Earlier this year, at a Memorial Day picnic, I had the pleasure of chatting with Rob, a Marine Corps veteran who is also a successful medical sales executive.
Rob is a hiring manager who frequently makes talent decisions . We discussed his difficulty in finding job candidates with the traits he looks for — 14 key traits, to be exact.
They are:
1) Judgment
2) Justice
3) Dependability
4) Integrity
5) Decisiveness
6) Tact
7) Initiative
8) Endurance
9) Bearing
10) Unselfishness
11) Courage
12) Knowledge
13) Loyalty
14) Enthusiasm
As a Marine, Rob was trained to learn and live by these14 key traits of leadership. He is always on the lookout for job prospects who embody all/most of them. But he finds that during interviews, few people are able to recognize these traits in themselves and they have an even harder time applying them to their personal experiences.
Rob said, “ I don’t understand. Whenever I was interviewing for jobs in the past, it was easy for me to talk about my skills, experience and success because everything aligned with the Marine Corp leadership traits.”
He went on to tell me,“ You can’t live through the military experience without embodying these traits.” Rob said that is why he interviews EVERY veteran or reservist who applies to job openings in his department. After all, he said, “… (they) have worked under extensive stress, accomplish their mission, never quit, are decisive and know the value of being a team players.” Rob believes that any active or former military person has the training and experience to make a promising hire.
“What more could you ask for in an employee!” he cheered.
As a memento, Rob jotted down these traits on a napkin for me. I promised him that I would have the napkin framed and hang it in my office to serve as a constant reminder of the very best qualities to look for in job applicants. Semper Fi, Rob!