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Want a shot at landing your dream startup gig? While having a polished resume and company connections can help get your foot in the door, it’s your ingrained character traits that will likely determine your ability to thrive and make an impact on the business you’re so eager to work for.

Ten entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) share qualities they believe all new hires must possess in order to land a coveted position in their business.

1. Adaptability

The Internet space changes so quickly that what worked even two years ago may not work now. The best employees are not necessarily the most experienced, but are rather those who can learn the new rules of the game the quickest. Usually these people are smart, creative, have an insatiable love of learning and are always striving to improve their game.–Charlie Graham, Shop It To Me, Inc.

2. Coachability

I’ve found that with the right hire, new skills and procedures can be easily learned. That willingness to learn new things and forget old ways, however, will probably never change. That’s why I look at a new hire’s coachability first, and their previous knowledge second.–Elle Kaplan, LexION Capital

3. Agility

In a startup, everything changes quickly — whether it is your product roadmap, skills of your employee, titles, or market/industry you are in. For example, in the last two years, we rewrote our whole product and changed the tech stack. It is very important that the new hire does not become stuck on what title and role she is looking for or a certain type of work she wants to perform. You should join a startup for the vision.–Shilpi Sharma, Kvantum Inc.

4. Respectfulness

Respect means a new hire will treat his co-workers, clients and others fairly and consistently. When a new hire has respect for differing opinions and positions, mutually agreeable resolutions can be discovered. Respect also means accepting the cultural, socio-economic and personal beliefs of others without letting those interfere with getting the job done.–Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now  Read more…