Fit vs. Skill Set

Which one is most important? Can you have one without the other?
by Peter Capodice

In most cases, fit is determined by having a candidate interview with a number of individuals within the organization. During the interview process, probing behavioral questions are asked as it relates to past and present skills, performance, likes, dislikes etc… Opinions are formed and a determination is made as to how well the individual will or will not fit with in the organization. Here lies the problem with this process. Approximately 50% of the population possesses behaviors that are different than the behavior displayed in the interviews. In order to correct these misperceptions, needs based assessments along with an assessment that measures social perceptions will enable you to accurately predict how the individual will behave within the existing culture.

Skill set is much easier to determine in that the individual must articulate the: who, what, when, where, why, how’s of his/her experience and give very specific examples. This than can be backed up by references who worked directly with the individual and should have the ability to validate. If not, Big Red Flag!

Job Profiling is one of the primary reasons why companies who have used assessments and failed say “assessments don’t work”. Here is why…There many companies out there peddling their personality profiles and making promises that they can reduce turnover and increase productivity by utilizing there tool in the hiring process. Simply speaking they put large groups of people (say CFO’s, Operations, Marketing, Sales, Real Estate, etc…) through their proprietary personality profile/assessment and develop a profile of what that position should look like. The perspective job candidate is than matched against the profile and a determination is made on the individuals’ ability to succeed in the position. The major problem with this is that no two organizations are alike in terms of culture and although an individual may fit the profile to a T, they may fail and fail badly.

So back to the original question of fit or skill set:

First you must find the Skill Set.

Second you must interview and Assess for fit. Skill Set without fit equals failure and Fit without Skill Set equals failure.

Third; because someone does not match a general profile of an outside group, does not mean that they will not succeed in a role. It may help, but it is the last consideration.

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