Marvin Windows and Doors is a manufacturer with a location in Fargo. They create windows and doors that are custom-fit for their buyers’ needs and often hire NDSU alumni. This week the Spectrum spoke with Chris Stith, the vice president of Human Resources at Marvin, about what he looks for in job candidates.
Q: What does a recruiter look for in potential employees including qualities/skills and experience?
For new graduates, your resume is a great place to showcase critical skills like teamwork, time management and multi-tasking. At Marvin, our human resources team is particularly interested in the extracurriculars you participated in or any jobs you held, regardless of their application to your area of study. These often say something about your ability to manage your time and contribute to a team.
If you’ve had an internship or full-time position, we look to your resume to showcase how you progressed in that role. This is a great opportunity to highlight growth, such as completing a large project, delivering a measurable outcome or earning an additional internship or promotion at an organization.
Q: What “soft skills” do you look for in candidates (what is a good trait to foster that doesn’t involve their education)?
At the top of my list is collaboration. Throughout your career, being part of a team and working collaboratively will be a constant. I’m interested in hearing from candidates about projects or jobs where they were part of an effective team. And this isn’t exclusively if a candidate led the team–informal leadership matters as well.
I’m also paying attention to communication skills, social ability and curiosity. I often open an interview by asking a candidate what questions they have about the role or company. It quickly shows me if they have thought about asking interesting, curious questions.
Q: What is important about a candidate’s education? Do grades, extracurriculars, what school they went to, whether they worked during school, etc. matter?
For a first full-time position after graduation, grades are important. It’s an informative data point about what someone accomplished while completing their education. After a few years of work experience, however, I’m not asking about a candidate’s GPA–rather, I’m interested in how they are applying what they learned in school to their chosen career.
There are many perspectives on the importance of a candidate’s school choice, but I strongly believe there are great candidates at any school. I’m not nearly as focused on where a candidate went to school as I am what they got out of their time there, both in and out of the classroom. That includes extracurriculars and work experience, regardless of if it directly applies to the role a candidate has applied for–I’m interested to see if they can connect the dots between those efforts and the available role.
Q: What majors do you cater to? What does Marvin do(as far as projects and type of work)?
Marvin has a team of more than 7,500 people across 19 cities in North America, so I’m not exaggerating when I say we have roles for absolutely everyone. From R&D to marketing and IT to sales, Marvin is an organization where an incredible number of people have built long-term careers and had the opportunity to move cross-functionally throughout the company, which I think is especially cool.
One area of note is engineering–at Marvin, we are regularly looking for engineers to join our team. Engineers help us to effectively design and create the massive windows and doors many homes and buildings feature today. Engineers also contribute to machining, automation, robotics and the countless other technologies involved in how Marvin builds award-winning windows and doors. Many of our engineers start at one Marvin location and take advantage of the opportunity to move within the company. For example, several Fargo-based engineers are relocating to new Marvin locations in Kansas City and Connecticut in the coming months to help lead the way on new manufacturing and logistics efforts.
Q: Do you have internships and if so, what do those include?
Absolutely–we love our interns! Marvin offers internships across most departments. In fact, we had 60 interns from NDSU this past summer from engineering to HR. Thanks to Marvin’s proximity to campus, some even have the opportunity to continue their internships in 10-15-hour weekly workloads throughout the school year.
Q: What does the future look like for job opportunities in your company?
The future is so bright at Marvin. As I mentioned, we’re growing, and we have plans to continue to grow. Marvin will open new facilities in Kansas City, Kansas, and Windsor, Connecticut, next year, with Fargo team members relocating to help establish those new operations. We’ve also grown tremendously right here in Fargo over the last 5 years, and now employ nearly 2,000 team members across a 9-building campus.
Q: Have you hired NDSU grads in the past? What do you think it is about NDSU that makes them good candidates?
NDSU graduates can be found everywhere at Marvin. Currently, we have around 150 NDSU alumni on our teams doing work that is truly shaping the future of home building. It’s awesome to see. NDSU grads are arriving at Marvin with the core competencies and curiosity needed to create impact in modern manufacturing careers. We hope to have many more NDUS graduates join us in the years to come.
Q: Do you hire people without business or technical degrees? Such as in the social sciences? Do they have a hard time in the working environment?
We absolutely need people with social sciences degrees or background on our teams. These are often important areas of study for roles in human resources, marketing or communications, for example. There are no boundaries on degree type when applying for a role at Marvin.
That said, technical degrees are important for technical roles, and I would expect to see a candidate applying for an engineering role, for example, to have a related degree.
Q: What type of person would thrive in the company culture at Marvin?
People who thrive at Marvin are excellent collaborators who are curious and willing to try new things. At Marvin, we act by a set of shared values, and one is “believe it’s possible.” This kind of spirit is important as we continue to innovate and grow, paired with a good ethical compass and high integrity.
Q: Can you tell me what it was about recent candidates that you hired that made you like them for the job?
I recently hired someone who was obviously passionate. She wasn’t just interested in the job, but also Marvin as a company. In the interview, she asked really good questions and it quickly became a two-way interview–where I was learning about her and she was learning about Marvin. (Don’t forget, you’re interviewing the employer, too.) I could quickly tell that she was thinking ahead about where she could take the role, and I saw that she was a fit for not just the role we were hiring for, but the roles she can grow into in the next 2 to 5 years and beyond.
Q: Should someone only apply if they exactly fit the job description? For what positions is that more important?
This is a bit yes and no. The yes is focused on the minimum requirements of the role. Recruiters are bound to ensure that the candidates they share with hiring managers meet those minimum requirements to bring candidates into the hiring process. If you don’t meet those, I’d estimate there’s a less than 1 percent chance you’ll hear back, so focus on applying for roles where you meet the minimum requirements.
From there, apply–even if you don’t have exact experience with every aspect of the role. As long as you can relate your experience to the job you’re applying for, we’re interested in hearing from you and learning more about why you might be a fit. I’d suggest striving to be 75 to 80 percent aligned with the job description, but would encourage candidates not to be thrown off if there’s a portion of the role you don’t meet yet. It’s a great opportunity to speak to those areas as things you’d be excited to learn.
Q: What would your advice be for a new grad or college upperclassman who is going to be looking for a job soon?
My son is a new graduate, so we’re talking about this regularly. I’ve encouraged him to get out and network. It’s important to meet people in the field you’d like to work in, and not wait to do so until you’ve graduated. Begin to build your network early.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, as they say. Apply to multiple roles and engage with people who work at the organizations you’re interested in. Learning about where they started and how they earned the role they are in today can be very insightful.
Don’t wait to apply. If you see something interesting, go for it. At Marvin, we often receive hundreds of applications for a role, and if we find great candidates within the first 50 or so, we might not need to look any further.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Unfortunately, I’ve found that interviews are becoming less professional every day. When you have the opportunity to interview for a role, show up professionally. You don’t have to be in a full suit, but you shouldn’t look like you just fell out of bed, either. Present yourself in a way that shows you are interested and excited to be having a conversation about a potential next step in your career.
Be your authentic self. I often speak with candidates who are overdoing it when it comes to trying to impress, and it shows. Take a deep breath and stay true to you.
Come prepared. Think ahead on the standard interview questions you’ll likely be asked, and anticipate not only your response, but your follow-up questions as well. This is your opportunity to present your qualifications, and it’s worthy of preparation and practice.
Thank-you notes still matter. I appreciate hearing from a candidate after an interview, particularly when they connect the dots between our conversation and their qualifications.
There are a lot of great roles available at Marvin now, and there will be throughout the school year, along with summer internships. Stay tuned at marvin.com/careers.