Just read a terrific interview in The New York Times Business Day page. The interview was with Robin D. Richards, leader of the Career Arc Group. Here is the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/27/business/robin-richards-of-careerarc-on-respecting-employees.html
I truly liked Robin’s answer to the question, how do you hire?
“We try to hire nice people, kind people. Kind people matter. One, it’s a nicer place to work, and two, I think people who are kind tend to play on teams much better.
When I talk to them at the start of the interview, I say: “You must be very good, and here’s how we’re going to start. You have a choice about where you work, so you get to interview me and make sure that I’m the kind of guy you want to work with. I’m going to tell you about our company and tell you about the culture and my expectations, and you need to understand that we don’t waver from it. If you don’t fit our culture, you won’t be here.” So I let them ask a lot of questions.
I also look for strivers — people who, for whatever reason, feel they weren’t given the opportunity to accomplish what they think they were capable of. That’s a trait I want in everybody, so that until they met us, nobody really understood how good they were. I also ask them who the most important person is in their life. I’m trying to find people who build close connections, because relationships are the reason businesses win.”
Never directly thought about the “kind” and “striving” considerations before but it makes perfect sense as candidate attributes worth listening for.
