Hire for Attitude

Have you ever hired someone with all the skills you needed? But did that person also have a poor attitude?

To echo Dr. Phil: “How’d that work out for you?”

Not well, we imagine.

That’s because if someone doesn’t have a positive, can-do, cooperative, determined, I’ll-work-to-get-along-with-everyone attitude, you can pretty much expect that either a) the person will leave because he or she doesn’t like working with you or b) you’ll fire the person because no one can stand working alongside the blowhard/curmudgeon/laze-about anymore.

You can teach someone job specific skills; teaching attitude is pretty much impossible. Read below for some interview questions you can use to help gauge a job candidate’s attitude.

• “Have you ever felt your skills were being overlooked? What did you do to rectify that?” This question gets to any entitlement outlook of an individual as well as how he or she related to the boss who was ignoring him or her.
• “Have you ever had a difference with a manager or coworker? If so, how did you handle it?” This will give you insight into whether or not a person takes responsibility for any differences he or she has with colleagues.
• “Tell me about a time you agreed to do something for someone when you weren’t sure you’d have the time. What happened?” This lets you know how dependable a person is and how hard he or she works to keep commitments.
• “Tell me about a time you had to pay attention to details. What was the situation? What was the outcome?” This gives you insight into how well someone feels about details – or is he or she a big-picture kind of person?
• “Tell me about two or three things that have happened to you at work that indicate that others trust you.” This gives you an idea of how trustworthy the individual is.
• “Tell me about a time when things were slow at work. What caused the situation and how did you handle it?” This will give you insight into how motivating or self-starting an individual may be.
• “Tell me about a time you worked as part of a team. What was your role in the team? Describe how your team worked, what you liked best about working with the team and what you liked least.” This gives you an idea into how comfortable someone is working on a team. Or is this person more of a lone wolf?

Have you ever hired for skill but neglected to check for attitude? Looking back on how well – or not—the hire turned out, would you have done the same thing if given the chance to go through the process again? Do you agree that it’s better to hire for attitude rather than skill?

If you’re looking for insurance professionals that are a good fit for your firm’s particular culture, discuss your needs with an Insurance Relief™ recruiter. We will take your “attitude” wishes and find a person who possesses them as well as the particular skills you need. Contact us today.