Choosing the best candidates for your cannabis company involves more than just reviewing resumes and asking standard interview questions. If you’re a hiring manager looking for top-tier employees, you’ll need to review the personality traits of an ideal cannabis job candidate.
Ask any cannabis staffing recruiter, and they’ll tell you the industry is unlike any other before it. Every day, the space becomes more competitive, so choosing the right talent is crucial to longevity. If you’re looking to grow your team, we’ve honed in on the best qualities to look for when considering a cannabis job candidate.
Flexible
There are a variety of cannabis jobs available, and each one requires a cannabis employee who can adapt quickly to changes in the market. Without the ability to adjust accordingly, many opportunities will be missed. Here’s how to check for cognitive flexibility in a potential employee:
- Ask for examples of creative problem-solving.
- Give them a challenging scenario and ask how they would handle it.
- Study their skillset and see if they are talented in multiple areas.
Team Player
It’s all about unity in the cannabis industry, as a team with incredible synergy will always do better than one with a star player. It doesn’t matter if you’re filling a cannabis executive position or an entry-level role, as everyone needs to be in sync to progress. Here’s how to check if the cannabis job candidate you’re evaluating is a team player:
- Have the candidate chat with members of your team–make this more of a dialogue scenario than an interview.
- Check their resume for volunteer experience, as it’s a good indicator of a solid team player.
- Check to see if they have exceptional examples of mentoring–this shows they are willing to help others succeed.
Confident
Confidence in the work environment goes a long way and is infectious, so your team benefits more from employees with conviction. You need team players who believe in their work and tackle difficult projects head-on. People cut from this cloth are not afraid to make mistakes or dive into something brand new. It seems like there’s always something new in the cannabis industry, so staying ahead of the curve is crucial. Here’s how to check if a cannabis job candidate is confident:
- Watch for body posture that shows confidence: maintaining eye contact, uncrossed arms, leaning into the conversation, etc.
- Discuss their hobbies and find out if they enjoy learning–knowledge fuels confidence
- When asking them about how they handled a past failure, observe whether or not they focus on their strengths and the positives that came from the situation.
Self-motivated
Any person that pushes themselves out of their comfort zone and strives to be better every day is ideal for any of the cannabis jobs in the industry. The young cannabis industry has plenty of ups and downs and is still developing its structure, so self-motivation is indispensable. Yes, it’s important to support your employees and boost morale, but having self-motivated talent will only amplify the positivity in the work environment. Here’s how to tell if your interviewee is self-motivated:
- Ask them to describe their ideal work environment–the workspace plays a big factor in self-motivation, so if they describe something similar to your company, that’s a good sign.
- Discuss how they approach difficult tasks they have little interest in and ask for a specific example in their past work experience that showcases their approach.
- Ask them about the most challenging obstacle they’ve faced and how they got through it.
Detail-oriented
Being detail-oriented makes a difference in producing good products and the best products. Find employees who believe that every factor matters and your business will soar. There’s so much potential to innovate in this industry, and hiring detail-oriented employees will help your company tap into more creative opportunities, so you can stand out from your competition. Here are some good signs that show a cannabis job candidate is detail-oriented:
- Check for proper spelling and grammar on their resume.
- Have them take a personality test that examines their attention to detail. Culture Index is one of the more popular personality tests available.
- Give them an assignment and see how well they follow instructions.
Eager to Learn
There are a variety of cannabis jobs to choose from, and many positions will have you wear multiple hats at one point or another. Therefore, an eagerness to learn is an ideal personality trait to look for in a cannabis job candidate. Since the cannabis industry is still so young, companies benefit more from employees who are keen on learning new skills so they can grow with the organization.
- During the interview, observe how interested the interviewee is in the different sectors of the company.
- Discuss their hobbies and interests to see if they are lifelong learners.
- Find out if they’ve attended conferences or registered for cannabis webinars in the past few months.
Plays Well With Others
Interpersonal skills are a big plus, as networking is pivotal for success in the cannabis industry. Ideally, the employee should work well with the team and be willing to build genuine rapport with clients. They don’t have to be a social superstar–depending on the position–but being able to converse with others positively goes a long way. Here’s how you can assess if the cannabis job candidate you’re interviewing interacts well with others:
- Ask the candidate’s references what he/she is like interacting with clients, how he/she communicated with the team, and what his/her sense of humor is like.
- Take the interviewee out to lunch in a more relaxed setting to discover how they interact in a non-formal setting.
- Notice whether or not they ask questions about you to find common ground.
Cannabis Staffing Done Right
Our cannabis staffing firm is dedicated to helping you find the ideal cannabis executives, direct-hires, and temporary employees. We are passionate about helping people start their cannabis careers and assisting companies in growing their organization. Reach out to us for all of your cannabis staffing needs at contact@cannabizteam.com.
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