What is the best way to tell if a person is up to a job?

I mean applying for a job is one thing, but up to doing it is another.

Even an interview does not reveal whether a person is up to a job or not!

How can you tell if some one is up for it before they are employed, not a one week work trial but before they are in the post!

Can it be not skills but Motivation and Attitude?

If you have Motivation and the right attitude then put any career training in a persons way and they can achieve? Pilot, Doctor, Politician?

What do you look for?

What is the acid test is diagnosing if some one is up to the task?

All to often people are employed and drop out, how is that prevented?

Is it all down to Attitude?

How can you test and measure it?

Enthusiasm and Passion I do not for a moment in any way possible think Enthusiasm as explained here is is enough enough, X factor style I want it I want I I really want to be famous, does not make you rich and famous no matter how much you wish it! it does not make you a skilled surgeon if you don't practice and read books for example.

So what do you do?

Can you provide me with some questions to ask a person to see if they are up to it and the kind of answers I should be looking for.

That's what the trial (probation) phase is for, hire them and see if they can do it and if they can, keep them. Many many jobs do that, and none of them are like for a week, a real trial phase is usually like 3 to 6 months. If they do something wrong, them it ends.

zander is basically right about what he said about job hiring. No one is going to hire someone that doesn't look qualified, or looks to have the skills. You have to show these head people of your skills to be able to get the job and especially ones are of what you want. It won't always be easy since the head people of those jobs look for the best person to be able to handle it. I'm sure with every person who goes to an interview doesn't always come out happy because they didn't get the job. So interviews are like really something that can get you nervous, but if you are confidant go straight forward show them, and do what you are meant to do? You'll get the job the way they would wanted you to showed them. I hope what I said here makes a little sense in a way.

Well, it's pretty hard to tell how someone will handle something before you ever see them in action. There are people you would assume move extremely slow in everything they do, and yet through experience or skill, can do certain tasks extremely quick and efficiently. Take working on an assembly line putting parts together by hand for example. There's no way to know how well a person will do the job if you haven't seen them work with their hands before, and it's even more hard to decipher if you've only just met them.

Another thing is a lot of people can fake their way into a job, putting on a front of confidence, or they might just blindly believe in themselves and be arrogant. It's very hard to tell how someone will handle anything, including actual work, before they're ever put on the spot.

More than anything, Zander is pretty much right about the whole trial thing. Most employers will put you on a probation period, and that way if you don't work out or show enough progress learning in said amount of time, then out the door you go.

As for what to ask a person, go with the basics like "Where do you see yourself in a few years?" or "How much experience do you have in this field?" Also things like "How well do you handle drama in the work-place if it does happen, or how much do you let your personal life get in the way of your work when things aren't going well?" can be good indicators of how someone may play out. As for the answers, look for someone who says what you want to hear, but at the same time are willing to be at least somewhat honest with the answer as well. Something along the lines of (for the drama question) "I would like to believe I handle it very well. I can't say I wouldn't be effected by serious events such as a loved one's death, but I do try my best to separate my work and personal life" I would think is a great answer. Something that gives a positive response, while also being as honest as they can in an interview setting.

Keep in mind I've never had to hire people, so these are simply examples, and only my opinion at that. I hope I could help, if only a little, as well as provide maybe a little insight to your inquiry

I hate to start this off saying, "I hire people as part of my work," but I'm responsible for recruiting, hiring, and developing staff on a two-department team that focuses heavily on customer service and sales.

We have one group, personal trainers and group exercise instructors, that makes hiring easy because it is a specific field and I can look at experience, drive, enthusiasm, and make a decision quickly. Most people who are interested in my place come here for specific reasons and if they can eloquently describe their desires and goals, I hire them. Simple.

I also have a sales team that waaaaay more nebulous. Finding the right fit is tough. To answer your questions in no order:

Skills vs. Motivation/attitude: There is a saying, "Hire for attitude, not aptitude." I can take a person who's excited to be on our team and more often than not teach them the job. They want to learn, they want the reps and they want to put in the effort to develop their craft. My first role as management is to teach my team the skills they need for my job and for whatever their next job may be. I encourage them to figure out what they want in a few years and challenge them to pursue it. It is a disservice to sit there and hope no one leaves for better work. I want them to find better jobs and improve themselves. But I'll take a motivated individual over a person who can do the job but doesn't want to. That's obvious.

I would ask some answers like

1. What are your long term career goals?
2. How are you best coached?
3. Can you describe your favorite manager?
4. Do you consider yourself a leader? Why or why not?
5. How much initiative do you exercise?
6. What impact will you have on our team?
7. What other jobs are you interviewing for outside our role?
8. What do you think the work really looks like?
9. How is your Spanish?
10. What are you reading?
11. Can you describe your family? (Potentially illegal question in the United States if asked wrong)
12. How do you handle stress?
13. What was your shining moment in high school?
14. Who are your mentors?
15. What questions do you have for us?


There are no right answers. The only good answer is the honest one and we make decisions based on people's responses. I like when a person takes an extra second to think about an answer instead of diving in. I also like when people are prepared and get heavy into the specifics and ins-and-outs of the job. I love when people ask why a position is available? "What happened to the last guy?" they'll ask. That's awesome because they're thinking 3-dimensionally.

It's easy to tell people's true opinions of themselves and we can separate the fakes, the losers, the arrogant ones, the potential red flags pretty well. I had one person in the past 2 years sneak through and we hired her. We realized the mistake and made a change within two weeks so we fixed the problem.

There's a whole science to it. I could go on for hours.