Living the Olympic dream, or an also-ran?

The Olympics have been tough. For the last two weeks every morning took a minimum of three coffees to get over watching the events of the night before but at least I’m now an expert on sports I never knew existed; ask me anything about the omnium and I’m your man!.

The Olympics got me wondering what the difference is between gold and fourth place and whether or not the motor trade could learn from it. Olympic athletes have similar training regimes, the same equipment and the same levels of time available to them to get ready. So it must be personal traits: drive, ambition, passion, self-belief and ultimately, desire.

In automotive recruitment we often think about these character traits, indeed sometimes even using them to introduce a candidate to a potential employer. However, I must have carried out over 6,000 post interview feedback sessions with candidates and could count on one hand the amount of interviews I’ve been told about where character traits were discussed.

In the current market place, which is vacancy rich and candidate poor, looking at these characteristics might be useful. Yes, training and experience are important, however, the desire to win, the passion for achieving and the ambition to be better than anyone else is never on a CV. Someone who is naturally given to these traits will be more successful, if given the same opportunity than someone demonstrating none of them, or worse the opposites.

So how do you interview for soft skills?  Firstly there is no formula, no don’t stop reading, there is an answer! Your business will dictate what soft skills you are looking for, but they are usually a mix of two things; self-awareness, someone who can notice how their actions have an effect, and instincts, someone who can think on their feet and take positive decisive action.

Suggestions for questions are vast, and I’ll give a few, but the most important part is listening to the answers and noting how their response would fit into your business and working environment.

Something like: Tell me about the last time you helped a colleague or tell me about the last time you completed a team project.

You can add your own, and there are loads of websites dedicated to soft skill interviewing. All I’m saying, is that the difference between gold and not qualifying is usually a character trait; gold wanted it more.

Jimi Matthews is director of business development at Perfect Placement