It’s not just chic tech brands that can attract the best

Good help is hard to find. The people that make up your company are the people who shape your future. It’s often quite difficult to find person who can take your vision and help you achieve it.

Faced with a similar struggle at Apple, CEO Tim Cook sat down with 60 Minutes to discus how Apple locates the right people to carry out the vision of Steve Jobs.

1. Hire people that work with a passion and an idealism. 

“We’ve learned to value a magnetic personality just as much as a proficiency.” Don’t hire someone who knows your product or service inside and out (of course, technical knowledge is always a plus). Instead, look for the employee who is passionate about the why of your company. Often, the key to building a great company culture as special as the one at Apple is to hire for attitude and train for skill. 

2. Hire people that don’t take no for an answer.

“I have people all around me every day that don’t agree with me.” Look for someone who could go toe-to-toe with Steve Jobs. Fearless feedback both makes you a better employer and breeds a healthy company environment. Hire people who strive to make things better with such vigor and passion that they are willing to debate and defend their point of view. 

3. Hire people that don’t accept the status quo. 

Remember This Ad? While it features Steve Jobs describing Apple’s customers, it also describes the ideal Apple employee.

“They’re not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. They are the ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world.” Apple knows that to change the world, they must have individuals who are world changers. 

4. Hire People who are inherently not satisfied with things.

They know things should be different. They focus on it until they find an answer.

The driving purpose behind the job interview process at Apple is to find the individual who can take a problem and discover the answer. Look for the person who sees a problem and is vexed by it until they solve it. Someone who can’t help themselves until they have achieved perfection. 

5. Hire people that can’t be told things are impossible

The Apple mindset does not entertain impossibility. They just work harder than everyone else to prove the naysayers wrong. Look for people who thrive when challenged and have a history of achieving the insurmountable.

The takeaway

Hiring the right person allows you to lead your company rather than be forced to micromanage. As you look to 2016, find the person with diverse experience and the ability to apply that experience to any situation. 

“You can dream, design and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it requires people to make the dream a reality.” ~ Walt Disney

#TopTalent