When a candidate walks into the room, there is one key question in my head: “What sort of a person are they?”
Executive Recruiters meet the best people that our industries have to offer. We have the pleasure of helping them make the next step in their careers. With a good few years of experience behind me, I can confidently state one thing: Personality is the defining characteristic that separates the successful from the superstars.
Roughly speaking, recruiters assess for four professional characteristics: skill, achievements, experience and personality. The first three are easy to gauge even from a well-written CV, the fourth is evident on the walk into the interview room.
When I say “on the walk into the room”, that is exactly what I mean. You can tell in the first few seconds that a person has a certain “je ne sais quoi.”
There is an immediate likeability to the person, and the room feels a few degrees warmer all of a sudden. They are able to make total strangers feel at ease and even before they have opened their mouth, you feel that they have an engaging story to tell. In terms of any of the sixteen Myers Briggs personality types, they might be architects, visionaries, commanders, champions, dynamos or masterminds, but the key to someone with true “personality” is that they live it with all their being.
They are genuine and consistent in their actions, words and deeds. You believe that they care about you, or that they would lead their team into battle, or that they would wrestle with a problem until they solved it, or that they could build something impossible.
They are the “go-to” people in any business. Clients love them, their teams worship them, and colleagues value their support. They are bigger than the brands they work for, and they play a huge part in their company’s success.
That is why I believe personality is so important when you are making a new hire. From the caretaker to the CEO – it is critical!
I have grown my recruitment company from humble beginnings into a successful business. How did I do it? By filling my ranks with larger than life skilled personalities. The types of people that clients love. The types of people that candidates trust. The types of people that go the extra mile and never give up until the job has been done. That is what works for my business. It makes life interesting sometimes, but it definitely works.
In turn, we then get to know our clients – we get to know their personalities, and we care deeply about what works for their respective businesses. If they need a visionary, we will find them. If they need an architect, we know what to look for. If they need a craftsman, we know where they live.
Of course, we will never disregard the skills, experience and achievements of our candidates. They are a vital part of the recruitment jigsaw. However, when we hire primarily for personality, our candidates stay longer, get promoted faster and are happier in their roles. Keep in mind this is about your professional personality, its part of your DNA, don't be afraid to show it.
That question is never far from our lips: “What sort of person are they?”