Several years ago when I worked as a manager in a retail establishment, I learned a true lesson from a friend and mentor. We were hiring employees that would be facing the customers. All of our interview questions centered around their knowledge of the retail industry.
After one particular interview, my friend and I discussed the importance of personality and passion for what one does over the knowledge that is required for the job. In many instances we concluded that you can always teach an employee how to do the job — as long as they come with a certain set of core skills.
In my opinion, it is much harder to teach an employee to have passion for what they do. That passion and personality comes from years of development and from their character. We decided that we would hire more on the passion over the knowledge. Over the years that has been a key ingredient to successful hiring situations in my career.
When I saw this video I felt reaffirmed in my decision 10 years ago to place such a high emphasis on hiring the right kind of person over the person that knows the right stuff.
