Evan’s Corner: How to Join the Team
By Evan Coulter
Like all businesses, we are always looking for the right people to join the UCEC team. So, we interview candidates, searching for the people with the passion for working hard on quality projects.
One of our interview steps is working through a real-life issue we encounter on the job. I don’t want to give away the hands-on nature of the task, but trust me when I say it tells us a lot about the person who we are interviewing. We don’t offer this part of the interview to trick or embarrass candidates. Rather, we hope to see their best selves when they are tasked with this hands-on project.
What I want to find when I interview:
1. People who want to do a good job.
It’s easy to half-heartedly try to do something on the job. A lot of people take this route. You may have worked with people like this. They can’t really be trusted to get the job done. You may have to wait on them. You will probably have to redo their work. There’s room on our team for people who want to excel. They’ll find themselves in good company.
2. People who think through how to do something.
You know that guy who charges into a project without knowing the boundaries, deadlines or budget? Yeah, we know that guy, too. He might get things done but when a part is backordered or a colleague gets sick, his “plan” falls apart. We like to find people who think about the big picture before moving ahead.
3. People who ask for help.
Recently, during the interview process, a candidate started on the task we gave him. After some time working through it, he became stumped. Then, he asked for guidance. We really like to see that. It means if you join the UCEC team and you don’t know how to do something, you’ll reach out for help. It’s impossible to know everything. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. We know we can count on you to ask questions about things you don’t know.
Great employees are vital to our success. Let me know if you want to join the team.
Evan is Vice President of Business Operations at UCEC.