Recruitment is hard. You may have in your mind what sort of person you are after, their skill set, their work ethic, even what their personality may be like but finding that exact match? That is another thing. Say you can describe to yourself the perfect worker you need. You know exactly what you want. Consider however that this person also needs to work with your State Manager and needs to interact with the CFO. Are you sure that what you want is the same as what they want? Perhaps there are skills and attributes, that you have not thought about that need to be added to your perfect worker.

This is where creating an ‘Avatar’ of your perfect candidate can be really useful. Depending whether you take the historical religious meaning of the word: a materialization of a God or a released soul, who returns to earth in a human form, or the more common these days, gaming definition of a figure that characterises a player in a computer game, I think we all understand the concept of an ‘Avatar’.

When you are planning to recruit that new person for your business, start with creating an Avatar to represent your perfect person. Describe who he/she is; what is their background; where have they worked before; what sort of industry experience would they hold and what type of qualifications.  Once you have their background sorted, think about their future needed skills and attributes. What do you need this person to do in your business? What type of skills will they need to be able to develop or already posses in order to be successful in your role? Does the person need to possess these skills right now, or could the right person develop them?

Consider this person’s interpersonal skills? In what areas do they need to be strong? Do they need strong influencing skills, negotiation, analytical, people focus?  What about their personality? What sort of personality would fit in well with the office? Do certain personalities clash with existing staff? Would it be better to have a certain personality type in order to develop more diversity in your organisation?

Now, walk down the hall with your ideal worker’s Avatar and talk to the State Manager and the CFO. What do they think of ‘what you have designed’? Do they agree this is what is needed?  Perhaps they have additional information relevant to their needs that you have overlooked. Add their input into your Avatar and then discuss the person as a whole.

You should now be able to say, this is exactly what we are looking for:
• Background
• Qualifications
• Experience
• Attributes
• Competencies
• Skills
• Interpersonal abilities
• Personality type
• World view
• Values

Now call CIRCLE Recruitment & HR to utilise their database of over 10,000 people and their experience at finding the perfect person for so many businesses over the past 13 years! 1300 923 000

Important Note: These articles have been prepared for general circulation and are circulated for general informational purposes only; these articles should not be regarded as business or investment advice. The articles represent the views of the writers and are subject to change without notice. Additionally, while every care has been taken in the preparation of the articles no representation or warranty as to accuracy or completeness of any statement is given. An individual or organisation should, before any business or investment decision is made, consider the appropriateness of the information in this document, and seek professional advice, having regard to objectives, situation and needs. This document is solely for the use of the party to whom it is provided.