How to judge Passion, Pro-activeness and Persistence in a Candidate?
Assuming Candidate possess the required technical skills and competencies; is also a good communicator, then it usually boils down to three key characteristics as regards taking a final hiring decision. Most of the times the hiring manager looks for these parameters in a Candidate.
They are Passion, Pro-activeness, and Persistence. How can Recruiters judge this on the phone? Well by asking the right questions. Giving below one simple question for each of these traits:
Passion
“Tell me one thing about your job that you obsessively love doing?”
Irrespective the area he/she mentions is relevant in the current job or not, the fact that the Candidate had something to say shows he is passionate about something. This trait itself will help him/her succeed in a new job.
Proactive
“Would you call yourself Accountable or Responsible and why?”
Look for accountability. It is only when someone feels accountable that they are proactive to do things to ensure risks are managed before they impact or opportunities are grabbed/identified for the company.
Persistence
“Describe one goal that you took the longest to achieve and why it took longer?”
Most good things take time to accomplish. If someone has consistently pursued the goal in spite of obstacles, it shows persistence.While there would be good answers to all of the above from the Candidates, it is now your (Recruiter’s) ability to judge who was genuine and who was not.
Hope the above questions would have inspired to try your own experiments.
