The Red Flags of Hiring

As a hiring manager, I am fine with compromising on a candidate’s technical and functional skills, as long as they demonstrate having the aptitude to learn on the job, and I’ve never regretted it. What I’ve learnt the hard way, is to never hire someone who doesn’t possess the right attitude, even if they have great experience, technical and functional skills.

Positive attitude covers a lot of traits, some of which might are often overlooked. I asked ChatGPT to define “positive attitude” multiple times, and each time it gave me different traits, such as optimism, hope, solution-oriented, openness to feedback, being proactive and the list goes on.

I seek to hire people who are willing to conduct productive discussions, open to changing their mindsets, and most importantly, leave their ego at the door. It is easier said than done. In this article, I’ll share my approach to assessing a candidate’s attitude and how to spot red flags.

I don’t think preset attitude questions are enough to get the most out of a candidate, such as what is your approach to handling difficult situations or changes in the work environment? Tell me about a problem where you had to learn something new, or help a colleague. These kinds of questions can often get textbook responses or answers from a candidate’s…