As the economy turns around, construction companies are preparing to hire again! In some cases, they will simply hire back the employees they had to let go, in other cases they will have to start over.

Deciding between hiring a candidate that is a strong fit with your company culture or a candidate with an impressive skill set can feel like a no-win situation. So, don’t put yourself in a situation where you need to choose! Instead, change how you think about announcing your intention to hire and the hiring process.

When a company hires for culture they do so based on chemistry, personality aspects, drive, and other key elements that make working at the company desirable. The lingering question throughout the interview process ends up being “Will they fit in?” People can learn the skills necessary to do the job, but if the person’s personality is not a fit, they will not remain with the company.

When a company hires for skill, they are trying to ensure that the new employee is ready and able to do the job from day one. Here, the lingering question is “Do they have the past experience to help us achieve our goals?” Skills alone are not sufficient and are all that can be determine from a resume or application. A potential’s techniques and standards still need to be considered to see if they are at the same level as your company’s and how they will work with other employees.

Balancing the two approaches is not easy and normally results in one of them out weighing the other—usually with skill out weighing culture. The reason is because skill is easier to prove while most techniques to assess personality and thinking patterns are illegal and unreliable at best, to use during the interview process. This is normally the case until a system or technique custom to a company’s culture is identified and implemented.