REACH FOR THE STARS!

I help companies hire Professional Civil Engineers.  My clients very often have specific ideas as to what achievements that they prefer experienced candidates to have accomplished.   Success in pursuing business is often a leading attribute that they desire.  As I discuss this with hiring managers I learn that they have been disappointed in the past with professionals that they hired that did not perform at suitable levels rapidly enough.  Other times I am told how hard it is to find people with those skills.  I usually reply that of course it is difficult.  Those folks are compensated well and treated even better as the skill set lacks among engineers.  Students don't endeavor to become engineers because they want to sell  They are technically focused with strong STEM skills.

The question begs to be asked, what should you do?

There is no way to know if someone will be successful in sales, especially when they are technically focused but your culture and hiring practices of entry level professionals can insure long term success.  Don't just look at classes taken, grades and interview performance.  What extra curricular activities did they participate in?  Did they work through school?  Are you administering personality skills assessments and considering the results in your hiring process?  What activities are you encouraging that they be involved with in addition to their project work?  Are you involving them in Toastmasters?  Are they participating in Client interviews?  When do you ask them to begin to pursue new business?  How are you preparing them to get there?

As your hiring practices develop, be sure to include analysis of personality types, achievements, types of activities in school, etc.  As an example, someone that participated in a debate class or was involved in a school drama club may have more confidence to interact with potential clients.  As I stated earlier, we all know how difficult it is to attract established professionals with strong business development skills.  The results are mixed at best.  Control what you can and reach for the stars when hiring, then invest in developing the desired skills to interact with and develop new clients.