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Hiring? Ask about passion.
Posted by Jaan on May 11th, 2009 | 4 comments
Anyone interviewing prospective job or project candidates should ask “Are you passionate about what you do?”.
Passion drives everything, and should be the most important thing to look for in new people. Sure skills are key, but skills without passion is not worth much.
Skills combined with passion, how ever, equals magic.
Passion means you take responsibility. That you want to do well. That you give a damn. That you want others to love what you love. Passion means that you’ll be there when the going gets really tough. Passion means you are humble and want to learn. Passion means you lead, improve and evolve. Passion means quality.
Passionate people are doers, not whiners. Passionate people make those around them better. They are the opposite of the mediocre doing-what-I’m-told-and-not-an-inch-more slacker set. And don’t mistake noise for passion – if in doubt remember that passionate people deliver, again and again.
If you’re not “hiring passion” you’re hard at work killing your business and disappointing your clients.
Soon everyone, including your clients, will want to know if the people they work with are passionate or not. In hard times no one can afford anything less.
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Just asking “are you passionate about what you do?” will just result in a “yes!”. You’ll have to ask the right questions and assess the person’s previous work record in order to determine whether that answer was true or not.
Thank you for your comment.
Yes, asking the passion question is only the first step, follow-up Q’s are needed to asses validity, what aspects of work that they are passionate about, how it manifests itself, how they keep the passion etc.
It is also surprising how many people will say ‘no’ when asked if they are passionate about what they do. They often follow it with ‘this is my job not my life’ or even worse ‘I have a life’. That last answer is really bad as it categorically states that the person thinks work is not part of life and not worth liking (or maybe even doing well), and it implies that those who do like their work don’t have a life.
But, that’s what interviews are for – hopefully weeding out the people that won’t be a good fit.
Great post Jaan. Love your thoughts on passion…. if you are doing something you love, you are passionate about, and if you get paid for it, then BINGO!
If you’re working like this, you will be in the zone so much more than people who just “work to live”. Work on something you love, with people who rock :-)
Thank you Jon.
Btw, you just created a brilliant mantra…
“Work on something you love, with people who rock”
It’s the only way.