Califia Farms CEO Dave Ritterbush’s dream employee showcases one particular trait, he says: a “builder” attitude.
Ritterbush, 58, has helmed Califia Farms — which sells dairy-free beverage products like milks, creamers, coffee and tea — since October 2020. At his company, he looks for professionals who “like to walk in and build upon what they already inherited,” he says. “You want to build it to the next level.”
Imagine constructing a house, he adds: “If the framing is up, you want to put the drywall up, and then you want the people to know that that’s your drywall. And the next person can then pitch the roof,” and so on.
Builders epitomize attributes like risk taking, a sense of agency and a self-starter attitude, says Ritterbush. Such employees think that “something can always be better,” and that “if I don’t do it, it’s not going to get done. I’m not waiting for it to be done,” he says.
“These attributes are the things that I find drive people to be the most successful in the organizations I’ve been [at],” adds Ritterbush, who’s held also CEO or vice president roles at Quest Nutrition, Popchips and Red Bull North America.
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During your job interviews, when you discuss problems you’ve solved previously, show how you collaborated with your teammates and built on their skills, Ritterbush advises. “Builders don’t just describe what they did,” he says. “They explain what they created, improved or how they solved problems others hadn’t tackled, while bringing others along with them.”
“If you’re not socially aware that even in an individual contributor role, what you’re doing is much more a part of a process, and it’s much more part of a big team, then that’s a huge red flag,” he adds.
You can also showcase a builder attitude by asking your interviewer questions “about where [the company is] headed or what challenges we might be trying to solve,” he says. “Builders are naturally curious.”
Some other career experts offer similar advice. Jobseekers can make themselves more favorable by studying the ideas a company has already implemented or tools it uses on a regular basis, and using that information to pitch improvements to its workflows, according to Jolen Anderson, chief people and community officer at BetterUp and former Visa human resources executive.
That preparation “shows how you approach work,” Anderson told CNBC Make It in April. “It shows how you took initiative.”
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