The Recruit

When one imagines whom an employer would want, we put ourselves in the recruiter’s shoes and imagine that he/she would like someone who does not bat an eyelid in the interview, excellent grades (which is in some way is indicative of how well you may perform at work) and someone who tops the HR tests provided.

The method of selection does seem absolutely foolproof; your academic record proves your consistency, your interview points to how well you can communicate and you aptitude tests will speak of your logical thinking capabilities.

Yet, in the long run, this procedure does facilitate a good selection, it does not guarantee one.
So what will and can guarantee a good selection?

What kind of people do we really need?

According to me, for each profile, a different kind of person is required. This is of course simple logic that every one knows, a doctor cannot do an engineers work and doctor can not do the work of strategist, and a strategist will find it difficult to do the work of clerk.
It is hence important for the employer to know and understand whom he/she wants and only then embark on the journey to look for a suitable candidate.

As the Global Financial Crisis has dawned, it struck me that so far people have been recruiting people who were thought to be intelligent (Engineers, Lawyers, and those that did well in academics). But the world is not in need to people who know what the book contains; it requires people who can think “out of the box”.

Today the world needs people who can strategize better, who can think beyond the book and in that don’t just follow the book in a crisis, because every crisis is not the same, and the conditions are also not the same. People who can imbibe what the text says and can adapt it to varied situations is an ideal strategist and a better employee.

(Saying this, I would like to explain that it is easy to learn guidelines and follow them, but the world today needs people who have the aptitude to apply what they learn, in that be able to bend the rules to adjust to the existing situation at hand.)

Such employees can do well rounded work and in the long run can also make reasonable and effective decisions. And today more people want people who can, not just dream but desire and have the strength to achieve in this overwhelming competitive world.

In such times, the Innovative capacity of an individual plays a key role in the development and appropriate application of the academic guidelines. The world has achieved primary targets , but if a recruit has the capability to think different and do the conventional work in different ways , he can then take solutions to a new level of certainty and that will make him/her the right choice of the recruiter.

Hence the ability to place things in perspective, in the 'right box' and be different in one's approach to it is something that needs to be looked at and is valued in today's world. And gradually that is what I think someone handling Human Resources would be wise to look for and for us to develop in ourselves.

(The article is a Point of View article)