Joseph Giacomin was recently featured on WWJ News Radio’s Murry Feldman report, discussing the latest insights from Re:Search’s spring 2023 edition. In today’s competitive job market, employers must recognize the value of ‘high demand’ employees and prioritize traits like work ethic and attitude that can’t be taught.
Listen to the podcast here.
THE HIGH DEMAND EMPLOYEE
When we are engaged by a client company to perform a search for a specific career position, we start off by conducting an in-depth intake conversation with the hiring authority and designated staff members. We want to ensure that we comprehend the specific job duties and preferred qualifications along with company history, product information, benefits, long-term opportunities, and the profiles of the contemporaries, subordinates, and superiors…as well as customers the candidate will need to interface with when in that position. It’s very important that we get this right …and deliver what will work best for our client.
Several key qualifications are important to hiring authorities: specifically, technical skills and a verifiable track record of success in their field along with education and insight into key markets or individual accounts. All are important in any hiring decision, but these specs are only the “cost of admission”.
Without question, every executive at every client company at some point in our conversation will offer similar comments. Yes, the hiring authority has a wish list for the ideal candidate … i.e., boxes to check… but what really strikes a chord are those special attributes that are not on any resume.
The client will often say: “I can train the candidate in this (product, system, customer, process) or that but I can’t give them a great attitude. I can’t train them to have a solid work ethic, to be enthusiastic, to have the right motive for wanting our company, to fit our culture – to be just plain smart. I’ll take those qualities over just about everything else.”
This, especially in 2023 is what “high demand” employees represent. Best suggestion: maintain an open mind when you’re exposed to what is often referred to as “Halo Effect” qualifications, and instead look for the attributes that you can’t train into a person.
Maintain an open mind when you’re exposed to what is often referred to as “Halo Effect” qualifications, and instead look for the attributes that you can’t train into a person.
Closing Comment:
When I was the Cleveland Branch Manager for a major company specializing in business products, I received a phone call from Terry, a recent college grad.
He was calling to schedule an interview for a sales position. I asked Terry, “Our company hasn’t advertised for a sales representative… why us?”
He replied, “I’ve been doing some research and have discovered you are in a major growth industry, so I opened the phone book and started calling companies in your industry. I called your main number and asked to speak with you.”
Impressed by his analysis, organization, and execution, I scheduled an interview and ultimately hired Terry. The qualities he displayed didn’t appear on his resume, but as any sales manager will agree, he was “high demand”.
