Here is another extract from the interview with David Lawson of Goodman Fielder.

I asked David the question, What do YOU look for when hiring new people?

I’m usually hiring to my specific field. So what I’m going to look for someone who has got an interesting or solid background, particularly in terms of education for their profession. The first thing I want to see is that someone is committed to the professional choice they’re making, that they have done some background work to develop their skills.

On the converse, I would probably not be as excited by people who just want to give this field a go and see if they like it. All that said, if somebody is a little unusual and they are making a career transition, that they bring a good case for that and demonstrated a good background in their previous

career choice, I would be pretty open to looking at them. When I’m hiring for organisational development (more traditionally known as human resources), I’m going to want to see someone who has done some training in behavioural sciences. I look for that humanities training in addition to some commercial or corporate experience. In addition to that qualification component, I’m then looking for something that shows they’ve got some passion and excitement for wanting to do this role.

Because of this, I’m going to be attracted to somebody who sees that the work that they are doing is more than just a set of tasks or a job. They see that work as purposeful, that it achieves something greater than just getting the job done. Turning to Goodman Fielder, with its recent history, we have been more about hiring the person than necessarily being overly concerned with the technical component. If someone has the passion and desire to achieve, then put them in the role and let them have a go at it. Goodman Fielder has had a strong period of, “give us somebody who is technically competent but also we want to see an attitude, a bit of passion / excitement.”

See you next time!

James E

James Evangelidis

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Tagged as: conglomerate, David Lawson, passion