A while back, Michael Hyatt shared a list of interview questions about leadership. These questions got me thinking. I’ll be sharing my thoughts in a series of posts here on my blog.
When faced with two equally-qualified candidates, how do you determine whom to hire?
When faced with a difficult decision – two equally qualified candidates – how do you decide which one to hire? I’d be remiss if I didn’t answer that the ultimate decision should come back to a values fit. Is there a cultural fit within the organization?
But let’s assume for a moment there is, because if there’s isn’t, you shouldn’t even be having this hard conversation. There’s nothing to weigh. Non-value fits should be thrown out immediately, at the beginning or whenever you discover the person’s not a fit.
So assuming they’re equally qualified and equally great culture fits for the organization, how would I make that decision? Quite simply, for me it comes back to passion. I look for the person who is the most passionate, the most excited, the most aggressive. I look for the person who wants the role, who shows a genuine, innate desire to perform at high levels.
Passion will help you get through the tough times. Passion helps when things get rocky. Passion will help motivate when you need to go the extra mile. Passion, above anything else I’ve seen, is the soft skill that can push somebody to be great and can push somebody to the next level of competence, to the next level in their career, to be an incredibly high performer.
How do you answer this? Faced with two candidates, equally qualified, how do you determine whom you’ll hire?