70% of the job opportunities are never advertised.

We know this happens, but why? Hiring managers often prefer known, trusted individuals over unknown interview candidates. Direct hiring is seen as less risky.

Direct hires have pre-validated attitudes, skills and experience.

Let's explore the 3 core traits that candidates bring to any job.

Trait 1: The Current Skills

Our technology, tools and knowledge are evolving constantly.

The skills people have today will be obsolete tomorrow. People must regularly learn new skills. Hiring skilled people is less important that creating a culture of learning in your team.

If you have an urgent need for a skill, consider short-term contracts over long-term hiring.

The best hire I ever made was a DB Developer that didn't know about databases. We sent him for training and within 6 months, he was a top performer in the company.

Trait 2: The Past Experience

What you've achieved in the past is not guarantee for the future.

Every new role, job and company brings unique challenges. We can draw from our past experience to seek ideas and experiments for the new context.

Experience is valuable, but acquiring it is a matter of time.

Ensure people's experience doesn't close minds but keeps them open to new ideas and learning.

Trait 3: The Person's Attitude - This is the key one

Attitude is your unique workplace trait.

The best performing teams become something bigger than their individual contributions. The attitude people bring to the job is a key element of how successful people are. It's fundamental to have a diverse set of people that make positive contributions.

Our approach to work and our attitude are something intrinsic that is hard to change.

Another great hire was a recent graduate with an infectious positive attitude. Her laughter would fill the entire work space and lift people up.

Don't Ever Hire Brilliant Jerks

Never underestimate the long-term damage that one bad hire can cause.

Interviews offer only a brief artificial glimpse of the candidate. Pay extra attention about their attitude and remember that during an interview people can show a fictional persona that is not what they will eventually be at work.

Don't hire a candidate you are not 100% sure you can bring to your organisation.

Use the 3-6 month probation period as the real interview to evaluate attitude, skills and experience of the new hires.