Resumes can be frustrating sometimes. They’re meant to represent you and your work experience, but there’s only so much you can express on that one sheet of paper.
One career coach shared that one of the most sought-after traits by hiring managers can’t possibly be on a resume, but it may just be the most important attribute you can exhibit.
A career coach said that the one attribute every hiring manager looks for is hunger for the job.
TikTok content creator Hanna Goefft is a career coach who helps workers “[build] happier careers,” according to her bio. Goefft is also a former hiring manager, so she knows what it takes to stand out in a sea of job candidates.
Goefft explained that the one thing hiring managers covet the most in a candidate can’t actually go on a resume. Instead, it’s something you have inside of you.
“You can’t put this skill on your resume, but every hiring manager wants it,” she said. “I’ve been a hiring manager myself, and there’s one skill that I look for in every candidate that is so hard to gauge from a resume and in an interview, but I wanna hire for it every time.”
The skill, Goefft shared, is actually something that has more to do with who you are as a person.
“If you can demonstrate hunger for a job, hunger to grow in a role, you’re gonna stand out above other candidates every time, even if they have more experience or a more perfect background on paper,” she said.
Goefft went on to explain exactly what hunger means to her.
“Hunger, to me, means caring about the work you’re doing, having high standards for yourself and the quality of work you’re producing, having this desire to grow and keep learning,” she stated.
How to demonstrate a hunger for a role in an interview.
As Goefft pointed out, hunger is “hard to gauge.” Even when a hiring manager is interviewing someone one-on-one, they may stick to what they think are the appropriate things to say — what the manager wants to hear, really.
But showing your interest and hunger is important and will set you apart from the rest of the pack. Goefft explained how to do that.
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“They ask thoughtful questions,” she said of job candidates with hunger. “Questions that show that they’ve done their research, that they’ve made connections between what I’ve shared about the role and the challenges in the role and their own experience, and questions that demonstrate that they’ve thought about the impact that they can make in the work that they could do by coming into the role.”
“The second is when they talk about their career goals and what they’re hoping to learn in this job,” she continued. “To show that you’re ambitious and you have a desire to learn and continue to grow is gonna go a long way.”
Goefft concluded by saying, “And the third thing is that I’m always listening for examples of when they’ve demonstrated this hunger. Like, it’s one thing just to talk about your motivation and how hungry you are, but it’s a whole other thing if you can showcase how this has shown up in past roles.”
Other experts agree that hunger is an important trait hiring managers are looking for in candidates.
In an article for Recruiter.com, CEO Maren Hogan said hunger is one of the three attributes she looks for in candidates.
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“Hunger is what drives an employee to get up every day and do their job,” she said. “Whether it’s hunger for their own career ambitions or hunger to be part of a successful company, there must be a hunger inside that employee to keep them motivated and engaged.”
While having a track record of good work experience and skills is important, the very thing that gets you hired may be your ambition and how much you want the job.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
