April 20, 2012. By Victor Lipman contributed to Forbes.com
The most useful insight I gained as a hiring manager was that you almost never hire the only person who can do the job, but the one you feel will be the best choice among numerous qualified candidates.

Over the decades with a large corporation I hired quite a few people, and those who worked for me did too.  What did we look for?  What were the difference makers that helped us make these important decisions?

It’s worth noting that many companies, of course, have a well-established, HR-managed screening process.   So unless I wanted to review every resume for a certain position (which could easily number in the hundreds and I usually didn’t have time for), most of the candidates who made it through the screener would share certain characteristics.

In broad terms, they’d often have a good academic record, a basic skill set appropriate for the position, and (unless it was an entry-level role) a solid history of prior job performance.

Occasionally a position would be so specialized, one particular candidate would clearly rise to the top in terms of having a precise, desired skill set.  Or someone might have a perfect background, like coming from a key competitor and bringing with them useful inside information.  But more often than not, the choice wasn’t so clear.   (Being an optimistic sort, I’d find myself liking all the candidates – not a very helpful position to be in!)  In these instances, we’d end up relying on intangible characteristics, and intuition.  These intangibles often involved a combination of qualities.  With a tip of the cap to Twitter (which I love for the license it’s given us all to think creatively about language), here are the three that stood out for me:

#Credibilityreliability – Most importantly, I needed to feel that a candidate was believable and trustworthy.   (Sometimes my initial judgment was proven wrong over time, but at least this was my going-in perception.)   Was this a person you could depend on to get things done even if a project were hard, boring or stressful?   Any doubt on the trust front was a knockout.

#Teamplayerism – In an organization of any size, collaborative skills are essential.  Did a person enjoy being part of a team, or would they rather fly solo?   How were their social skills?   In short, what was my “read” on how well they’d get along with others and fit into the organization’s culture.   The importance of “cultural fit” can’t be underestimated; all too many talented people don’t work out just because their personal style may clash with organizational expectations.

#110percentism – How motivated did the person seem?   How much could you on count them to go above and beyond when you most needed them in a crisis, or on a tight deadline?  Would they be self-directed enough, without a lot of hand-holding (as no one has free time in a crisis), to give 110 percent when you most needed it?

So these were three intangible qualities that always felt important in the hiring process.  But I know other managers have their own favorites – their own predictors of success they’d be on the lookout for.  I’d be interested to hear what they are…