Adjectives to Look for in Quality Candidates

Summary: An HR professional has a tough enough time trying to determine the good from the bad candidates, so follow these tips to make your job easier in finding the good hires.

Conducting interviews is difficult. There is no way around that. You are supposed to learn all you can about a candidate’s personality and work ethic in a short amount of time. Resumes and cover letters can be deceitful and fluffed up with exaggerated titles and job descriptions. Getting to the root of the qualifications of a candidate can be tricky, but there are key things to look for in a resume to know who is self-motivated, trustworthy, and honest.

Managing partner at Baystate Financial in Boston, Dave Porter, runs a company that makes recruiters and managers fully responsible for the type of employees they bring to the company. His suggestion for determining if a candidate is worthwhile or not is to ask them to describe their character during an interview.

Listen for these five words (or ones very similar):

• Honest
• Respectful
• Accountable
• Curious
• Punctual

His other suggestion is to ask a candidate “When have you made a decision that you are proud of – when no one was looking?” Candidates that take a while to answer or come up with a strange story will not be a good fit for your company. Those with integrity should have little problem coming up with something they have done.

When you ask the first question and the candidate responds with adjectives like fun, laid back, or carefree, then you have been warned. While these are not necessarily bad qualities, if they accompany an “all-about-me” attitude then they can cause problems.

Source: http://www.hrmorning.com/5-adjectives-you-want-to-hear-job-candidates-say/

Photo: talentculture.com