There is very little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. –W. Clement Stone
The list of desirable attributes in job candidates is as long as your arm. There’s exactly how their qualifications match the requirements in the job posting. There’s education, years of experience, self-development activities, and foreign language fluency.
Then there are “soft” characteristics, a list that scrolls your entire height. These may include ambition, team spirit, cooperativeness, creativity, ability to learn quickly, sense of humor, mechanical aptitude, ability to carry a tune, cheerfulness, energy, and more.
But what is the one most important trait to look for in job candidates?
Many experts identify that one trait as self-motivation. It’s the attitude that counts most.
Employees can be trained to improve a skill. However, this training is most effective when employees are highly motivated to master the skill.
We give lots of lip-service to “passion,” but what do we mean by this? If it’s a diffused expression of enthusiasm that is supposed to sound good in interviews but is not pinned down to an intended course of action, the word may not mean much of anything at all.
Interviewing for self-motivation requires an experienced, sensitive ear that can filter out the rehearsed and the insincere. Job applicants are wise to how interviewing works; they are often sharper than those who are doing the interview.
They have bought the books and read the websites that supply sample interview questions and “right” answers. They have brainstormed and practiced, strategized, and rehearsed.
They already know “why did you leave your last job” and “where do you see yourself in five years” and “tell me about yourself” and “what is your biggest weakness?”
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To evaluate self-motivation, the interviewer must be prepared with effective questions. The typical, oft-published inquiries don’t cut it.
Try for open-ended questions that don’t give away the answer you are looking for, and that does not sound anything like what the applicant has practiced in advance.
Here are some questions to kick-start your creativity:
In reading these questions, you’ll note two things. First, many of them ask Why? It’s not enough to ask the first question. You want to delve deeper with follow-up questions.
Second, some of these questions are similar to each other. That’s OK. Sometimes the applicant will restate the previous answer; at other times, he’ll go in an entirely different direction. Duplicative questions are a way to explore a topic more deeply.
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In today’s job market, there are many applicants for most jobs. At the same time, job qualifications have become more exacting and exhaustive. It’s more difficult to find applicants who hit every mark. Furthermore, many of the stars already have good jobs and are therefore harder to recruit.
If you interview for self-motivation, the most essential “soft” job skill, you improve your odds of finding a tremendous performer even if their technical qualifications are not an ideal match.