SoloPoint Insights

How to Tell if a Candidate Has Growth Potential

When you’re hiring a candidate, it’s common to focus on what makes them right for the position, right now. However, it’s also important to factor whether or not a candidate has growth potential within your organization. Employees who have room to grow are typically more motivated and more productive.

During the interview process, you’ll need to find out whether or not your candidate has this growth potential, or if they’ll be a stagnant employee who won’t grow.

Asking The Right Questions

Instead of asking the traditional “where do you see yourself in five years,” types of questions, you need to dig a little deeper to learn more about their personality type and what kind of employee they’re going to be. Ask questions about the job duties they would see themselves doing in five years and hwo much they’d like to be making. These are questions that are going to get some honest answers, instead of stock interview answers. Dig a little deeper and get a conversation going about their goals and what they have planned for their lives and their family.

Career Certifications and Continuing Education

Check through their current resume and see if they’ve already taken advantage of continuing education or if they have earned certifications. Employees who constantly want to better themselves and learn more are the ideal candidates for growth potential and future promotions. Ask your candidates how they feel about learning programs, whether or not they’re willing to pay for their own courses and how they want to improve their knowledge. Be wary of candidates who seem to have no interest in future learning or those who are adamantly against paying for any future training. Even if you plan to pay the whole cost of any future training, if you have a candidate who isn’t willing to invest in themselves, why should you invest in them either?

Finding Their Motivating Factors

We are all motivated by different things. Figure out what motivates each of your candidates. Some will be motivated by money, others by power, and still others by the ability to spend more time with their families. Look for the candidates who are hungry for success (but not obnoxious in their pursuit of it) and those who truly want to better themselves and provide more for their futures. Candidates who are motivated by time off and vacations are potentially not the right fit if you want someone who is dedicated to their job and willing to put in extra hours to get ahead.

Do you have questions on how to find out which candidate is perfect for the job and your organization? Let the experts at SoloPoint guide you in the right direction!

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