[Loughla]

I think for most hiring, regardless of industry, the secret is searching for passion, focus, (I would add) ability/willingness to learn new skills, and a positive attitude toward other humans.

Specific job skills can be taught or learned. If you have the right attitude, positive outlook, and are inherently someone who learns things, you can be very successful in most jobs.

Too often, hiring filters for specific job skills/credentials. Because these are supposed to be a proxy for the softer skills. It's not as effective, but much easier to deploy at scale, I think.

[underlipton]

There are a lot of people who are loathe to admit this, because they draw a lot of their self-worth from their expertise and the success derived from it. To say that most people, with the right attitude, could perform just as well is anathema. They get and keep jobs, but their behavior is often toxic and keeps teams from success. In extreme cases, they may jealously guard their domain and undermine coworkers.

On the flip-side, there are a lot of people dealing with trauma of one kind of another. Outwardly, they may seem to be negative or acerbic or closed-minded, when, internally, they are trying mightily to get their passion and earnestness to break through a wall of their own bitterness or anxiety.

I don't know that recruiting or management have reliable methods of dealing with either pro-socially.

[thinkingtoilet]

I have built some truly awesome teams and besides a base level of knowledge, the only thing I care about is attitude. Another huge factor is passions, I always ask what they do outside of work. If you are passionate about something you know how to focus and care about the details. This strategy has been very successful for me.