It is easy to focus on qualifications and experience during the hiring process. After all, our whole recruitment industry is pretty much geared around sifting through CVs, which reflect educational and employment background but are lacking when it comes to specifying character traits.
There is logic in the idea that hiring someone who has done a similar job previously will mean they will be able to hit the ground running when they start.
After all, previous employment is often the only indicator of quality when predicting job performance for a candidate, especially if you're using traditional methods in your job search.
What this is forgetting, however, is personality - and personality matters. Not least because, while knowledge can be acquired, skills learnt and experience gained, personality remains unchangeable. Somebody could have all the right skills on paper but be a terrible fit for your company.
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