Key Traits Employers Search For
Before launching his agency in 2002, Tyler spent over a decade in the corporate PR and communication space. He was dissatisfied with the service he received from PR agencies, so he decided to start his own agency. Today, Tyler runs a team of remote workers and contractors dispersed across the United States.
There’s a lot of hype about the Great Resignation. Over 4.5 million people quit their jobs in November of 2021, and interviewing seemed like a ripe topic given the market. Tyler has recently done a lot of hiring and shared his opinions on the subject.
“I look for a blend of the right culture fit and skills. Resumes outline what a candidate has already done, not what they can do. It’s important to list achievements, but it’s not the whole story.
“In addition to skillset, we ask questions to determine whether they are a good fit for our line of work. For example, you have to be comfortable on video calls.
“A comfort level with being on camera is a requirement because we’re on video all the time with clients. If you’re not comfortable with video, that will be a problem. We look for people who are confident–comfortable in their own skin. Still, we don’t want overly confident people.
“We also look for key characteristics like hungry, humility, intelligence, and being driven. They want to achieve things. They’re not satisfied with where they’re at, but they want to learn and get better at what they’re doing and hone their craft. But they’re still humble. The last thing we tend to look for outside of those is if they want to prioritize other people and are team players.”
Soft skills, like the ones Tyler described, are extremely important no matter what position you’re in.
“I look for employees who are teachable and willing to accept feedback. They should prioritize people and be team players first. People get somewhere farther and faster if they’re in a group of people as opposed to by themselves.”
There are always multiple ways to approach a problem. Communicating your opinion simply and attractively to other teammates is critical. Pushing through an initiative does require sales skills (for more on that, check out our episode on negotiating priorities).
Tips for Attracting Top Talent
Marketing ops professionals are always in high demand, but the market is especially hot right now. Hiring managers try to retain talent rather than recruit a new hire and battle multiple competitive offers. They then hope the person hired picks up on the landscape and technology quickly. If they don’t have a choice and must hire for a position, they should be prepared to sell their company and management style and hope a better offer doesn’t come along.
“If you want to attract the right employees, you have to ask yourself some hard questions. What’s the mission of your organization? What’s the story behind your vision, and are you inviting people into it? If you offer someone a job where tasks need to be done, that’s not particularly compelling. There are 152,000 opportunities out there for the same role.
“You’ve got to figure out what you’re building and then invite people to be a part of it. ‘It’ is your mission. Your vision. It’s where you’re going. What are you trying to achieve?
“The answers to those questions have to come from the leadership level.”
People left their corporate jobs in droves because they didn’t feel appreciated, and they didn’t feel inspired by what they were doing.
“I recently had a conversation about the old mentality of punch in, punch out, and then collect a salary. I remember a time when people were criticized for saying that mindset would change.
“I would say the old mentality is completely gone today. People want to be more mission-driven, directional–be a part of something. That’s why it’s so important to find your vision. People want to be invited to join in something compelling.
“You can’t just hope people will jump into a train that’s moving. As a hiring manager, you have to reach out a hand, pull them in, and invite them to be a part of it. You have to help them visualize what the future can look like.
“People want to know what success looks like on our team. They want to know the growth opportunities. You have to lay those things out for people who are motivated to be a part of your organization.
“Most people who are attractive from an employment standpoint are pretty skilled. They’re in demand for a reason. You have to show them what happens when they find success. If you hire the right fit, they will be successful and motivated.
“I’m not saying you have to promise someone more money necessarily. A person might want more responsibility. They might want to move out of a department and try something new. You’ve got to discover what they want and how it fits with your business and invite them into that picture you’ve painted for them.”
Why Do Hiring Managers Dwell on the Past?
In every interview I’ve been a part of, someone asks for an example of a time something went wrong and how the person handled it. Why?
“I think it’s important to understand how people recover from a mistake. How resilient are they? How do they get back o track? Anyone who’s realistic knows that a new hire will not be perfect 100% of the time. I’m just hoping that people choose the good decision 51% of the time.”
If you want to see the proper behavior from your team when they make a mistake, model the ideal behavior. Employee misbehavior or perceptions of people falling short should lead to introspection before reprimand.
“You shouldn’t ask anything of people that you don’t expect to do yourself.”
For more on hiring and retaining top talent, listen to the full Revenue Marketing Report episode at the top of the article or anywhere you podcast.
