Why Hire for Attitude and Not Skill?

Posted by deekshamp on February 14th, 2019

You would have heard this term zillion times but practically very rarely this is practiced. I have interacted with hundreds of hiring managers or recruiters who are so focussed on the skills and experience of the candidates and they completely ignore the attitude piece. As a result, a lot of wrong hires happen. 

The main thing hiring managers look for in the candidates is the ATTITUDE! Attitude can include keenness for the job opportunities, ability to quickly learn, positive approach, smartness (or common sense) confidence, enthusiasm and ability to communicate and articulate. As long as the candidate has 3-4 attributes from this list, the candidate will turn out to be a right hire. If the candidate does not have a particular skill but has demonstrated experience of learning / picking up some skill; it should be ok.

Once, I sent a candidate for a ‘Manual Testing’ position having ‘Automation Testing’ Experience. I knew the hiring manager and told him that I am sending you a candidate who does not have ‘Manual Testing’ Experience but has the right attitude and hence requesting for an interview. Hiring Manager agreed and interviewed the candidate. The result was that candidate was hired and successfully worked/performed for the role for over three years. And, this happened with a Fortune 100 company.

I have personally hired dozens of candidates who did not have the required experience/skill but had the right attitude. In most cases, candidates outperformed other people having the required skills/experience.

Additionally, another attribute that generally works well is the ‘need for a job’. Mostly, candidates having the strong need for a job gets all other attributes together and perform beyond expectations.

So, look for the right attitude and not just the keywords based on skills/experience.

Happy Recruiting.

http://www.thetalentgps.com/blog/why-hire-for-attitude-and-not-skill/