The recruitment and hiring platform is the basis of finding high performing talent, retaining them, and, in essence, is how a company grows. A ‘skill shortage’ and ‘talent gap’ has been in the sights of analysts for years now, yet many companies place requirements on their entry-level positions that weed out many high preforming candidates that otherwise would be a great fit. For example, requiring experience for and entry-level position. It’s entry-level! By doing this, companies don’t allow for fresh graduates, who generally have no work experience in the professional world but may have the soft skills and the education backing them.
Brian Weed states in “Entry-Level, Experience Required: Seriously?”, “High-performing entry-level candidates are naturally more malleable to blend in with a company’s culture but also bring fresh perspectives to the table that are informed by learning, listening and intuition, whereas experienced hires may be more likely to get “set in their ways.”
I’m sure at some point in your career, you have seen a new hire, exceptionally qualified, not mix in the company culture. With years of experience also comes bad habits, and experience doing things they way they have been at previous companies. I know I have.
What do we do to change things, yet make sure we are finding the high performers?
It starts with the job description and filters in the ATS before posting the job. You want the job description to be based on competencies and skills, not a certain major in college or a certain amount of experience. This will open the candidate pool and allow more top performers to apply.
Once you’ve narrowed down to who you would like to interview, ask questions regarding real-life situations, that can help determine their transferable skills. According to Weed, “These skills are often a more accurate measure of a candidate’s future success than work experience or even a college degree.” The bottom line is finding the best people for your business that are going to stay.
Hopefully, the recruitment process will start making a change and allowing more candidates to apply and not get instantly weeded out. The ‘skill shortage’ and ‘talent gap’ isn’t going to change if companies won’t become more open to changing their hiring requirements.
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