Recently I’ve gotten a number of questions about what managers are looking for when they hire a new employee. I’ve found that I have a general theme in my answers that I want to share.
I recruit employees and interns for other managers, and I also recruit new employees and interns to work under me. It’s something that I’ve gained a fair amount of experience in over the past two years.
In my opinion, hiring and integrating a new employee is the single most important, and most complex, action a manager will ever take. You get it right, and your team can reap the benefits for years, if not decades. If you get it wrong, you expose your team to not only a potential negative influence, but, if the employee is particularly irresponsbile, you may find yourself on the wrong end of a lawsuit or Congressional investigation, and the possible end of your career.
Hiring a new employee is a very high-stakes affair.
Just think about that for a moment when you are applying for a new job. Just imagine the risk that the hiring manager would be taking on by hiring you. And also imagine all the effort that went into even giving you that interview. In many organizations, and particularly in the U.S. Federal Government, the hiring process can be a very lengthy and challenging process. It takes a certain amount of dedication to even create the job opening to begin with. You should have a certain amount of respect for the people who created that opening for you.
But many applicants don’t. They treat a new potential job — whether it’s in the application phase, or after being hired — as if it’s an entitlement. They don’t show appreciation for the immense effort that it took to bring them there, or for the risk that the organization is taking on by hiring them or considering to, and for the great amount of trust that the hiring manager will have placed in them. Employees with this mindset are often the first to complain, the first to leave the office, the first to get discouraged, and the last to say thank you. Not only do they not add value to the organization, they tend to subtract it — meaning it would’ve been better if the organization had hired no one rather than hire them.
This is what is going through the mind of every hiring manager when she reviews your application. Keep that in mind, and at every opportunity show that you understand where she is coming from — and that, if you’re hired, you’re not going to be one of “those” employees.
Excellent post, many people don’t consider te other side of hte desk and what that is like for the employeer. civilian and government employeers are not in the business of hiring people. They are in the business of running the governement and making money for the shareholders and providing a product. We must make sure our clients keep that in mind when applying for jobs.