If you’ve ever been in HR (or even sat through interviews), you’ll know the pain: should we hire the Bright candidate or the Right candidate?
Hiring is like marriage. Do you marry the “bright” person who charms the entire wedding hall, or the “right” one who is actually going to bear with your snoring for the next 20 years?
Let me tell you about a mid-sized IT company we are associated. They once hired a “bright star.” He could answer every question with flair. He even had a five-slide presentation ready on why “AI is not Artificial, but Actual Intelligence” (nobody had asked).
The management was impressed. “This guy will change our world,” they whispered in the boardroom.
Fast-forward six months:
- He changed… the coffee machine settings.
- He had brilliant ideas, but none were practical within the company’s budget.
- His team thought he was giving motivational speeches instead of doing actual work.
End result: the company had more PowerPoint decks than finished projects.
When in doubt, ask:
- Can this candidate actually do the job? (Need)
- Will they work well with the team and culture? (Need)
- Are they capable of growing, not just glowing? (Future Need)
If the answer is yes, stop looking for fireworks. Go with the right fit. Because in business, steady bulbs light the office longer than shooting stars.
In HR, the real dilemma isn’t Bright vs. Right. It’s whether we want to impress today or sustain tomorrow.
Drop your view I would love to hear which side you are on.
