ADD talents, not Skills, to Your Team

ADD talents, not Skills, to Your Team

Richard Sheridan Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
I used to hIRE the all in our industry hired:skills, skills, skills. One day a interview candidate threw cold water in my face, figura-tively, and it changed me.
I was looking to add a new hero to my team, someone with years of Microsoft experience. Looking over Bill's resume, I could tell he is perfect for the posi-tion. He had over six years of experience in all the relevant skills. If I could hits the right price point, this is going to being easy.
Bill came in for the interview. We talked and I described the projects we had on tap, and what a perfect fit Bill is for this position. I was sure this is going well. Suddenly, I realized I wasn ' t going to get him. I stopped the interview in Mid-stream and asked Bill, what had happened. I told him he is perfect for the position and that I sensed he wasn ' t coming.
His response is, "Rich, if I wanted to does what I ' ve been doing the last six years, I ' d stay where I am." I heard had some cool, new Java projects coming up and I wanted to work here because I saw it as a chance to learn and Grow. "
That's when it dawned on me. Hiring by running a "resume versus skills" match is the stupidest-a-manager could ever build a team.
You see, my partners and I got into the high-tech industry because we wanted to being at the leading edge of technology. None of us hoped to spend a career recycling the same skills we learned in college. We got into the this game because it would all is about new frontiers and learning new techniques and technologies.
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??????????????? But somewhere along the things went horribly wrong. I realized we had stopped investing in our employees ' growth. We weren ' t looking for fresh, new talent. We were looking for very specific, already refined, skills. Now, I-tell people so if they see a employer hiring for a exact skill match, what's employer is really saying is, " We don ' t plan to invest in. "
My advice to anyone seeking to build a strong team are to hire for talents, not for skills. What talents does I look for when hiring technologists for my agile development teams? Good Kindergarten Skills:
? Does the candidates get along well with others?
? Do they play nice?
? Does they put their things away when they has finished playing?
? Is they excited about new things?
? Does they like learning?
I can teach skills. In fact, with our Agile team environment, learning technology are fast and easy. However, it's nearly impossible to teach a adult how-to-play nice.
Hiring for talents, isn't for skills, is a radically different the to build a team. However, I want to work with those who is poised to move enthusiastically beside me into exciting, new future technology.

Add talents, not Skills, to Your Team