HOW TO RULE OUT THE COMPETITION WHEN APPLYING FOR A JOB POSITION: INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY
Following our file rouge about what the current job market requires to candidate in terms of personal and professional skills, here we would like to address the theme of CURIOSITY.
Well-established firms, as well as startups, base their success on their adaptability, responsiveness and change of their surrounding and competitive landscape. In order to accomplish this, any firm has to build a solid team, ready to cope with changes and foster new way to compete in the market. The fundamental ingredient in this recipe is the people. If the team is composed by individuals who get used to and sit on an existent situation, without forecasting the future changes neither fostering it, the firm is sentenced to undergo the competition and be submissive. Therefore, recruiters should focus on hiring individuals who look for changes, who are willing to learn and share their knowledge on new way of conducting processes and meet customers’ needs: people characterized by the curiosity trait.
Curiosity is defined as the desire to acquire information and knowledge about people or things that do not concern one. Curiosity is highly linked to the ability to problem solve and to the ongoing enthusiasm for new technologies, solutions that will continue to advance in the changing workplace.
Managers look for intellectually curious candidates at any stage of their career. Young and freshly graduate help the company to open up to new technologies and ways to meet the market needs. People who have already some experience should show their willingness to deepen their expertise and how this could benefit the firm. Senior managers should show their acquired knowledge of the dynamics and their curiosity about the evolution of the industry. At any level and in any kind of firm there is the need for intellectual curiosity!
During a job interview, a way to show your intellectual curiosity is to ask questions. Build the enquires on your knowledge about the firm, the job description and the industry trends you have searched to prepare the interview and ask how the interviewer see the firm in few years. If there has been a change in the competitive or technological landscape, ask how it is affecting the processes within the firm and how it is likely to affect the performances in the future.