidate she was interviewing via Zoom used Otter.ai to join the meeting on his behalf…while the candidate himself was several minutes late. During the interview, it was clear the candidate was using AI software to answer the interview questions, without even bothering to tailor them to his own experience. Needless to say, he won’t be getting a second interview.
Don’t try to replace yourself with AI. Instead, use it as a complement: Job-matching platforms like Autojob and Sonara can help you find opportunities that match your skill set, while resume-builders like Kickresume can help you create an ATS-friendly CV that will get noticed by recruiters. AI is a tool; it can’t do the whole job for you.
They Showcase Their Authentic Selves
As an introvert myself, I understand that extroverts are often favored for jobs. In fact, a man who has average levels of extroversion will earn $600,000 more in his lifetime than a man who is at the bottom 20% of extroversion, according to research reported in Harvard Business Review. While the study did not include women, other studies show that the advantage afforded to extroverts is consistent across genders.
When it comes to hiring, I make an effort to overcome the natural bias that favors the loudest candidate in the room, and instead look for “soft skills.” These include empathy, superior listening abilities and a beginner’s mindset, which is someone who approaches the world with curiosity and an insatiable drive to learn.
Rather than trying to be someone you’re not in an interview, work with AI to figure out how to most effectively express the traits that you do have. As John Younger, the CEO of RecruiterShare, said in an interview: “The number of candidates who come to an interview unprepared is breathtaking. AI will help job seekers better understand the company, hiring manager and role in a way that will make them much more prepared and desirable.”
Not only is AI useful for determining how to best showcase the skills you can bring to a role, it can help with making connections—a boon for those of us for whom networking may not come naturally. GPT for Sheets, for example, allows users to create a list of potential connections, then generates personalized messages for each recipient. This can take a lot of the guesswork out of making contacts when reaching out to strangers isn’t your forte.
As a leader, I understand that today’s job candidates are looking for more than just a paycheck. They want a career that means something, and that they find fulfillment in doing each day. But in order to find that fulfillment, candidates should understand themselves and what they value in a role—and be using AI to help them do it.