It is the Character that the Recruiter is looking for!
By eileen in Recruiter's Thoughts | 6 comments
Eileen, a seasoned recruiter in executive search industry in northern region of Malaysia, a MBA holder specialized in HR Management. She started her career as a Personal Assistant in F&B industry and because of her gifted people skills, she at last found her way into recruitment industry. She has interviewed countless candidates from fresh to managerial level, her sharing is definitely worth reading.
The appearance of a person including the skills and talents that are evident in work produced or performance given is only about twenty percent of who the person really is. What is beneath is far greater and more important part of a person of which is the character of a person.
In my line of industry (recruitment & executive search firm), I’ve seen and interviewed quite a number of talents of which is still lacking of the ‘character’. Talent plus charisma plus accomplishment without character is a dangerous combination as you must be the prime architect of your own character refinement.
As a recruiter, we are constantly looking out for talents with ‘character’. All of us are born with special talent of which is an unique skill. Some may have the ear for the music while there are those who have the talent for drawing, etc. However, all these talented candidates’ are not short-listed or hired mainly because they do not have the ‘character’ that the interviewer is looking for… or the candidates have yet to discover their talents to pursue with the suitable career path.
A lot of times, most talents are not short-listed at our end from the start as they do not possess the ‘character’ at all. Now, the ‘character’ we mainly looking at is the candidate’s punctuality, responsibility, honesty and willing to work as a team member. If you are late for an interview with valid reasons, normally, the interviewer is human enough to excuse as long as the candidate has the courtesy to call earlier and inform accordingly.
Some other cases I’ve encountered are candidates are not even professional enough to answer our calls after interview arrangement or attended the interview. From my guess, it’s either that they have found a better job or the current company counter offered them and they use the offer from another company as a bait to get their salary increment. The question is, how many times can you be using the same tricks to get an increment if the company counter offered you? And how much do you think that the company values your contribution and only make increment after you are offered by another company? Of course there are exceptions to some of the candidates and company of which given reasonable reason, the recruitment agency and the possible future company will understand. As said, do be honest and upfront with us with your reasons and the world is very small (especially in Penang) and you wouldn’t want to end up spoiling your own reputation in your future career path. Bottom line, we just expect you to be honest with us and let us know if you decided to decline the offer- that’s it!
During our years of studies, we were taught complex formulas and exams but not how to be a person of character. Character was never even mentioned in the list of ‘ingredient of success’. Thousands of book line our library and bookstore shelves, telling us how to sell, negotiate, manage and communicate. Degrees and diplomas are readily available in computer science, accounting, finance, medicine and law. There are even courses and classes about how to dress for success, speak publicly, design resume, attend interviews and set goals. However, without character under girding these important skills and abilities, we can end up with a surface success that breaks down at the first sign of pressure or stress.
Character begins with what you think. Character is rooted in daily habits, including habits of thinking and is a summation of how we think and act day in and day out, over years and decades. Character is another word for long-term thinking and long term habits! Skills, personality, driving motivation and talent may get you to the top, but it is character that will keep you there.
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PK | Nov 1, 2007 | Reply
U must have an uncanny ability to know a character of a person, just by meeting up once.
Will that require more than just paper qualification, testimonials, referees, punctuality.. ?
How about a gifted sense of ‘i know this guy has it’?
Once in KL there was a guy (prospective hirer) who could tell i dont have it in a sit-in, one-off interview session.
Interestingly, how he found out was simply by way of a forth-telling ‘ i dont know ‘ answer which i gave in reply to his requirement.
and what was his requirement ?
he told me the answer he had looked for, was that ” i want my guy (potential candidate) to cheat.. ”
i was rather surprised to hear that. For once in my life i did not know one could bull his way thru academia like the way with an IQ test. and i wasnt even tested on IQ but electronic questions (calculations, gates, switches, circuits..)
i could essay a write-up but to put down numerical figures on boxes??
i told him flatly,
Mister, i am years into working as a Mechanical engineer; & i no longer have it on my finger tips to work out EE questions like in an exam setting.
Didnt the hirer have Mechanical test paper for interviewees??
But he was adamant i should ‘ at least put down something ‘ so he could call it job done and hand over to his superior..
at the end, i saved myself the embarassment of putting in nonsense for the calculations i didnot know, & handed back the blank sheets to him.
i was jaw-dropped and rather spurned out of this planet from that encounter.
to this day it is monumental prime example to me of how screening process can occur, looking for that illusive Character in a person.
What he really wanted :
I had a hunch he needed the Right Guy who could stand up and fight well in the competitive world; lead the team and meander thru the thick and thin of customer whims and fancy.
And the one vital element in the characteristic make-up of this Right Guy is to be able to twist turn and bend over..
Can u really tell character?
the embedded ingredients that will lead to success down the road, the right stuff for the making of a good employee?
Some achievers I knew didn’t even have it in the infant days when they first got in, while others who seemed to have something up the sleeve went on in mediocrity over time.
What happened? Something not accurately detected in the screening process? Perhaps something on the Art of Telling a Character will be educational to us all.
i hold my belief there’s an element of hit-&-miss, shot in the dark, one in million kind of thing to it.
‘ long distance shows the true strength of a horse, time will reveal the character of an individual ‘ ~chinese saying.
eileen | Nov 1, 2007 | Reply
I agree with you PK that time will tell one’s character. It is indeed very hard to tell someone’s character through the interview but we can only minimize the risk by running personality test and sometimes through our guts feeling.
As i mentioned, you may cheat your way through interview or into a job, but how long can you stay ? And can you succeed in that particular job? But if you have the character, in long run, you’ll be successful and even if you don’t perform well at the start.
If the basic elements of character like being punctual for interview is not even practiced, it has already said something about the person.
Therefore, as per earlier article by Jason, we often mis-judge people, but a person’s character will tell in the long run.
Zul | Nov 2, 2007 | Reply
A wise thought indeed. Our character exhibits our manners and ethics. Without character, we are deprived of both. And without it we will realize we are at rock bottom before we even know it.
Teresa | Nov 2, 2007 | Reply
Hi PK,
From your very lengthy comments, suggest you can even contribute an article. Look fwd to your contribution.
Agree that it is indeed not easy to know the entire character of a person, but certain basic ones as highlighted by Eileen like punctuality, courtesy etc. should be even evident during interview.
Indeed. it is the attitude(character) that determines the altitude(success) of a person’s life and not the apptitude entirely!
AL | Nov 5, 2007 | Reply
i agree with u Teresa,PK u should come out with some valuable experience to share with us.
hope to see your acticles soon..