Hiring people who lived up to the name of Care.com—an online service that matches families with housekeepers and caregivers for the elderly, children and even pets—was critically important to founder and former CEO Sheila Lirio Marcelo as the firm expanded. To do that, Marcelo and other executives employed everything from problem-solving scenarios to personality testing in their extensive interview process to hire employees with the ideal personality traits.
“We [did] Myers-Briggs in the company, but we [didn’t] do personality testing as a judgment. There are a lot of different personalities,” she said. “There are introverts and extroverts, there are great project managers and those who are more spontaneous. I think diversity is really very important.”
So, while not everyone at Care.com had to fit a specific personality type defined by the Myers-Briggs type indicator, Marcelo looked for people who shared the company’s core values.
Care.com also looked for people with an entrepreneurial spirit, which doesn’t always mean they want to be CEOs themselves. To Marcelo, an entrepreneur is a person who is creative, passionate, innovative and driven. “And they can be all of those and not be the boss in the room,” she said. “I think if they are striving to be the boss in the room, they are probably not a cultural fit for Care.com because it’s all about being collaborative and being comfortable in your skin.”
Five employee personality traits for Care.com
Care.com’s core values are embodied by the slogan “Be There.” Employees must be:
- Transparent: We communicate openly and encourage different ideas.
- Humble: We are not perfect and are always evolving and growing.
- Entrepreneurial: We are fast-paced, passionate and can have fun in what we do.
- Respectful: We hire and work with self-aware, kind people.
- Excellent: We take ownership and deliver with high standards.
This article was published in October 2012 and has been updated. Photo by BAZA Production/Shutterstock
