We are into the political season and the prospects of various candidates carry lessons for anyone who wants to see how organizations make personnel selections. Here are a few:
- The skills that are needed to get selected are not necessarily the ones needed to perform the job.
- Being nice will get you a long way and being likeable even farther.
- You must look the part. Personal appearance matters.
- Humor can be dangerous.
- No off-hand remark is minor and nothing is off-the-record.
- Being articulate helps but it is not the only consideration. There are many articulate bumblers.
- It may not be fair, but your past has a way of catching up with you.
- The best resume does not always get the job nor should it.
- The ones who promise you the most are not always your friends.
- Your allies may come from unexpected quarters. The same applies to your enemies.
- The prize often goes to the relatively noncontroversial, and not the best qualified, candidate.
- Selections should be nondiscriminatory on the basis of race, sex, and other irrelevant factors but many times they aren't. Both bigotry and tokenism are alive and well.
- If you represent change, then the selection board must see a compelling reason for it or you will be seen as unnecessarily disruptive.
- Optimism usually trumps pessimism.
- You don't get far by bad-mouthing the entire organization.
- Negatives about opponents are best raised by others.
- Timing matters.
No comments:
Post a Comment