I'm not sure that there's anything easy to articulate there For me, at least, it's pretty much just the vibe I get from them (not empirical, I know, but I have a better success rate with that than some of the usual 'bullet point' methods that might work for others).

I pretty much just bang them hard on the technical.   I rejected behavioral interviewing a long time ago  (that's not to say everyone else has, though).  My logic is if they know their stuff--and least, to the extent that I hammer them--then they had to have a work ethic to get that way.  You don't just know the field overnight.

You know that works the other way around too.  If someone actually notices that you're looking for someone with three years experience and they only have two and a half, they may discount the possibility of getting the job at all and move on to consider a different vacancy.  Considering that the actual experience gained in three years can vary considerably, it might just be an idea to not mention a duration but ask for particular things in the person specification instead.

Consider also that someone may not even mention work experience because they don't consider it to be relevant.  Which okay, it's their loss if they haven't mentioned any kind of work on their resume, but that doesn't mean they're a bad candidate.

 You mean like holiday?  

My dad had the same idea, so after I finished high school he took me with him to work for the summer, at an auto repair shop. Because up until then, getting to school at 7AM every day, spending 6-7 hours in class, spending another 3-4 hours doing homework, and another 2-3 hours  preparing for the graduation exam and working on the accreditation project and working on my own stuff while managing to not have a nervous breakdown was a piece of cake in his view. I did gain something from the time spent in the auto shop, partial loss of hearing and no time to work on the things I wanted before starting college. 

School thought me a very strict working schedule, one that I was surprised that no one respected in college. I was literally, the only student in math class to actually attend the first two hours of the course in the morning. During that time, I got a job in an insurance company, but I had the nasty habit of keeping regular work hours, meaning I had to stand around outside, waiting for someone with the key to the office to come along and let me in. Once I actually had to go looking for the keys around town, because the manager lost them on a bus. There was also the fun part of some time sensitive papers that were legally fudged because when I got back from signing them, the office was closed, everyone having gone home after lunch on a Friday. I quit that job after a month.

Then I got a job that was basically hell in regards of working hours, or so I've been told. I didn't start to notice what people meant until I got physically ill. I didn't stop, I just shrugged it off as a silly human reactions that needed to be removed , until I realized my work wasn't being used at it's full potential  and that for the past few years I had no social life whatsoever, just a downward spiraling pit of depression. 

Things are better now. My point is, someone who didn't have a job in high school or college may not be completely unequipped for the workforce. They may actually have the mental stability which I now sort of lack, because of my work ethic. The kind of mental stability that doesn't require starting off the day with 5 minutes of the Swedish Chef, in order to trigger humor, as to remind me I'm still human. 

Hmm, before I worked in Finance, many, many moons ago, I did all sorts of jobs.

Packing insulation, gardening, driving a bread van etc. You know, paying my way. I eventually stopped putting all that on my CV because some of the feedback I got from job interviews was it gave the impression I came from the wrong background to work in Finance...

I'm not sure you have a real notion of how difficult it is for many, even with real work experience ... that folk with degrees are having a tough time finding work even at McDonald's is a sad state of affairs.  College education is becoming increasingly a bad investment ... McD's @ $16k/year isn't going to help anyone pay off $40k student loans after trying to pay for things like groceries, utilities and rent. :/

You know one of the most over-used words with regards to jobs?   Overqualified.

Let Draginol use whatever self-assured criteria he likes to hire people for his own company. I don't get the impression that he posts with a desire for learning or self-reflection. However I do think he should be listened to as an experienced employer within this particular business sector.

But I'll add:

Parents, if you are looking for advice on how to help your kids have an opportunity for a job/future which blends happiness and being able to afford living in your own country: teach them work ethic, commitment, honour and humility in everything they do. Add a dash of realistic goals for their strengths and weaknesses, and likewise realistic expectations. I say a dash because they'll need to accept what they can achieve at any one time AND to aspire for what they dream.

Draginol will hopefully get what he's looking for and they will suit his purpose, but I believe he is reducing his chances of getting that new, unjaded, diamond ore patiently waiting to shine.

The irony is that software development needs imagination, but a typical 'get-by' job only focuses on and requires adheration to work processes and quality/efficiency standards. Do you have a recipe for 'innovative' software up your sleeve?

I've since found this phrase is littered throughout Google, but today I was thinking of a team motto and I started with 'Think outside the box' and ended at 'Think without the box'.

It's not often I disagree with things that you say Brad, but I really can't agree with you on this one.........  I hope you read some of the replies here and think again about giving people a chance. Hire the person, not their record, because in my experience you will pass by some of the best employees around.

I spent thirty years in the casino industry hiring and training young people to be croupiers. Most of my star pupils had no work experience at all, but were so grateful for the opportunity that they worked their asses off for me. If you set achievement levels at varying stages of their employment as a requirement for remaining employed, then you have the opportunity to get rid of them if they don't meet the required levels.

Agree 100% with Brad's OP.

And the excuse that kids have a hard time finding the first job doesn't cut it with me. If they really look they should be able to find something - and if they don't they can join a volunteer organisation like Surf Lifesaving and get some skills while learning about responsibility - and meet a hell of a lot of potential employers too.

I made sure all of our kids hunted for a job on their own when they turned 15. All of them got jobs that were menial but they all learned a solid work ethic. They all got ripped off at times and had to learn to stand up for themselves. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of them.

Yes, you are right.

That doesn't mean it is a sane way of thinking or in any way a good path to follow for a society as a whole.

As a society you can't on one hand whine about high unemployment, while on the other hand steadily increase the preq's for entry into employment.

i agree with boxxi... most people are just greatful to get the job... they will show up and do their job.

give people a chance brad.....

have you heard of job probation?

in australia its a huge thing.

a factory might hire 3 people, they are given a 3 month probation to see how they perform, do they show up everday? are they hard workers?

do they keep proper lunch breaks and smokos? do they work well with others? ect. its a good way to weed out the people who will fit into your

working environment and make your workplace a productive one.

and of course, after the 3 month probation, you decide who stays and who goes (of your new employees)

Of course....I'd always choose the one who was 'grateful' over the one who was 'greatful' ..... but that's just me....

And there-in lies one of the problems of the modern age... illiteracy.

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Yo, dude.

I was 19 when I started full-time work .... 2 years into my Architecture course .... and learned more in the first week working than in all of those 2 years.  38 years later the only thing that's changed is I now have 2 full-time jobs.  [and strange hours]...