Ask HN: What does the perfect employee look like?

10 点作者 cauliflower99超过 3 年前

Seeing as recruitment for any company can be challenging, a good place to start for trying to hire good 'culture-fits' is to ask yourself what the perfect employee looks like.In your experience, what characteristics does the perfect employee have?Disclaimer: Putting aside the fact that there is no such thing as a perfect employee, I would like to know what you think one would look like in your experience.Some ideas from my side:TEAM PLAYER If the company works with teams primarily, then a poor team player can spell disaster no matter how technically gifted they are. A good team player is therefore necessary.TECHNICALLY EXCELLENT They have experience in the tech stack of their position. The more experience the better of course.GREAT SOFT SKILLS Probably the most overlooked in my experience. We had an excellent tech lead when starting our company, but he could not work with anyone or teach anyone. He was completely inept socially and would insult people (whether he meant to or not) on a regular basis.COMMUNICATION SKILLS Difficult to measure, but incredibly important. A good senior engineer with bad comms are inconvenient to work with. A mid-level engineer with excellent comms are a pleasure to work with.

7 条评论

mod超过 3 年前

I can see you're interested in talking about employed software people, but I don't employ any of those. I own a bar.My main metrics are not specific to a bar, though:#1 is trustworthiness. I trust all of my staff not to steal, and generally to make the best choices for my business.#2 is self-starting. We're such a small business that everyone contributes to things like cleaning, stocking, changing light bulbs. I can't notice all the things that need done, so I need them to be on the watch. I have a couple who score 10/10 on this and they really do me a huge service.#3 is probably culture fit. We have a certain atmosphere here. Regulars place, everyone is welcome, but no BS tolerated. So the attitude is very positive. We're happy to see our customers etc. Grumping around is really bad for business.All the "hard skills?" Totally unimportant. I'd rather hire someone I can trust who's never worked in a place like this. We can train them to a decent competence within a week.I have a girl in the daytime that is a perfect employee. Like anyone, she has some flaws. She can rarely relay a message correctly, she gets 5 projects going at once, stuff like that. But she kicks ass on #1, #2, and #3, and she's the person I'd hire first.

delgaudm超过 3 年前

Not one trait above speaks to respecting the actual employee, only what you can get from them. It's a two way street, you want a "perfect employee?" then you better be a "perfect employer" and I'm not sure I see that above.I think of a perfect employee is one that is:- paid well- treated humanely and respectfully- not considered a cog in a machine bound to arbitrary metrics or impossible-to-meet metrics- is offered room to grow intellectually- not asked to create products that harm society in the name of profit- can create their own side work- have a reasonable work life balance- can express opinions freely- retain privacy and dignityAnd a host of other characteristics not mentioned in your company-focused, human minimized description above.

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romanhn超过 3 年前

> They have experience in the tech stack of their position.You're going to severely and needlessly limit your candidate pool with this. Hire people that are looking to learn and grow, and they will pick up whatever stack you're using. Investing in your employees' growth will pay for itself many times over.I agree with the other three points, though they're mostly a variation on the same idea :)

bulatb超过 3 年前

A perfect employee is one who fits the role exactly. Define your roles and you'll know what that looks like.You could get them wrong and have somebody come along and show you, by being what you needed, but that's a whole other thing.

ironmagma超过 3 年前

I prefer to work with others who aren't afraid to express a dissenting opinion. Other than that, technical and project management excellence are musts.

sloaken超过 3 年前

When I am looking at an employee I look at 3 broad categories.1) Can the employee do the job.2) Can they get along - this is being able to work with others, and can they communicate. This is a double edged sword as you do not want someone who just talks and gets no work done. Mature enough to bring up problems. Are they happy.3) Do they care about accomplishments. Corollary will they learn whats needed to do the job. Are they flexible.Some criteria are job dependent. Ambition is usually great, but a lack of ambition is not always a problem. It depends on the job and the individual. Ambition must match their ability to expand.

giantg2超过 3 年前

The opposite of me.