How to hire data talent the wrong way

Right now, we filter candidates first based on technical skills. You give them a coding challenge, a take-home project, or quiz them about their tech stack experience.

Only later, likely in the final phases of the interview dance, will you explore human and business skills. Asking questions to understand how they solve problems, can they express empathy, and if they have an innate curiosity about others. And do they “fit” with the team.

This will flip in the next 5 years.

The technical skills will be commoditized as tooling and AI advance. Their previous experience or knowledge of SQL will be decreasingly relevant.

Rather, you will be far more interested in their human skills.

• Do they know how to articulate a challenging situation?

• Do they show an appreciation for the challenges of the business teams?

• And, perhaps most importantly, do they know how to identify and embrace objectives?

AI will increasingly make it easy to do things.

So many things.

What it won’t be good at (perhaps ever), is telling you want.

The objectives of a company, organization, team, or individual won’t be set by AI. That’s a human challenge.

Or to put it a bit clearer.

AI will be great at the how and what.

It can’t give you the why.

When you are hiring, you will have to search for the “why” people, because those who excel at the what and how will be a commodity.

I’m glad yo are here,

Sawyer