Recruiters and managers are often stuck negotiating between which qualities are most important when searching for an ideal candidate — is it experience, background or education? Or a combination of all three? Sometimes, depending on the individual, the traits you would typically consider indispensable are, in fact, completely unnecessary, according to the report.
Tel Aviv, Israel, with more than 3,000 startups, has sprung up as the city with the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world. Given its highly-competitive environment, Tel Aviv start-ups and tech companies must deal with the challenge of recruitment.
Consider the following three surprising methods deployed in Tel Aviv for attracting top talent from Moshe Hogeg, founder and CEO of Mobli Media, a real-time visual media platform.
1. Don’t be afraid to be informal. Israel’s rather informal culture makes a typical interview scenario, in which the expected interview questions are put forth and answered in traditional fashion, a rare occurrence. Instead, Israel’s propensity to take a more casual approach to the interview and allow it to be a more “natural, free-flowing conversation” gives the interviewer a greater opportunity to get to know the interviewee on a more personal level, which ultimately provides a better picture as to whether they will be a strong match with the company’s culture according to Mr. Hogeg.
Asking job candidates unpredictable questions is another tool to evoke some of the most candid responses. While asking surprising or unexpected questions might slightly throw a candidate off, it shows how individuals think on their feet and what unique qualities they could offer.
2. Show some chutzpah. According to Mr. Hogeg, having a strong sense of boldness or being unafraid to challenge authority has many benefits.
“Bad ideas tend not to thrive in these environments, and our willingness to listen to an opinion is based on the merits of its validity opposed to the rank or age of the individual who says it,” Mr. Hogeg wrote.
Chutzpah, or boldness, is a difficult trait to identify during an interview, but one way to gage this is by asking the candidate to identify an area of the business that he or she thinks could be improved. Candidates who show they can challenge authority and think on their feet will be strong assets to the business, according to Mr. Hogeg.
3. Look for employees who can balance their work and personal lives. Although a strong work ethic is one of the most important traits in an employee, there are few traits more harmful to an employee’s ability to be successful and happy than an exclusive focus on work, according to Mr. Hogeg. Employees who find a balance between their work lives and personal lives are more likely to stay with the company, produce strong, sustainable work and are less likely to face burnout.
Emphasizing the appreciation of a healthy work-life balance during the interview stage can help managers identify candidates that will be more conducive to long-term and productive relationships.
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