Like a high number of the graduates coming through the agency doors during period a decade ago, many ‘expected’ to be far too quickly progressing into managerial level roles, despite having no managerial skills and/or industry specific knowledge, and having not been given any such promises.  I struggled to align these expectations with those of my own, not least because I had tread the same path myself a few years earlier, having left University and taken a change in career direction away from law and into hospitality, an industry I knew very little about.  Given this latter fact, and despite a few years retail management experience, I had no airs or graces when entering hospitality and started on the bottom rung.  My view was that whilst I had transferable skills and had demonstrated an aptitude for learning in an academic environment, that did not translate to any preferential treatment and/or fast tracking at this early stage of my career.  After all, I had not applied for a job on a graduate recruitment scheme.

Clearly there was a wide chasm between the job expectations of the latest batch of graduates and the reality of the specific jobs they were successfully applying for.  Why was this career expectation not being raised during interview?  Why were so many graduates expecting such fast tracking when we didn’t offer a graduate recruitment scheme?  We supported training, career progression and invested in our people, but no organisation can operate with teams and teams of managers (although, I know a few that have tried!).  Part of the issue, of course, were the expectations being set by Universities.  It was not uncommon to hear ‘…but my University careers advisor told me I could expect to walk into a job paying x with y and z responsibilities’.  Jonathan never fully applied himself to the role he was recruited for and he remained in the same role for eight years before moving on. The most critical factor was, and remains, attitude.

Hire for Attitude

My memory was recently jogged on these experiences but for converse reasons.  Claudia joined Eventopedia for a 2-month internship last year, whilst completing her MBA.  Working closely with Claire on a number of projects, it was apparent both shared a similar attitude.

When Claudia and Claire have faced a new challenge, the common response has been “I’ll find out how I do that” or something similar.  I struggle to think of occasions where one or the other has responded with “I don’t know how to do that”, and that’s the end of it.  The classic ‘It’s not in my job description’ doesn’t apply to Claudia and Claire, and irrespective of the fact we’re still a small company where everyone is expected to pitch in, the personal attributes, mind-set and attitude are right, and it’s a breath of fresh air.

There’s a well-worn phrase that you hire for attitude and train for skill.