5 Personality Traits To Look For In A New Hire

“Hiring the right people takes time, the right questions and a healthy dose of curiosity. What do you think is the most important factor when building your team? For us, it’s personality.” – Richard Branson

Certain qualities are more important than others in the workplace and you can usually pick up on these during an interview. So, next time you’re considering taking on a new hire, here are 5 personality traits to keep an eye out for to ensure you get the best person for the job:

Proactive

The best thing you can do for your business is to hire employees who are enthusiastic about their work. Employees with a proactive stance usually go above and beyond the call of duty, bringing in fresh ideas that will benefit the company.

Although it’s a little tough to recognise this trait during an interview, one good indication of it is if the candidate shows that they did more research about the company beyond the standard stuff they’d need to know for an interview. For example, if they come in with suggestions to improve a project your company recently announced.

Team player

While individual performance is vital, it’s important to know whether your employees can work well together as a team. That trait often comes in handy for big projects where workers from different departments have to collaborate to make it a success

You can identify a good team player during an interview by asking behavioral interview questions that relate to teamwork, such as an example of how they dealt with difficult co-workers or past experience working with a team.

Attentive

Whether your new employee will only interact with their co-workers or with clients as well, it’s important for them to be good listeners. It’s a trait that helps build positive relationships that translate to a great work environment and better experiences for your clients that will encourage them to return.

You can usually tell if a person isn’t attentive if they tend to talk over others or constantly interrupt you during the interview. Their answers to certain questions will also indicate whether they were paying attention and have good comprehension skills.

Positive

Positivity leads to success in many things, from life in general to work and personal relationships. A positive attitude usually indicates that the person can take on any challenge and survive it. Even in the face of failure, they’ll be able to look on the bright side, pick themselves up, and try again.

That kind of resilience is beneficial in the workplace where things aren’t always so rosy and a positive attitude can be the difference between your company sinking or sailing through the troubled times. The trait is reflected in the way the candidate talks about themselves or others during the interview. For example, if they only have bad things to say about their former job or employer, that could point to a problematic attitude.

Humble

Showing humility in the workplace fosters respect among employees, which builds good relationships. Humble people are usually open to learning new things and accepting corrections where they’ve gone wrong or asking for help when they need it.

Humility also comes in handy during team exercises as employees who aren’t egotistical cooperate easily with others, which boosts the company

Don’t hire anyone you wouldn’t want to run into in the hallway at three in the morning.” – Tina Fey