What Hiring Managers Want

August 18 2004 - Hiring managers value teamwork even higher than other personal qualities such as ambition and the ability to think on their feet, according to a new study from Development Dimensions International (DDI), a global human resource consulting firm.

The survey of 1,515 hiring managers investigated their experiences when interviewing, evaluating and hiring employees. 75% of hiring managers in the study were looking for employees who were compatible in a team setting but only 20% looked for employees with ambition.

"In today's working environment, very little is accomplished without strong collaboration," said Scott Erker, DDI's vice president of selection solutions. "Overly ambitious hires will often only look out for themselves, which can harm team productivity and morale."

Other findings included:

* In an interview, clear communication can outweigh tardiness.

57% of respondents would be turned off by inarticulate candidates or those who were vague about previous experience, compared with the 15% of hiring managers turned off by candidates who were late to the interview or lacked knowledge about the company.

"Hiring managers don't want to train people to communicate," Erker said. "If candidates are vague communicators in the interview, chances are they will be vague communicators in their jobs as well. It also indicates that they may be trying to hide something about past performance."

* Hiring managers are still interested in employees who have been out of work for more than a year -- but with reservations.

85 percent of respondents said they would hire a candidate who had been out of work but most noted that they would find out why the person had been out of work and how they had been spending their time off. According to Erker, "No one wants to hire a lemon." Hiring managers need to ask more questions to determine the candidate's motivation or to detect indications that the candidate is counterproductive.

* Internal pressure can leads to hiring mistakes.

Just over a third (34%) of respondents said they made a bad hiring decision because of pressure to fill the position. "The cost of a bad hire is much higher than the cost of leaving the role open for a few more weeks," according to Erker. "Develop and follow a consistent hiring procedure. Don't rely solely on your gut, which hiring managers often do when they are in a hurry. You can accelerate the process to save time, but don't skip steps."