by Regi Publico

The best asset any company can have is their employees. Therefore, the job of a HR practitioner cannot be taken lightly as they are the ones who are sifting through countless resumes and assessing candidates who will largely impact how the company will fare moving forward. Ample time must be taken during the hiring process in order to get the right person for the business.

There is certainly no easy way in hiring the best and brightest especially with the competitive job market at present. It is crucial to be able to recognize more outstanding ones to the average applicants by examining their different soft skills. While it is tempting to simply hire the first person who meets all the requirements, taking the time to intently talk with the applicants and understand their personalities will be helpful in the long run. Some of the important characteristics that you should look for in a good candidate are as follows:

Adaptable

One of the hard truths that the pandemic has made businesses grasp is nothing will ever be certain. There would be constant risks that could leave the management with no choice but to re-calibrate plans or restructure the workforce.

Finding someone who is willing to take on new tasks or challenges will be an advantage to the business especially with how industries are muddling through nowadays. You want to seriously consider applicants who are open to fresh ideas and are comfortable with remote working while also keeping the drive to develop new skills when necessary.

They will most likely be retained for a long time since they are capable of blending in and addressing various demands. Those who have advanced degrees and are flexible gigsters

are good indicators that they keep challenging themselves. They are basically survivors who trust themselves enough that they are not afraid of uncertainty.

Takes initiative

With the several changes that could happen at work, you will want to hire someone who doesn’t wait for things to be spoon fed to them. They must have a curious mind, unafraid to ask questions because only then when they can truly learn.

This trait also tells you that they are confident when it comes to their abilities and their capability to carry themselves which is important in building good rapport with others.

When a person is self-assured and unafraid to make mistakes, they are often willing to go the extra mile to help to their colleagues as well since they know how it’s like to figure things out on their own.

Their vibrant attitude could foster a productive working environment, keeping their enthusiasm and aiming to always do better. For them, work is just work and thus they wouldn’t be hesitant to discuss points of improvement as a team without letting relationships turn sour.

They will surely be appreciated for their upbeat and honest outlook that delivers good results.

Strong work ethic

Hiring employees who have ambition and know how to identify SMART goals can drive a company's growth with their chutzpah.

When they are driven to make things work for themselves, it would be safe to say that they will do whatever it takes for their team to meet KPIs.

Work ethic indicators can be noticed during interviews when they talk about the trials they’ve conquered just to beat a deadline or to make a project successful. It is almost certain that they are highly productive team players who can even utilize time-off productively.

You can always check with their character references to see whether they’re being honest. These are the kind of employees who will motivate themselves to accomplish any set goals which could also inspire other team members.

The bottom line is, they are true to their word mainly because they want to prove they can to themselves and take pride in it. Further, it is easy to deal with simple and no-nonsense employees like them. It will be no surprise if they do wonders for the company.

Good communicator

Being able to articulate ideas is an essential skill any job candidate must hone. Those who can communicate effectively with different people are top employees who can contribute to the overall efficiency of operations.

It is also important to note that good communicators do not only excel in written and verbal communication but also listen well so that they can accurately follow directions.

There are a number of ways to gauge their abilities such as exchanging emails, talking on the phone and in person where body language can be assessed too.

Hiring candidates with impressive communication styles can help in further molding the company culture aside from the fact that they can easily fit in.

These are only a few traits of what makes a good candidate, but don’t really cover the totality of their capabilities.

Remember that impressions matter so it’d be best to trust your gut as well when you are engaging with them.

We particularly zoomed into soft skills this time since personality cannot be taught unlike the technical know-how they can learn while doing the job.

Keep this in mind when hiring and do not rush. A single person can make a huge difference

Regi Publico is a full-time writer based in Manila who is also an artist for fun. She takes pride in her towering collection of books and loves reading about anything under the sun. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge through every article that she writes.