Page 132 - Boost Your Hiring

118 Boost Your Hiring IQ

strong hiring decision, you must have a complete picture of your candi-
dates, and that includes asking questions to learn about their transfer-
able skills and personal traits.
These other skills are often referred to as the soft skills. But very
often it is these skills that turn out to be the most important part of the
job performance.
Sometimes the right person has a great attitude and strong abilities in
communication, flexibility, problem solving, and interpersonal skills,
but lacks some of the requirements of the job. You might want to take a
good look at this person before you cross him or her off your list. Con-
sider first whether this person can be taught some of the knowledge-
based skills. It is not uncommon for a hiring manager to say,“Find me
the right person, and we will train that person for the position.”

Transferable skills—Skills that are portable and can be used on al-
most any job. Examples include communication, listening ability,
decision-making ability, judgment, initiative, negotiation, plan-
ning, organizing, time management, and some leadership skills.

Not to be overlooked are candidates’ personal traits. These are those
characteristics that make them unique, or who they are. Even though
employers would like to change these skills in some people, they really
can’t easily be taught. A person’s personal traits are inherent or acquired
through life experiences.
When making hiring decisions, two important questions to ask are
1. Can he do the job?
2. Do we like her; will she fit in?

Personal traits can sometimes be the tiebreaker between two equally
qualified candidates.

Personal traits: Qualities that make up a person’s personality.
These include flexibility, integrity, friendliness, dependability, de-
cisiveness, reliability, calmness, high energy, patience, good atti-
tude, adaptability, and orientation to details.