In a recent Ask the Headhunter e-letter, my good friend and recruiting mentor Nick Corcodilos was asked why he recommends that interviewees keep their focus on making a profit for their prospective employer. The challenge wasn't that the advice was bad so much as that so many employers place a much heavier emphasis on getting along, fitting in and so on. Go to the link to read the full exchange - I don't plan to In a recent Ask the Headhunter e-letter, my good friend and recruiting mentor Nick Corcodilos was asked why he recommends that interviewees keep their focus on making a profit for their prospective employer. The challenge wasn’t that the advice was bad so much as that so many employers place a much heavier emphasis on getting along, fitting in and so on.Go to the link to read the full exchange – I don’t plan to summarize it here. There is, however, a way out of the apparent conflict: Recognize the importance of fitting in as part of helping a company increase its profits.It’s true that many companies have fallen into the trap of thinking that fitting in is more important than doing the job well. As evidence, I’ve seen plenty of performance appraisal forms that did include evaluations on this point but didn’t include even a single criterion that asked how well the employee did the work. Doing the job, profitably, matters. It’s the definition of success. Since very few companies are able to organize their work so that every employee can act as an independent agent, the ability to fit in – to work effectively with others, show leadership, and help a team succeed rather than merely succeeding as an individual … this is a critical part of doing the work profitably in many positions and all leadership positions.That being the case, it should be easy to include a discussion of your ability to fit into a company and its culture in a discussion of how you’ll help it become more profitable as a result of your being there.– Bob And on an entirely different subject: I’m on vacation this week, with very limited access to the Internet. If I don’t post anything again until Sunday, it doesn’t mean I’m out of the game, merely that I haven’t been back to the Internet cafe from which I’m posting this message. ——– Technology Industry