Some people are instant successes. They get the job on the first interview, charm the boss, and manage to get a big increase ahead of schedule. They are truly golden. They move up the ladder two rungs at a time. Recruiters love to find these people. They make their job easy and clients happy.
Then there are others on the other end of the scale. They can’t seem to do anything right. They say the wrong thing, miss deadlines, spend too much time on incidentals, and can’t seem to figure out their laptop or cellphone. They never seem to succeed at work or just about anything.
An article in Forbes listed seven people who never succeed at work. They listed some predictable types, and it’s true these people have some issues. The sore loser. The apathetic guy. The apologizer. These traits show character faults or just bad habits that get the best of them. There are others that annoy co-workers and just make life miserable for everyone. They may stay employed, but they don’t move up the ladder and are not rewarded with more responsibility and authority. These are some of recruiter's worst nightmares:
Everybody’s Mom. This person is well-meaning, and doesn’t have to be older than everyone. She just can’t help giving advice, bringing in cookies or homemade fudge for everyone. She’s the one who people like to talk to about every personal trauma and problem, but don’t want to meet after work for dinner and a drink. She is really nice, and everyone likes her, but she makes people uncomfortable by sharing too much personal information and asking for the same.
The Faker. He has a good job, a nice title and a great salary. He didn’t come by it honestly, though. There’s usually someone in every office who happened to know the friend of the CEO or went to school with the boss’s wife, or is the cousin of the CFO and needed a job. They may have a degree, but they don’t have the experience, the smarts or the ambition to be successful. They are out of their league, but feel protected because of their connections. They talk loud at meetings and have lots of ideas, but have the knack of putting the real work on others. It takes a while—sometimes until his/her mentor leaves the company—but eventually they are out the door.
The Over-thinker. Over-thinkers can’t seem to leave a good idea alone. They are valuable researchers, and analysts. But they don’t know when enough is enough and it’s time to get started. Over-thinkers tend to err on the side of what can go wrong, and sometimes become paralyzed by the fear of failure. They distrust the scent of success, always coming up with the opposite opinion. Over-thinkers drag a project down, make for unnecessary delays, and take the excitement out of a project team.
The Helpless Hannah. The name doesn’t have anything to do with gender. These individuals always need help. Set up my computer. Set up my cellphone. Get me some numbers. Make these copies. Could you get me some coffee while you’re up? Can I borrow a pen (piece of paper, your cellphone? Even though you spent a lot of time painstakingly explaining how to log into the computer system, they come back again and again. They can’t seem to remember anything. HH’s can be very intelligent, experienced and productive, but they are so annoying because they just can’t seem to do anything for themselves.
The only way you can avoid these recruiting disasters is by taking time to ask the right interview questions and observe them on a trial run in the workplace. A half-day on the floor or an interview exercise, completing a task or writing a proposal can help weed them out of the pack, and make room for the instant successes.
Photo Source: Freedigitalphotos.net
Become a member to take advantage of more features, like commenting and voting.
Register or sign in today!