There are many factors that can make a candidate stand out against the competition.
Making a good first impression opens doors to getting a call back and eventually leading to that final handshake and the longed-for, “Welcome aboard!”
Below is a list of notable traits recruiters and hiring managers look for aside from a list of skills required to do the job.
1.) Communication Skills
Being able to convey what you can do for a potential employer is just as crucial as having the skill-set it takes to get the job done.
Do you want to watch a non-technical person’s eyes glaze over? Talk to them using technical acronyms or begin describing a technology’s features instead of its business benefits. The problem with this scenario is that the business users are the people you are trying to support. As a result, the lack of communication that relates to them may affect whether a follow-up call or interview request comes in.
2.) Ability to Learn
The technology industry is constantly changing. Hardware and software vendors continually upgrade their products. As new IT mega-trends appear, they become the primary industry workhorse, eventually fading away as an out-of-date legacy. Hiring managers look for situations when the candidate was able to adapt to change along with their employer’s technology. Because of these changes, the tools of your profession are continually changing as well.
3.) Team Players
To go fast, travel alone. To travel far, journey with others. A profession spans many years and is similar to a marathon, not a sprint. Like the aforementioned African proverb, being a team player and an ethical employee far outweighs the advances gained by unsportsmanlike conduct. Team players work together to make a company move forward and grow; employees who take single-success credits create successes for themselves that could have benefited their entire colleague environment had they shared their developments and taken additional assistance to develop on existing ideas.
4.) Employees Who See Problems as Learning Opportunities
Ideally, technology and business processes run smoothly hand in hand. While everyone does their utmost to reach this state, the inevitable setback in trying to fully manipulate technology happens. There is great value in viewing issues as opportunities to learn more about technology and how to use it effectively. Over time, your willingness and ability to fix production problems combined with the deep insights these experiences bring can truly make you a the go-to person when issues arise.
5.) Lovers of the Craft
When a person is doing something that they truly enjoy, their work ethic and enthusiasm becomes contagious. People can feel it and want to be involved and get swept up in the experience. This can be your boss, your peer, a client, or staff. When you do something you love, you do it better. This shows in the quality of your work, your commitment to the task, and your willingness to take on challenging assignments. Candidates who are truly passionate of technology and who see it more as a craft are desirable more so than a candidate who possesses the technical skills to get the job done. In general, employees who show love for their role are more likely to communicate their difficulties once on the job, these are the same employees who will take on the task of learning to do something new in order to have a more successful approach to do their job. They are the same people who will want to include their colleagues to have a greater impact in the overall success of the company and will overcome obstacles with a new skill-set in the process. It is through the demonstration of these traits that interviewers are able to identify the candidates that are more likely to invest themselves in the growth of the company.
