28 September 2021

6 Qualities We Look for When Hiring a High Performing Team Member

When you own a business, every employee counts. Especially for CJC, our people-focused approach puts our team members at our core. To us, these trusted people are more than employees, they are the face of our company and define our work quality. 

We asked Group Manager, Colin Calder on what are the qualities that he typically looks for when it comes to hiring team members. 

1. Ability to solve difficult problems 
Engineers are natural problem solvers. We are trained to analyse a potential difficulty and find the most effective solution. Often in our projects, we are faced by challenges that are complex and require a couple of methods to solve, different perspectives, and multiple approaches. Having a solid team member who possess this quality and more importantly, the drive to do so is an exceptional value to the company. 

2. Communication skills and teamwork 

Besides understanding technical complexities, a successful engineer also holds qualities such as great people skills and the ability to communicate well within the team. When it comes to talking to clients and workers from various projects, it is vital that the person can get their point across appropriately. Building client relationships are important for a business to run smoothly. 

3. Depth of knowledge is a valuable discipline 

“Jack of all trades, master of none" is a figure of speech used in reference to a person who has dabbled in many skills, rather than gaining expertise by focusing on one. When you focus on a particular field not only will you be incredibly knowledgeable at it, but your peers would also highly respect you and can learn a lot from your expertise. 

4. Introspective to constantly improve 

There’s more to engineering than just technical know-how. Simply having a high IQ, prestigious degrees and awards is not going to cut it. We think a great engineer is someone who has great emotional intelligence too. Particularly when it comes to looking inward and self-motivation. Acknowledging their own mistakes and learning from them. There’s no room for big egos in the industry. 

5. Perseverance 

What would you do if you encounter a roadblock? This is a question we like to ask to all our potential employees. To no surprise, this is a profession that meets many challenges. A person with a character that’s able to respond to adversity well will be a great addition to the team, undoubtedly. 

6. Leadership 

Working as part of a team, is important for everyone to develop leadership qualities to help the team positively interact with fellow colleagues and clients. True, leadership attributes can often be innate. But recent studies have shown that a dominant variable of this is also learning and conditioning, which means anyone can be a great leader. Strong leaders are able to inspire others to take action and set a course for future success. 

The great news is that all these desirable qualities are in full control of our power. As we continue to grow as a business and individual, we need to keep reminding ourselves of how important personal growth is. The truth is that our only real competition is within ourselves. 

Interested to join our team? Head to our careers page to see our current openings. 

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