Hiring a candidate with little to no experience will not work in every industry or every position, however, if you’re hiring for a position that doesn’t require formal education, you may want to consider hiring the inexperienced candidate. Once you realize that so much of what is needed to succeed on the job is best actually taught on the job, your talent pool opens up considerably. Here are three reasons why you should consider hiring the less experienced candidate.
1.) You Have More Candidates to Pick From
While every position is unique, complete with its own learning curve, having the experience to know what to expect and how to succeed within a new job and work with a new team is often the deciding factor for many employers looking to fill a critical position on their staff. In many cases, hiring managers are even willing to exchange a specialized education or degree for an arbitrarily assigned equivalent amount of experience.
Here are the facts. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, the overall employment rate for adults between the ages of 25 to 64, after the recession period of 2008 to 2010, was similar to that of younger and less experienced job applicants between the ages of 20 and 24. However, between the years 2010 and 2014, unemployment rates for young adults (20 to 24 years old) with and without a university education (ranging between an average of 8% and 30% unemployment) was substantially higher than older adults (25 to 64 years old) both with and without a university education (ranging between 4% and 12% unemployment).
This shows a hesitancy on behalf of hiring managers to recruit qualified but inexperienced professionals during periods of economic stress and recovery. This is a very defensive recruiting strategy, and one that is arguably difficult to support in the long run as experienced employees cost more and are less likely to be looking for new opportunities when compared with recent graduates. When you are open to more candidates with less experience, you have much more of a talent pool to search within.
2.) You Can Hire Entry-Level Professionals with Serious Potential
The opportunity to test new skills and take on real-world challenges is both exciting and inspiring for many entry-level professionals, or as we like to call them, “the shiny and new” applicants. They can bring exciting and invigorating energy to your team. This energy has serious potential for companies looking to expand their reach. While they might not have the experience that mid- or senior-level employees do, they also lack some of the bad habits or baggage that can accompany vetted employees.
3.) You Can Hire for Personality and Skills Rather than Experience
Hiring those just starting out in their career is a great opportunity to find candidates with a more diverse background or skill set than the rest of your team. You can also train and groom your hires for a long-term career with your company. Consider hiring the unexpected candidate because you are looking for someone with a fresh perspective, a clean slate, and reduced hiring costs. If this sounds like the ideal scenario to expand your team, your company and position would likely benefit from the hiring for potential over experience. Of course, the true fit of any candidate will become clear to you through the interview process, but keep in mind, both experience and potential are valuable in their own right.
For more advice on your hiring process, and for further resources, contact the experts at Bergman Brothers today!
