Katherine Wiid, Career Strategist and Selection Panel Advisor, comments on the problem of one word with many meanings.
The problem with the word "curious" is that it means different things to different people, organisations and roles.
To a research scientist, it might mean testing a hypothesis from several different angles. Whilst for someone in customer services, it might mean noticing that the same complaint comes in on a Tuesday morning.
The same goes for any attribute we recruit for: collaborative, resilient, innovative. Unless the candidate and the interviewer share the same language, we rely on gut feeling and start making judgements based on our own definitions. You can end up with an interviewer and a candidate nodding along to the same word, each imagining something very different!
This is why I am so interested in defining throwaway terms like curiosity. My work involves listening carefully to language and decoding it in context, whether I'm helping organisations plan a selection process or supporting professionals with their career choices.
If you're hiring: what are you actually looking for?
Before putting curiosity on your next job advert, ask yourself:
- What would a curious person actually do in this role that someone else wouldn't?
- Where and how would you measure it in their first three months?
- Would you be open to them asking awkward questions in open forums and meetings?
That last point is worth thinking about. Many organisations I work with say they want curiosity, until someone starts asking uncomfortable questions!
If curiosity matters in your organisation, I recommend describing what it means using behaviours you could actually identify. For example:
- Asking questions rather than waiting to be told
- Working across the whole organisation, beyond your own team
- Challenging "the way we've always done it" mindset
- Trying new software and AI tools, and sharing what they learn.
Swapping adjectives for verbs (sorry, I didn't mean to give a grammar lesson!) makes it much clearer how you expect a candidate to use this skill in your organisation. It also gives you something to listen for at interview, rather than relying on a feeling or general impression.
I recently worked with a consultancy firm that couldn't clearly explain what good looked like in a candidate. We went through their language together and created a framework with clear definitions, so that everyone, including the recruiter and the candidates, shared a common language. It worked so well that the interview process went from two or three interviews to just one practical scenario and a panel interview. And it led to not one but two offers!
If curiosity is on your CV: can you back it up?
Now a question for candidates. If "curious" appears on your CV or LinkedIn profile, what would you say if an interviewer asked, "Tell me what you mean by that"?
Statements like "I'm very curious" or "I have a naturally curious mind" are subjective. I hope you'll agree they're more confusing than helpful, because the reader has to guess what you mean, and they'll guess using their own definition, not yours.
Start with some detective work. Before your interview, review the company's website, the job description and anything you can find about the hiring managers and what they are interested in. Also look for what the organisation rewards and the problems it seems to be dealing with. The recruiter or talent acquisition team may also be able to share some of the company's cultural expectations. From all this research, you can make a more informed guess as to what curiosity means to them. And you'll have put your own curiosity into practice along the way!
Then think of times you showed curiosity and how you could evidence them in a way that's relevant to the role and the organisation. Take some time to think about:
- What you did: the question you asked, the thing you explored, the tool you tried
- The problem you tackled: why it mattered and who it affected
- What changed: the outcome and perhaps how this approach differed from what you'd normally do.
If you get stuck finding a workplace example, think about any volunteering, caring responsibilities or perhaps a hobby you could refer to.
And if you really can't find an example at all, it might be worth asking yourself if the word belongs on your CV.
Don't take words at face value
As a LAB Profile practitioner, I listen closely to how people describe their choices, decisions and thinking at work. Those who talk about possibilities and alternatives are often motivated quite differently from those who talk about a sequence of steps. Yet both can be curious! They may just thrive in different places.
Which is why I always ask the follow-up question. The word itself tells me very little, yet how someone describes it tells me a great deal.
So, if you're hiring, write down what curiosity looks like in your organisation before your next interview. If "curious" is on your CV, find one real example of your curiosity in action and tell it well. And whichever side of the table you're on, ask the question: what do you mean by that?
Curious about curiosity? (Sorry, I couldn't resist!) If you're not sure what it looks like in your organisation, or how to evidence your own, please get in touch. I'm always happy to have a chat.
