Five things Yahoo! wants in a candidate

What does an innovative and creative Internet company like Yahoo! look out for in potential employees?

Aparna Ballakur, Vice President -- Human Resources, Yahoo! India, shares the five key qualities she always looks for in a potential recruit.

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1. Passion & energy

You might wonder why do employers make such a big deal about passion? The reason is simple: it's your passion, energy and drive -- the deep-down desire to give something your best shot -- that makes you successful. Like the writer E M Forster said, "One person with passion is better than 40 people merely interested."

Take, for instance, something as routine as your morning coffee. Wouldn't you rather get it from a guy who hands over your favourite latte to you with a smile than from someone who grunts as s/he thrusts a cup at you?

If someone has a passion for life and work, it shows -- and most of us tend to gravitate towards them, with the energy rubbing off.

At Yahoo! we look for individuals who are energetic, passionate and involved in what they do -- and a deep enthusiasm or continuous learning is the common thread woven through Yahoo!.

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2. Fun

We might work like a bunch of crazy ants, but that doesn't stop us from having all the fun in the world. At Yahoo! work and fun are not contradictory but complementary. If anyone ever needed proof of the mantra 'Work-hard- play-harder', we are it.

Humour and fun are elements essential to our culture. We applaud irreverence and don't take ourselves too seriously. (But we do take our work seriously.) Our culture is unique. Hey, where else can you have a tech discussion with your manager over a game of pool? And where else is fun a "company value".

We believe humour is essential to success.

We celebrate achievement. We yodel. We look for folks who can do the same.

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3. Desire to change the world

At Yahoo! we are inventing the Internet of the future. We look for people who want to make an impact in the world through their ideas, creativity and ingenuity. Watching your ideas reach millions of people and creating some of the best-loved technology on the planet can be remarkably fulfilling and challenging at the same time. It begins with the desire to change the world. The rest can follow.

The world's most innovative programmers and product engineers are indeed driven by their desire to develop ideas, services and products that make life easier for millions of people, or that can break the paradigm.

With the wide reach technology has today, software product development is the place-to-be when it comes to bleeding-edge innovation and out-of-the-box thinking.

We thrive on creativity and ingenuity -- and we seek innovators and thinkers who can change the world.

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4. Flexibility

Let's admit it: while you were looking, the world has changed. And in this ever-changing world, rigid just won't fit.  At Yahoo!, we tend to do things differently because we work in diverse teams across multiple time zones and in cross-functional business units.

Each person possesses their own set or strengths and adapting personal behaviours to accommodate others is part of what it takes to work effectively as a team.

What we have in common is a commitment to the same goal: to engage our users and deepen their relationships with Yahoo!. And all of this, you'll agree, requires a flexible bent of mind and a non-rigid approach to work.

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5. Respect

It is one of our core values: we treat one another with respect and communicate openly. It's not about being formal or dressing only in button-downs and business suits, it's how you live the value every day at work. It must reflect in how you relate to others in a collaborative, creative environment.

We encourage the best ideas to surface from anywhere within the organisation and want people who have the willingness to consider the ideas of others. At the same time, we uphold individual accountability and recognition.

We appreciate the value of multiple perspectives and diverse expertise. And that's why we love to give respect and be respected.