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Overall, you try to find personalities that fit your organization/team, and the kinds of people who want to learn, want to improve, etc. (unless you're trying to change your organizational culture, then you pick personalities that work for that)
Skills can be taught. Personality cannot. Someone can be the most highly skilled person in the world, and they'll be worse for an organization if their personality is toxic than a lower skilled person with the right personality and fit. If someone is doing nothing but find excuses and complain, they won't get the job, regardless of their technical skills.
And no, I don't mean 'be drinking buddies' with co-workers, since that is how some people will misinterpret what I just said. If that's your reaction to reading what I said, you inherently don't understand how damaging certain personalities are to workplaces.
Overall, you try to find personalities that fit your organization/team, and the kinds of people who want to learn, want to improve, etc. (unless you're trying to change your organizational culture, then you pick personalities that work for that)
Skills can be taught. Personality cannot. Someone can be the most highly skilled person in the world, and they'll be worse for an organization if their personality is toxic than a lower skilled person with the right personality and fit. If someone is doing nothing but find excuses and complain, they won't get the job, regardless of their technical skills.
And no, I don't mean 'be drinking buddies' with co-workers, since that is how some people will misinterpret what I just said. If that's your reaction to reading what I said, you inherently don't understand how damaging certain personalities are to workplaces.
I remember a little excerpt from one of our VP's speeches at my first full-time job, when discussing progressive discipline and attrition:
"Is it a matter of skill, or is it a matter of will?" (False dichotomy)
"You can turn around a person's attitude, but you can't move the needle, in regards to competence, with remediation if four weeks of training has already proven to have little to no impact on them."
I completely agree. I see a disturbing trend in this country of catering to the lowest common denominator, and it's a trend that's going to result in the U.S. looking like the America in Idiocracy. I shudder to think of it.
Yes, rejecting the most qualified candidate and hiring one with a fraction of the job skills, because he had time proof-reading his 1-page resume. THAT is the lowest common denominator. IF you want to weed out "bad" people by looking for typos, then you are not achieving your goal, actually this is exactly counter productive. Most people have a typo or an untied shoe or something, and I guarantee it, that the highest performers are in this group. Being hung up on unimportant (not related to profit) things is something that unproductive people do all the time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed Ferris
It seems we're going round in circles here. If there IS an objective definition of "professional" in whatever job you are interviewing people for,
These days "professional" and "high performer" have no relation to each other. Professional is a word used to describe mediocre people who don't generate much revenue to their employee, but they do it professionally. "professional" is a burial of productivity.
#2 -- unprofessional appearance.
Is it a professional job? Banker, doctor, lawyer? If not, why do you think you have any right to say what an employee should wear? All too often, "unprofessional" is a code word for ageism and/or racism. Or the "they don't look like me so I won't hire them" attitude.
When hiring someone, if you are applying for any type of professional job, the employer will expect you to dress as a professional, not like you are applying for a job at the local garbage company as a garbage helper.
An old saying is still in use today.....If you want a future with a company, dress and grooming should be 2 levels above current job you hold or are applying for. That is the person that gets the job.
It's not an all or nothing situation. There's no reason you can't be good at your job And also be a good networker. That's who gets hired. It's not "one or the other." I don't want a perfect resume instead of talent. I want someone whose talent is reflected in their resume and professionalism.
There are very few jobs that are so demanding of "star quality" talent that you cannot do the other stuff well too.
While it's true there's no reason someone can't be both, that does not imply that a good networker is also good at their job. Nor does it imply that the best workers are also good networkers. Really it tells you nothing at all about someone's ability to do the job. You have to look beyond the personality to see if there is any "there" there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ddm2k
I agree with that. One big good ol' boys' club, with no room for productive employees, yes it sure can sink a ship. I don't find that the "good ol' boys" are hired into technical or production roles, though. They're more prevalent in roles where the only opinions are collective ones (marketing, management), and less where there is a definite rubber-meets-the-road accountability. Less apt to fail or get fired.
Usually even these hires aren't 100% out-of-the-loop airheads, they're "nominally qualified" candidates who know their way around, but may not be a "10X engineer" so to speak.
Unfortunately over my career I have seen that very change occurring. Where the good ol boys are being hired into senior technical jobs without the ability to do the job. Kind of a corollary to the "A's hire A's. B's hire C's" statement. Non technical people tend to avoid hiring smart technical people who can show them up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldtrader
When hiring someone, if you are applying for any type of professional job, the employer will expect you to dress as a professional, not like you are applying for a job at the local garbage company as a garbage helper.
An old saying is still in use today.....If you want a future with a company, dress and grooming should be 2 levels above current job you hold or are applying for. That is the person that gets the job.
False argument. No one is stating you can show up looking like you just came from the landfill. What they are saying is look at talents and abilities, not the suit.
We're also saying that talent And abilities AND a suit have a better chance in a job interview.
I don't infer one from the other. But this is a tight job market and you want to stand out... You need to assume that the other applicants are as talented as you are.
I guess I can turn it around, for viewpoint... What should I do? Are you suggesting that, given several resumes with similar qualifications, interview the least-prepared resume? Then, during the interview, wait for the worst dressed late arrival and hire them?
It will sometimes work out. But mostly - it won't.
OP --- Be honest. Will you hire people who aren't good looking, even though they come to the interview with a "professional appearance"? IOW, someone who isn't thin or beautiful/handsome?
There have been experiments where people get sent out to interview for jobs. Each group was dressed in the same outfits and had the exact same resume. One group has people who are good looking and thin. The other group has people who are overweight or homely or plain-looking. The result was that the good looking thin people often got hired on the spot and in some cases, were offered more money. Meanwhile, people from the other group were often lied to and told the job had been filled or were promised a call back.
Are you personally able to look past these things?
Beauty has it advantages in many aspects of life. That's undeniable and unavoidable. However, the ugly and fat need not despair on account of it. Lots of ugly people have jobs. Lots of fat people have jobs. Somebody must be hiring them- most likely because they have the necessary skills to do the job, as do at least some of the pretty people.
No compromising = no job, as some unemployed people are finding out.
I know the way of the world is moving towards ever-more-casual attire, but I really do not want people here in their dirty gym shorts, t-shirts with F-words on it and holes in it, with one dirty sock and no shoes. If you think wearing a pot-leaf-shirt, a speedo, and army-boots to an interview is the best way to show your respect to other human beings, feel free, but don't be surprised if there's some disagreement.
EVERYONE has a boss - and that is the customer. I cannot risk that your appearance turns them off. Can't risk it. Sorry.
Regarding the relationship between employers and employees - yes, it's a symbiotic thing, we need each other. But if you're jobless, you need me
a heck of a lot more than I need you. This is because there are 300 of you knocking on the door. You want to gamble your spot away to prove a point?
That neckties are classist? Suit (or unsuit?) yourself.
I wish that Whole Foods saw it that way. I can't tell you how many times I have had to strategically select a check-out line with avoidance of the cashier's disgusting facial piercings and distended earlobes in mind. Customers shouldn't have to look at that.
Beauty has it advantages in many aspects of life. That's undeniable and unavoidable. However, the ugly and fat need not despair on account of it. Lots of ugly people have jobs. Lots of fat people have jobs. Somebody must be hiring them- most likely because they have the necessary skills to do the job, as do at least some of the pretty people.
I hit both the ugly branch and fat branch on my way down from the tree, and one thing I can't complain about is my career. Whew!
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