Candidate Qualities: What Are Organizations Looking For?

When you walk into an organization, what do you bring to the table?

That's the million dollar question for an organization that's considering getting you on board. While the answer to the question might be fairly clear for a middle management to senior level position, it is quite the opposite when it comes to the junior level for obvious reasons. Most big organizations have become as big as they have because of their insistence on quality talent. This quality is overall two fold: technical qualities and behavioural qualities.

Now, the technical qualities correspond to your actual job skills; the technical know-how of how to do your job based on your educational qualifications or experience or both. This obviously is the primary prerequisite to you being even normally considered for the job.

But increasingly, more and more organizations are placing a healthy premium on the 'behavioural fit' of a potential candidate as well. Google Inc is a case in point. At Google, the interview process is quite intensive and the cultural or behavioural fit component plays a role as important as the technical job skills and knowledge in the final 'yes' or no'. Globally, organizations are finding ways to better utilize the multiple rounds of interviews that potential candidates are subjected to, to access their cultural fit. This cultural fit has nothing to do with sex, caste, religion etc. It is about the candidates' ability to adopt him/herself to the organization's work culture and ethos and to seamlessly integrate him/herself into the team that he/she is part of.

I have seen and heard about numerous cases of talented individuals being fired or shunted out of organizations because they could never align themselves to the work culture. In some cases theirs was a very disruptive influence/presence and was seen to result in lowered productivity.

Any aspiring professional would be well advised to watch the 'The Apprentice' series which features the flamboyant Donald Trump, one of America's finest business minds. The series, though perhaps subtly dramatized for prime time television audiences, offers a dynamic example of how seemingly talented individuals with immense potential, can instead of being stalwarts of their teams or units, be huge liabilities for their colleagues.

It is thus imperative to put your best foot forward not just while showcasing your technical acumen, but also your ability to be a 'total fit' into the organization.

Watch out for part 2 of this article to learn more....