Assessment Of Aspiring Employees

Posted on 13/06/2018

In this edition of Views From The Top published in The Business Times on 28 May 2018, Achieve Group CEO Joshua Yim expressed his view on the following topic:

When hiring executive staff, how open would you be, as an employer, to ditching altogether academic qualifications as an indicator of cognitive ability and potential? How would you assess an aspiring employee?

There is a saying in our recruitment trade that the mileage of any qualifications for candidates lasts only 7 to 10 years. Their future career mobility would be highly dependent on their specific contributions at work, achievements and even accolades won, then just paper credentials. As much as I must agree on the benefit of disciplined training in building mental capabilities through formal education, what companies ultimately want are leaders that make things happen and produce spectacular results. Just look at the many outstanding entrepreneurs who dropped out of college, such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Did they not exhibit a strategic mind-set, forward-looking vision and boldness to change that have impacted the world with business success?

Joshua Yim, CEO of Achieve Group