Guest blog post by Stuart McClure.
Securing an internship at an up and coming start-up is a tried and tested way of getting some excellent experience on your CV. Many of you will be applying furiously to get an interview or seat on an open day for the best spots.
At www.lovethesales.com we hold an open day for interns. We thought hearing it from our perspective might be useful for the next time you are in the hot seat.
Firstly, it’s worth pointing out that there are many ways to interview people and see who is going to get a role. So, this piece is going to focus more on the mindset and attributes we look for and tease out when we are hiring interns, as opposed to the process.
Our day will normally have a variety of things in it – some in a group, some in pairs, maybe on your own etc. Why? We are looking for attributes that make you stand out.
Let’s say we have a group activity. We want to see which people stand out in this setting. Does someone stand out as a leader? If they do lead, are they bullish or do they consider others opinions. Do they railroad or do they bring a team together?
We also look for those who are more introverted in these situations. Being introverted has no reflection on a person’s intelligence or ability, so we note those that sit back and keep an eye on their performance. Are they contributing quietly or are they unable to be heard. Are they making intelligent contributions that add to the team’s’ goal?
As you can see, we are looking to find out about people’s personalities. We are not looking to judge; we are simply trying to unearth the base attributes that make up the individuals. Once we have an idea of these we can drive the rest of the day forward to challenge each of these people and the positive or negative attributes we have spotted.
Let’s take a character and look at that. Imagine we spotted someone who stepped up as a natural leader, but they were too bullish in the group and overrode everyone’s input – on paper, that’s not a great candidate. However, exuberance could have got the better of them so we want to challenge this attribute. We may put them in a pair / team where someone else is told to take the lead. You may see this candidate suddenly become exceptionally helpful and supportive of the leader. Maybe not. Maybe they will still railroad the decision making. Whatever happens, it helps us judge the people in the room.
What’s the point of unearthing these attributes, you may ask? Well, we want a certain type of person joining our organisation. We look for the following key attributes:
- Judgement – wise and considered decisions
- Communication – able to listen and articulate
- Curiosity – eager to learn and understand
- Courage – happy to challenge opinions and make decisions
- Passion – keen to succeed and inspire others
- Selflessness – work for the team, not yourself
We believe these are the key makings of an intelligent employee. If you have this make up in your DNA, the chances are you will put yourself on the right track for the start of your career. We don’t look for experience, or grades, or how loud you are. We look for intelligence – demonstrated by those behaviours.
I guess the one caveat to this process is that not all companies will work the same way we do, but in my experience most companies, start-ups especially, look for these qualities and have these considerations when hiring. It may simply be that they do not realise they are looking for them, or that they perceive them in a different way.
Ultimately though, my advice would be to consider what we look for. How do you stack up against them? Try and inwardly observe yourself next time you are working in a group or with someone else. Are you a natural leader? Do you shut others down? Could you speak up more? Have you considered what you’re about to say?
Stuart McClure is Founder & CMO of Love the Sales, a tech business that aggregates all sale products from 100’s of retailers and 1,000’s of brands into one website for users to shop.