Ability and Compatibility

How do you hire people? Do you look into their resumes to find out that they have the right academic qualifications and an impeccable work history? Do you ask them a long list of imaginative questions and write down every answer?

Well, if you need to know, in my future hypothetical company people won’t be hired that way. Why? Let’s see.

What do academic qualifications mean? A lot of textbooks read and a lot of assignments written. Sure that’s good stuff but consider this: do the right academic qualifications mean that the prospective employee or manager would “do” the job?

I’ve seen so many times a disparity between qualifications and ability, unfortunately.

Now for the work experience: if it’s relevant it’s great but I consider that someone without any relevant work experience could do excellently if given the opportunity. Sometimes ability is disguised behind a poor work history. So, work history is not all.

Next, the long imaginative questionnaires. They’re interesting, but hiring someone on that basis is ludicrous because, if you’re smart, and I mean this, you could answer all questions right without being the right person for the job.

So, what would you do?

It’s simple. You should look for two crucial qualities: ability and compatibility.

Ability means that you can do the job and you’re probably the best at that. You may have all the right qualifications and experience and imaginative questionnaire answers, and this is the easy situation, or you may or may not have some of the above at all or to some degree.

You might then ask: “so, how can I know that someone is right for the job?”

My answer is: by feeling. You must talk a lot to the candidates, not only about work but about anything you fancy and then sense their style. You could interview him, not in an office, but in a garden if there’s one. Or you could take him to the pub. You could try to know about his life, his plans, his achievements and his failures, his passions, if any. Then judge by feeling.

Usually, capable people feel capable and others don’t, if you know what I mean, and you should look for such signs. Cumulatively, you could put him through some test job just to sense his style.

On the other hand, ability is not everything. There’s also compatibility.

The candidate must feel compatible with the boss and this with him, and at least also with some other critical co-workers. Compatibility is crucial because without it the mechanisms of work dynamics just don’t function. A new worker must be able to communicate with people easily and meaningfully. So, these people should also meet the candidate and talk freely to him to find out about compatibility with them and decide by feeling alone.

Such is hiring on the basis of ability and compatibility.