Posted by Marty Michael on Thu, Aug 27, 2009 @ 09:49 PM
Engineering is a very diverse discipline. At Avanceon we need thinkers and doers, inventors and implementers, designers and troubleshooters. Sometimes one person contains all of these skills, though more often a team comes together to complement each others' skills. The whole is greater than the parts.
When it's time to hire most of us look for the standard requirements, probably including some sort of specific experience or skill set. However, many innovative companies are now focusing more on an individual's personal attributes than where they obtained their degree or what their specific experience is
This successful practice is known as following the SWAN Model: Hiring employees that are Smart, Work Hard, Ambitious and Nice. Though hard to gauge at an interview, these qualities almost guarantee a decent worker. When hiring a non-entry-level person, the SWAN model, coupled with what they've done in the past, is a far better indicator of success than any resume.
Photo by: suvodeb
People at Avanceon share a common set of attributes: we are all SWANs! We have found that SWANs likely have what it takes both to help our clients and to be successful at our company. "SWAN" is an acronym for people who possess four qualities: Smart, Work hard, Ambitious, and Nice.
Smart
We are looking for people with keen minds who may have pursued a variety of academic interests and demonstrated achievement in their chosen fields. Once these people join Avanceon, they can turn their intellects on the problems facing our clients and develop creative, effective solutions.
Work hard
Being smart is not enough to succeed at Avanceon; you must also be willing to apply yourself every day. We look for people who have demonstrated their ability and willingness to work hard through academic/professional achievement and extracurricular involvement.
Ambitious
We look for people who set high goals for themselves and then strive to achieve those goals. Implementing our solutions allows us to validate our designs at an operational level, and it takes an ambitious individual to propose and then implement a system that could potentially change the way a company does business.
Nice
Many companies seek to hire people who are smart, hard working, and ambitious. Avanceon, however, has one additional requirement: you must be nice. Being nice is more than just a measure of one's integrity and character. We work closely both with each other and with our clients to solve problems and implement solutions. We encourage cooperation and sharing among all of our associates and one of the best ways to ensure this high level of cooperation is to hire nice people.