Hiring Creative Employees

Jeffrey Paul Baumgartner discusses some of the traits worth looking into when you’re in the postion to hire creatives.

Are you looking to hire creative employees at your company? If so, allow me to propose some characteristics you can advertise for and look for in order to find true creative thinkers. However, I also have a warning for you. But first, a little background.

I’ve been reading and hearing a lot about how companies are looking to hire creative employees. But, the job advertising I see does not reflect that. Most “knowledge workers” are expected to follow a rather narrow career path defined by the position they seek. Typically, that will involve a degree in a relevant field—ideally, an advanced degree and similar work experience.

The individual fulfilling the job description is likely to be competent. But there is no guarantee that she will be particularly creative. Moreover, her background will be so similar to that of people already working in the division that she will be unlikely to bring much diversity of thought to the division. Diversity of thought helps collaborative creativity. The more diversity you have in a group, the more raw material you have for creative ideas.

If you want to find and hire exceptionally creative people, you need to find people with diversity in their backgrounds. This is not only a sign of creativity, but it also indicates a potential employee with more diversity of experience, knowledge and thought than a person who has followed a clearly defined career path.

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