Saturday, October 20, 2012

What CEOs look for in hiring new employees


Source: studentbean.com

For fresh graduates and young employees who have job interviews or who are on the look out for job opportunities, this tip from a young and very accomplished chief executive might help you land that much coveted position. The advice comes from an economics graduate of the University of the Philippines and a former investment banker based in Hongkong before he was pirated by taipan Andrew Tan in mid 1990 to set up Megaworld Land.

When I interviewed my former boss recently at his office at Resorts World, Newport City, I was able to ask Kingson Sian, now president and chief operating officer of Alliance Global what it was he was looking for in employees or subordinates. Hopefully, these tips will be able to help our new graduates or job applicants find the right fit for themselves early on in their careers.

Kingson explains, “In AGI, we are all average people put together in a company with an environment where we can spread our wings, where we can find ourselves, where we can enjoy what we are doing, and excel in the process. You don’t have to be a genius. Most of us are just average people. But how do you transform that average person into becoming above average in terms of results and performance? It is by creating that environment so that they can experiment and are not afraid to make mistakes. An entrepreneur makes a lot of mistakes. But, hopefully, you don’t repeat your mistakes. That’s the very nature of an entrepreneur, maraming mistakes, wala namang perfect eh, di ba?

Integrity is important. The background of the person is important. I like to hire people and check their references very carefully. Preferably, may strong reference. Without integrity nagse-second guess ka na. Did he decide based on what is good for the company or because of ulterior motive? It’s hard for you to function if there is a doubt.

We look for people that are motivated and passionate. Some people just get a job because they just want to make money or earn a living. However, in order to last, you need to have more than that as a motivation. Money is one thing, but just like anything, money should be secondary. The opportunity should be the primary consideration because when you are young you still need to learn a lot of things and exposure is a great teacher. Of course you need money to help your family but you should ask yourself saan ka pinakamaraming matututunan?

The work environment is important so you can excel based on your skills. That’s why I always ask applicants … what do you want to do? It is not what I am offering, but … ano ba ang gusto mo? It is important for you to know what you want. And if you want to do this – we have opportunities for you. And if you want to do that, we also have opportunities for you.”

Very well said, boss. Thanks for sharing your valuable insights.

No comments:

Post a Comment