Fix Your Attitude For Success

At various conferences over the years, I’ve often heard hiring managers proclaim, “We hire for attitude and train for skills”. Yet when we then work with many of those same hiring managers, their laundry list of “must have’s” are a mile long and rarely do they include attitude. 

However, after 15 years in the recruiting business, we recently wrapped up a senior-level search with a Consumer Products company that followed through. During the search, there were 5 finalists. 4 of them checked all of the technical boxes perfectly, but the 5th got the job! He had plenty of the necessary skills, but lacked the top priority of the client.  So why did he get the job? It was all about attitude. 

It’s great to celebrate with a candidate that tells us we’ve made a difference – that we’ve helped them advance their career beyond what they could have done on their own, or that we’ve gotten them into a much healthier work environment. However, we also have the unenviable role in sharing the bad news with the candidates that don’t get the position. Unfortunately, there tends to be more bridesmaids than brides. So how can you become the one getting married?

Stop Minimizing the Hiring Manager’s Concern(s)

Let’s say, for example, that they would like somebody in the role that has experience using a specific software application. When presented with the question of whether you have experience with said software, most candidates that don’t have the experience will say so and then say they have experience with something else so it will be easy to learn something new. 

However, the candidate that stands out is the one that demonstrates the lengths they will go to in order to be successful. “You’re right, I don’t have experience with ABC software, but I have used this different tool. Knowing this was important to you, I reached out to 3 former colleagues of mine that have moved on to other companies that are using your tool. They indicated that the primary nuances between the 2 tools are X, Y, and Z and I’m prepared to do whatever is necessary to come up to speed on those nuances as quickly as possible.” See the difference?

Be Specific About the Value You Delivered in the Past

I often interview candidates that say they have reduced inventory, improved service levels, lowered forecast error, etc., but can’t back it up. 

One hiring manager put it to me this way: most candidates know “what” they do – they can list off a ton of bullets with all of their responsibilities, but the majority don’t know “why” they do it. The why is the value you bring to your organization. By improving forecast accuracy by 3%, for example, we were able to lower inventory by $1 million and improve service levels from 97% to 98.8%.

Only understanding what you do tells a hiring manager that you take good direction. Understanding why you do it will give the hiring manager confidence that you are ready to take on a bigger challenge.

Make Sure You Let the Company Know You Are Interested

It’s not uncommon for the most qualified candidate to lose out to others. We have had so many instances over the years where we felt one candidate was the best fit for the role only to see the company go with a different candidate. In the majority of those cases, the hiring manager validated that the original candidate was more “qualified”, but the other candidate was a better “fit”. 

Being qualified means checking the boxes; the candidate meets the requirements. Being a better fit means they meet many of the requirements AND they were able to connect with the interviewers. We had a building materials client hiring for a S&OP Manager role. We were convinced one candidate was going to get the role, yet a different one was selected. When debriefing with the VP of Human Resources to understand why, he said it was very simple. The first candidate left them feeling that the company would be better off by having him on the team, whereas the candidate that got the job helped the company understand why this was a good fit for the candidate and made sure they knew he wanted the job. 

Attitude may not be the only thing that gets you your next job, but it could certainly be the reason you don’t get it. In such a challenging job market, don’t let this be the reason you lose out.