PEOPLE SKILLS A BIG ADVANTAGE

RICK Williams, CEO of IT company Platform XXIV, finds that attitude, drive and determination pay dividends during recruitment.

“In a customer facing role, it’s really important to hire someone [who] can engage with the customer and that has a bit of personality. For me, that’s critical.

“In any industry there’s a base level in terms of the skills required for any role you’re interviewing for, but for me, it’s really important to have someone who’s good with people,” says Williams.

“Hiring someone who is perhaps less experienced but has the right attitude can be a fantastic investment because generally what happens is that you get someone who is very keen to improve their skills very quickly. They’re prepared to do extra work in their own time in order to fill in any weaknesses.

“In my industry, people have a lot of skills already and interest in the industry anyway, but often the rookies get pigeonholed into . . . roles they don’t necessarily want. What happens is they get to a ceiling very quickly and there’s nowhere else for them to go.

“What I have found with my employee is that he’s really hungry to get out there and develop his skills, get some new skill sets and learn and challenge himself, and he’s been fantastic doing that. That’s something about generation Y and Z.

“They are fast moving, especially in picking up technology. They’re the technology generation, really. They’re able to adapt very quickly.”

Cecily-Anna Bennett
As seen in the Australian