by Derek Oxley

Created on: January 11, 2011

Finding good employees takes patience a keen eye for talent and the ability to cast a wide net in any job market.  An excellent leader is constantly involved in succession planning and building a pipeline of talented individuals for her organization.  She is patient during the interview process and can afford to be because she is not pressed to making a hiring decision at the last  minute.  In most cases she may assign the phone screening to an assistant that is being grooming for the next level; this individual will assist in filtering through the applicants deserving of an interview.

An effective hiring manager will utilize a structured interview guide as a tool to rate all perspective candidates, she is well aware of her need, and the needs of her company-during the interview she is looking for a good fit.  Attitude, integrity, competence leadership and the ability to work well with others are top of mind during the interview.  The structured interview is designed to search for specific competencies.  

Listed below is a brief list of the top five qualities to look for during the interview process:

*Attitude

It will take more than a nice smile and a firm  handshake to wow a hiring manager, these traits are the price of admission.  During the interview she is looking for engagement, interaction, insightful questions and the preparedness of the candidate-did they do their homework on the company.  

*Integrity

The hiring manager will only have a small window to observe the candidates integrity because of their limited interactions.  But during that time she can observe if the candidate made commitments and followed through on them along with comparing facts and dates on the resume. 

*Competency

The old cliche talk is cheap is worth applying here, candidates have become adept at responding to questions-what a hiring manager should look for is content.  Intellect cannot be measured through communication, so do not be flattered by who well someone speaks-instead look at their body language, facial expressions and how well they respond to tuff questions.  As a hiring manager you want the good the  bad and the ugly upfront so don't be afraid to probe.  The candidate should be able to speak frankly about their failures and success, they should possess the ability to self analyze.

*Leadership

In their past role they should be able to speak to examples of where they led a team or project.  As a leader you want people on your team who possess the ability to think fast on their feet and make decisions.  At this point you're not looking for towering personalities like Winston Church Hill or Martin Luther King.  But you are interested in finding people who are ambitious, self motivated and not afraid to step up to the plate.

*Ability to work well with others

Gone are the days of the Lone Ranger, your candidate should have the ability to get along well with others.

Possessing these top 5 traits are a prerequisite, because the absence of them will weaken your organization.  You can always train the technical aspects of the job.  Once they make it through the interview process the first 30 days will be critical for you and your new employee.  Proper on boarding will set the employee up for success, assign training of the new employee with a top performer and keep close tabs on their progress.  Get them involved in projects quickly this will enable you to gauge how they interact with others.  Follow up weekly on their progress.  Following these guidelines and you will be on your way to transforming a good employee into a great one. 

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