Hiring the right people is a challenge experienced by every human resource director and manager in the corporate marketplace. Scores of documentation have been developed on the right way to identify the best talent for your team, but then you have to refer to a different source to be sure they have the people skills they need to get along with your team and others. Likewise, do their skills and capabilities mean they are quality candidates for positive growth in the company?

These are all common questions asked when trying to find the right people to complete a team. After all, it’s not just about who is best skilled to get the job done. The focus also has to be on how this individual will represent the brand. If he or she is tied to the customer experience, this is another element that must be considered. In the contact center especially, the right skills and disposition don’t always mean a right fit. It takes the hiring manager a little longer to dig deeper and get to the psyche of the individual.

It’s a step worth taking, however, as this person has a critical role to play in the customer’s experience. If that experience is less than stellar, the customer may take his or business somewhere else. Even worse, he or she may tell friends and family, causing a shift in the perception of the brand and the potential for additional revenue within this core audience. It’s a situation that is best to avoid if a company or contact center hopes to protect the customer base while still attracting new prospects.

While the skills, the attitude and the protection of the brand are all important, is the typical hiring manager simply falling into the same trap as any other organization? Sure, there are bound to be quality individuals looking to be loyal to the team for the long-term, but they are few and far between. To maximize their efforts, reach and investment in the process of identifying the quality candidates, hiring managers may want to take a slightly different approach.

It may be time to look at those individuals overlooked by the competition simply because they didn’t know where these key candidates could be found. It may also be time to look at those individuals who don’t have experience in the particular industry. This is the example of the perfect mind that has yet to be molded according to the practices of others.

If you’re ready to learn these tricks and more so you can hire candidates your competition can’t, Hiring for Competitive Advantage, presented by NOVO1, is scheduled for Wednesday, October 2 at 11AM EDT.