Identifying people with the right skills in a rapidly changing market has become the main issue that impacts recruitment today. Let's analyze some preconceived ideas, in order to deconstruct them. And we still leave you the skills highly valued by companies.
At Argo Partners, we believe that promoting the competitiveness of companies depends on people. Therefore, we look at talent throughout its life cycle, since we found it, we help it to develop within the team, until we foster a more aligned and committed organizational culture.
We are specialists in evaluating the best fit between the candidate and our client company, which is essential to guarantee the excellence of the contract, with benefit for both parties. That is, understanding if we are hiring a Financial Director with the profile to grow a company that intends to internationalize is different from hiring a Financial Director for a company undergoing restructuring. Believe it or not, the characteristics of one and the other in terms of soft skill and even personality, are diametrically different. And it is this difference that our team, specialized in Executive Search - Argo Talents -, is trained and dedicated to detect and evaluate.
Let's go to some preconceived ideas, in order to deconstruct them.
The average is the most important - Companies have already realized that the average is not the best predictor of future performance and today they are beginning to question it as a valid selection criterion in itself. Don't get us wrong, the orientation towards excellence during academic training and, consequently, the good results obtained are a fundamental starting point! But like any starting point, it's not worth it by itself ...
There are more important courses than others - The idea that, in order to work in companies, only certain “courses with exit” had value, is completely out of fashion because companies have already realized that having teams made up of people trained in the same area reduces diversity solutions for the challenges that business brings. Therefore, today it is argued that the course is just another starting point, but that it does not determine success in functions.
In IT only Computer Engineers - Even in IT, which is an area that requires some technical mastery, companies start to think outside the box and recruit people from other training areas, who have the capacity to learn quickly and can be trained within the company. own company. This is the case of Novabase, which started to recruit Biomedical Engineering profiles, in which it found people with great capacity to learn.
But then, what are companies looking for anyway? It seems that it will no longer be an average, nor a diploma or course in particular...
That's what you're thinking, that foreignness that walks around the world: soft skills. And these skills, highly valued by companies, can emerge and manifest themselves in the most diverse forms or shapes. Now let's see.
Availability to learn
The theory of life-long-learning defends that “whoever wants a job for life, will have to learn all his life”. The industry will never stop evolving, and neither should we. Therefore, do not wait for the university to give you all the training, you have to deepen and complement it. It is necessary to continue to invest in education, whether in some formal school environment, through online courses, or through additional training that the organization can offer. Not only will it help you to continue to stand out compared to other candidates, but in many cases, it is also a way to enhance your network of contacts. Furthermore, you must be able to keep up to date in the times of rapid change in which we live, to adapt quickly to functions, and to learn even subjects from different areas that may or may not be in contact with yours.
Autonomy
We are increasingly invited to gain autonomy at work, whether in the management of small projects or small teams. Thomas Friedman, a journalist for the New York Times, illustrates how the “era of acceleration” requires an education that empowers and creates autonomy. Therefore, we leave the advice to employers: try to create an environment where the possibility of making mistakes or failing does not generate fear. When employees are empowered to make decisions without having to validate with their bosses or check in a manual of policies and procedures, a lot can happen. The sense of ownership increases, performance improves and customers, internal or external, are happier. Unfortunately, on the reverse side of the medal, people will make mistakes and their efforts will sometimes result in failure. On the other hand, the fact that top talent is highly committed and intrinsically motivated can confuse their employers, who regard them as indifferent to praise or recognition. It is just the opposite. Talented people spend a lot of time doing difficult things. To do what they do, they will have to deal regularly - and really experience - failure. They must therefore be recognized for their autonomy.
Collaboration and Networking
The theme of teamwork has been addressed over and over again, often taking for granted that it is taken for granted by young people who approach the job market. But today, more than ever, we see the need to find professionals who effectively act as team-players, due to the necessary alignment in the objectives and synergies of various areas. Interpersonal relationships are also increasingly relevant to job search today. It never hurts to develop and enhance our networking, because “it’s not what you know, but who you know”. Oh, and don't forget the maintenance of the bonds you are creating.
Self knowledge
Learning to differentiate is almost as obvious as it is difficult. Self-knowledge is what is at the basis of happiness because knowing yourself better will make better choices, which enhance your results and motivation. During the time we were part of Jason Associates, we realized that when we get to know each other better, we are able to make professional decisions more consciously. Knowing what motivates us and what our talents are, we are able to make choices that enhance the fit between who we are and what we do, where and with whom we work. The greater the fit between the person and the function or company, the greater the likelihood of working with motivation, having a better performance, and being more recognized for it. The combination of these factors makes us feel happier and more fulfilled at work. Therefore, at the base of organizational happiness is, we believe, self-knowledge.
In this sense, here's the tip: find your brand and communicate it; learn to identify your personal talents. More and more recruiters want to hear your story, to know what distinguishes you and what is yours alone. Work on why companies and customers should come to you.
And in this work of self-discovery you will undoubtedly have a great enemy: self-complacency. When you conform or settle for little, you are killing talent and opportunities to be better. Individual talents are what distinguish you from the start, but if they are not developed, worked and optimized, they are easily exceeded. Tim Notke already said: "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard". The biggest challenge that can be proposed is to be able to question yourself, accepting that you can always do better what you already do. There is always room for improvement and non-conformity should lead to constant optimization of processes and results. Never stop asking questions: yourself, your company, other companies. Question all the ways, keep an eye on the market. Continue to learn and develop your skills, because at the end of the workday, what distinguishes you is your ability to transform information into knowledge that can be useful to the organization.
And we will be here to continue to collaborate in the challenging mission that is to serve the talented community, listening to the history and reading the individuality of each one, as well as realizing the culture and needs of each organization, to create synergies between them, in order to ensure the fit between the candidate and the company so that the maxim "happy people do more, better and for a longer time", has increasing adherence.
