The skills and experience a candidate brings to the job are important indicators of how qualified they are to perform the task, and you’ll want to consider them seriously when you make your hiring decisions. You’ll also want to consider factors like the candidate’s personality and their enthusiasm. If two candidates are equally qualified, consider hiring the more enthusiastic candidate. If two candidates are not equally qualified, but the difference in qualifications is slight, you should also consider hiring the more enthusiastic candidate. Here’s why:

• Enthusiastic candidates are more likely to pursue training and improvement. People who are excited about the work they’re doing want to get better at it. These candidates will invest time in training and learning, both on the job and on their own time, letting them develop new skills that bring more value to their work.

• Enthusiastic candidates will do better work. When you don’t like what you’re doing, you don’t put much effort into it; you aim for the minimally acceptable level of quality. Enthusiastic candidates who enjoy what they’re doing take pride in their work and want it to be exceptional, so you can expect they’ll put more effort into it. You can also expect an enthusiastic employee to go above and beyond in other ways, looking for ways to contribute outside the strict boundary of their official role.

• Enthusiastic candidates will fit in and be team players. If their positive, enthusiastic attitude carries over from the interview into the workplace, the candidate will be a positive, enthusiastic employee who is fun to be around. Their good energy will be beneficial to the team as a whole.

Finding an enthusiastic employee means paying attention to job candidates’ attitudes during their interviews. You shouldn’t expect them to be enthusiastic about their current job—they’re looking to change, after all—but they should be able to be enthusiastic about something they’ve achieved. They should also sound excited when asked about what they’re looking for in their next position; hopefully, what they’re looking for matches what you have to offer. You can also gauge enthusiasm by how thoroughly they’ve researched your company prior to the interview and the kinds of questions they ask.

It can be hard to maintain your own enthusiasm when searching for a new employee. Working with a staffing agency like InReach can help you stay positive by sending you top candidates to interview. Contact us to learn how our services can help.