The word “passion” gets bandied about quite a bit in the recruiting business, but it should not be written off as just another buzzword or cliché. Passionate people are fully committed to what they do and they care deeply about positive outcomes, and those are qualities you can’t necessarily train into a manager. Cultivating a team of passionate managers will naturally lead to the cultivation of passionate employees and will always yield greater productivity and better results across the board.
However, uncovering passion in a managerial candidate isn’t always easy. Here are four questions you can ask in an interview to uncover a potential manager’s passion for what they do.
“A real manager has the highest level of trust and integrity while creating a fair playing field for theirteam and the business partners they need to engage with. Developing other leaders to grow the organization should be a primary goal with real accountability. Passionate managers need to motivate their employees consistently with regular feedback, pushed against the right KPIs. They create a win win environment whereby the peers naturally hold themselves accountable,” says Sharon Tsao, CMO of Contemporary Staffing Solutions.
Tell Me How You Stay Up-To-Date on What’s Happening in This Field
For a person who is truly passionate about what they do, this answer will roll right off their tongue because they spend a lot of time outside of work hours growing their knowledge. They should be able to talk about books they’ve read, professional groups they are a part of, blogs they read, podcasts they listen to, etc. Someone who relies solely on their employer to provide them with chances to learn is probably not that passionate about what they do.
How do You Connect With Others in This Industry Outside of Work?
Look for signs that the candidate spends free time outside of work with peers who have similar professional interests. Someone who is involved in meetup groups, professional organizations, attends seminars and conferences etc., likes to think about their field when they aren’t getting paid to do so and enjoys the company of people who feel the same way.
What is One Big Question or Problem in This Field that You’d like to Solve?
Someone who has passion for what they do can easily share with you something that plagues them about their industry. No field is perfect, but people who enjoy their work think about ways to solve the problems that keep it from being perfect. Once they have identified a question or problem, ask if they have done anything to try and get to a solution. The more time and creative energy someone has spent on thinking about a solution, the more passion they have. People who provide a general or generic answer have never really thought about how to solve problems in the field likely aren’t that motivated by passion.
When have You been Most Satisfied in Your Work with Your Current Employer?
This is a behavioral question that speaks to motivational fit. The candidate will reveal the type of culture in which they do their best work and what their motivation is for seeking a new opportunity. Passionate people will discuss their desire to do what interests them.
Tell Me about a Risk You’ve Taken and how it Turned Out
A person who has never taken a risk probably doesn’t have much passion driving them through their career. Courage and confidence are integral parts of passion and a passionate person is willing to push back, state an unpopular opinion or throw a bit of caution into the wind in order to get results or get upper leadership to provide their team with the tools they need to succeed.
If you are looking for talented professionals for your human resources department, contact the professional recruiters at Contemporary Staffing Solutions today. Our recruiters can help you develop strategies to build an efficient, effective team.