According to CNBC reports, Claire Hughes Johnson is an Ex-Google employee, she worked with google as a VP for 10 years and shared the top skill that she used to look for in people while hiring candidates.
In her role with google, she was responsible for Gmail, Google Apps business, and consumer operations. Additionally, she was required to spend almost 40 hours a week conducting job interviews.
She has explained that she mainly always focused on one skill in candidates before anything else and that is self-awareness.
Self-awareness is an important skill for any person. It is the ability to focus on yourself and how your actions, thoughts, or emotions do or don’t align with your internal standards.
Claire Hughes Johnson said, “I always watch for two words: Too much “I” is a red flag that they may not be humble or collaborative; too much “we” may obscure what role they played in the situation.”
“There needs to be a balance. I typically learn something revealing when I ask about their specific role. A positive answer would be: “It was my idea, but the credit goes to the whole team”, she added.
Claire Hughes Johnson Ex-Google also shared the self-awareness factors:
- You consistently get feedback that you disagree with. This doesn’t mean the feedback is correct, but it does mean that how others perceive you differs from how you perceive yourself.
- You often feel frustrated and annoyed because you don’t agree with your team’s direction or decisions.
- You feel drained at the end of a workday and can’t pinpoint why.
- You can’t describe what kinds of work you do and don’t enjoy doing.
She has also shared that said self-awareness is a rare trait. Additionally, the researchers have also indicated that only 10-15% of people possess it and 95% believe that they do.
She has also highlighted that being self-aware makes a person more motivated to learn because they’re honest about what they need to work on which helps them relate better to colleagues and managers.
