Back in the day when you had a wealth of qualified candidates to choose from, Talent Acquisition professionals and HR managers could post lengthy job descriptions so detailed they would winnow out all but the most ideal candidates. You knew exactly what skills and experience you wanted, you spelled them all out, and those who didn’t meet all your specs didn’t bother to apply. You can’t do that anymore and expect to find the top talent you need in today’s incredibly competitive marketplace.
Candidates are in the driver’s seat now, and the pool of exceptional candidates is limited, critically limited in ultra-high-demand fields such as information technology and life science. Chances are the perfect candidate doesn’t exist, or they aren’t interested in making a change. If you want to fill positions with talented people in a timely manner, you have to reach out to a broader audience with an open mind.
Focus on Hiring the Right Person
You can teach skills but you can’t change someone’s personality, adaptability and potential. So focus on hiring the right person, a candidate who can grow into the job or smoothly transition to your industry. Why?
Innovation
Willingness to hire someone with a somewhat different skill set or experience can bring surprising benefits in terms of creative approaches to problem-solving.
Lower flight risk
Someone in the early stages of their career or a career changer will be excited that you gave them a chance. With so much opportunity to grow into the position and make valuable contributions, they will be less likely to get itchy feet to find a new job that offers more.
Build your culture and teams
If your new hire isn’t a good personal and cultural fit, their great skills won’t compensate for that. When candidates are eager to grow and learn, managers and peers can help mold them to ensure a great fit.
Potentially reduce costs
Hiring a less-experienced candidate means you can potentially ease your budget restrictions and avoid a bidding war with competitors on a high-demand candidate. They can also work their way up the pay scale (or into higher-paying job titles) as they grow and add value to the organization.
Yes, a new hire who has fewer skills or less experience probably can’t step up to the plate and hit a home run on their first day. Their value will become apparent more gradually. But a person with the right attitude and focus can pick up new skills and put them to work quickly.
Re-Think Your Recruiting
Modernize your job descriptions
Forget lengthy lists of requirements, and zero in on the few must-haves. The fewer restrictions you state, the more candidates you can attract – people with those must-have skills but other attributes you may not even have considered. So keep it short and leave the door open.
If the position has been open a long time, consider changing the job title or further tweaking the description to emphasize your willingness to hire someone with less experience and promote them into a new role. Also, review your experience thus far with this search – do you need to tweak your marketing to get better results?
Look for transferable skills
A student-athlete knows how to work with a team and how to accept coaching. A candidate from a different industry who knows how to navigate files and databases may quite easily segue into managing your industry-specific software. A candidate with customer service experience might become your next sales star. After all, the processes are often very similar, it’s the details that differ. Sometimes transferable skills offer new, innovative ways of doing things.
Energize your campus recruiting
Look for graduates who engage in a variety of activities. Well-rounded candidates who have a diverse, balanced range of interests and personal experiences can bring fresh perspectives along with key soft skills learned through their activities. Research the details about internships they have had. Ask current employees if they know a recent grad who would make a great addition to their team.
Be realistic
It’s tempting to shoot for the moon when recruiting, but are you looking for more “skill” than actually exists? Expecting five years’ experience using a new technology that’s only been around for three will surely be unproductive, and it marks your company as out of touch.
If Specific Skills Are Priority #1 . . .
There are times when acquiring certain, hard-to-find skills is the entire reason for your search. This is particularly true in technology, an issue that applies to all types of businesses. You can’t afford to continue losing ground while you wait to finally find the right person to hire. Instead, get the skill-power you need right away by hiring contingent labor – one person or an entire team.
Contract consultants are proven professionals who can come in for 6 months, a year, whatever you need to accomplish the task at hand. They can often fix problems immediately and complete projects now, allowing you to take a longer view with your permanent-hire recruiting.
A Strong Team Embraces New Potential
If your company has an inclusive culture and the teams within your organization are strong and have the ability to mentor others, a new hire with less direct experience can really thrive and contribute – more than you might imagine – all because you gave them a chance.