Who is ‘the best person for the job?’

With President Donald Trump’s sweeping declaration to end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, many supporters agree, saying they just want the “best person for the job” to be hired.

But what does the “best person for the job” mean? Is it the person most highly educated? Is it the person with the most real-world experience? Is it the person with the best references? Those are all things you can find on a resume.

If we could simply find the best person based on the words of their resume, why do we interview? What are we looking for that can’t be found on the one-page document?

As someone who has been in hiring for years, I can tell you most of what makes someone the “best person for the job” are the subjective qualities — the intangibles.

There were many times a resume that excited me ended in a poor quality candidate. On the flip side, sometimes a compelling candidate came from an underwhelming resume.

Let’s talk through what I mean. Here at the CNA, if we were hiring in the newsroom, I wouldn’t necessarily be looking for someone with the most journalism experience. I would be looking for someone who has lived in Creston or Union County for most, if not all, of their life.

Right now our newsroom consists of two Wisconsin girls, a Washington native who lived in Nebraska for 17 years and our “local” — a guy from Ankeny. Between the three reporters, we have three bachelor’s degrees. We don’t need someone highly educated on the ways of AP Style. We can teach that. What we need is someone who can teach us about the ways of Union County you can only know if you’ve been here for decades.

Let’s say we had two candidates for the job: one a 24-year-old white male with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Chicago and the other a 19-year-old Black female who graduated recently from East Union and has lived in Union County her whole life.

If the CNA hired the female, some may claim it to be a “DEI hire.” On paper, he is more qualified and would be able to jump in right away to help write stories. She would take longer to train, but would help fill a gap in our newsroom that he could never fill.

It’s important to think about these things when we look at someone and assume they are not “the best person for the job.”

Though that example had nothing to do with race, gender or sexual identity, sometimes those things also make someone a better fit for the job.

In law enforcement, having a female officer brings numerous benefits. For starters, while male officers can legally “pat down” women, most women report being more comfortable having another female pat them down. In addition, if the suspect needs to use the restroom and has to be watched, this provides a female to observe.

When it comes to assault, specifically sexual assault, 99% of perpetrators are found to be men while 83% of victims are female. Up to one month after the assault, 75% of victims meet the criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to UW Medicine.

Having to speak with a male officer after having experienced a sexual assault is not an ideal situation and can make it more difficult for victims to come forward. A female officer available provides a more comfortable situation for a woman suffering from PTSD.

You could use the same scenario: our 24-year-old white man with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice or a female with no experience. Both candidates would have to attend and graduate from the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. On an all-male department, given they both pass physical and written testing, the female may be the better candidate. To dismiss her as a “DEI hire” is to spread unfounded, negative claims.

In many leadership conferences or workshops, participants will take various forms of personality or leadership-type evaluation. Myers-Briggs, True Colors Test, Strengths Finder, DiSC Assessment are all different evaluations I’ve taken through these courses. They help separate people into what they bring to the table and what they need help with.

I always fall in the creative-type category which checks out given what I do for a living. I am always super low scoring on anything analytical or data-driven. I come up with the idea for the project, but I need someone else to help me with the nuts and bolts.

These tests, though not offered through a hiring process, can be talked through during a hiring process. I can find out if you’re a creative-type like me or if you are someone who will help me figure out how to see a project through.

This is another way the public can’t see that someone may be “the best person for the job.” Diversity isn’t just about someone’s race or gender. It’s about their strengths, background, character, education and so much more.

Not only does Forbes report diverse organizations to be more successful than their non-diverse counterparts, they also report companies in the top 25% of ethnic diversity are 36% more likely to financially outperform their less-diverse peers.

If the government stops embracing diversity as a whole and continue considering education and experience as the only two valuable hiring factors, we will see a decline in all important metrics.