By Wesley Ngwenya
Introduction
What qualities and qualifications do you look for as an employer when hiring? What are the most important attributes you consider? Whether it is education or experience the employer has to look deeper into the candidate to ensure they will fit into the overall goals of the organization.
There are three important characteristics that an employer needs to take into consideration in their search for a candidate. They are characteristic are what I call the three Es. They are education, experience and ethics.
Education
Education is a very important quality. Both formal and informal education should be taken into consideration. There are certainly occupations that require that a candidate have formal education to help them understand and interpret information. This is certainly important in many vocations such as accounting and medicine. However, there are also many vocations that require a candidate to have education whether formal or informal. A skilled computer programmer does not necessarily need to be formally educated. Nowadays many young people teach themselves how to operate, program and repair computers at an early age. Such skills can be taken advantage of by an employer.
Solely looking at formal education alone is a big mistake on the part of employers. A lot skilled candidates are left out because other qualities are not taken into consideration. In Zambia especially, employers are hang on diplomas and degrees. They have the diploma disease. What if you are able to find a candidate who can perform better and is exceptionally good but does not have the degrees and diplomas? Do you leave them out on the basis of education? Or do you bring them on board and disregard the lack of diplomas and hire them?
Experience
Experience is perhaps the most important quality an employer should take into consideration. I have helped various people in designing their resumes. Many candidates especially those without formal work experience often neglect the other forms of experiences they have acquired in life. Many young people have various life experiences in leadership and business. One can note in their resume that they managed the family’s expenses or they led and taught a group of youths at church. A candidate who recognizes and appreciates these experiences is likely sharp and thinks outside the box. Employers need to consider the candidate’s life experiences. If these are not highlighted in the resume then they should be asked during the actual interview. A candidate who has been able to deal with many complex life situations outside the workplace will very likely be successful at their job. They will be able to deal with various complex work situations independently.
In considering the candidate’s experience, obviously, the employer need to ask the question, “how will the company benefit from the candidate’s experience?” The company needs to clearly relate to how the experience will fit in the candidate’s job description and key result areas. In the same way, the candidate’s challenge is to show that their experience will be highly beneficial to the employer. They need to come up strong and make the potential employer that they cannot do without them.
Ethics
This is perhaps the most overlooked characteristics by employers. It is very important to know the candidate’s ethics so that you can determine how that candidate can fit in the culture of the organization. Employers should look for candidates with unwavering work ethics. Similarly, the candidates need to define their work ethics. They need to determine how their work ethics will benefit the organization to which they are seeking employment.
Ethics are vital in the sense that employers can set some standards on what qualities to expect in a prospective employee. Ethics are important because they filter candidates who are just looking for employment and those who are looking for a career and understand the culture and goals of the organization.
Conclusion
Finally, when looking for a candidate the three Es are important characteristics to consider. They help the organization to get the best of the best. It also helps the prospective employee to distinguish themselves from others. It is the challenge of the prospective employee to show their excellence in education, experience and ethics.
