When a company needs to fill a position, often the hiring manager seeks someone who has industry experience. Without realizing, they pass over strong applicants.

When a position involves needing a license or a specific degree to do the work, then absolutely, yes, industry experience matters. Think about positions such as sales, marketing, office management, accounting, and even recruiting. Naturally, there are some things indigenous to certain industries. But, likely you will be able to train new hires on these specific items.

Often applicants are missing something. Therefore, it’s important to decide the job priorities before the recruiting process begins. Maybe you are not the hiring manager or the recruiter? If not, be sure that person clearly understands your input and desires regarding who will fill that new position.

Again, to be considered for an open position, must an applicant have industry experience? First, think about your organization. The following items should be in place for new hires and ongoing employee training:

• Operations Manual
• Onboarding and training process for new hires
• An effective trainer
• A culture that is clear, strong, and followed by the team
• Understanding time to proficiency for each new hire

If you are missing some or most of the above list, then you might lean towards hiring someone with industry experience. Otherwise, if most of this is in place, think of the benefits of hiring someone strong in all needed areas, but industry experience. Consider what a strong team member can do for your organization – especially if filling that position has been a past struggle. 

To assure an applicant is a strong fit, think about the following attributes. Give each of these attributes a rating from 1 to 5. (1 being not that important to 5 being extremely important.) If you are not doing the hiring, share your benchmark with the hiring manager or recruiter. Your ideal applicant will likely score between 20-25.

• Hard Skills (Technical skills, hands-on experience, specific training, certifications, and a proven process in an area of focus.)
• Years of Experience (1+, 5+ - Years of experience necessary to fill that role for your company.)
• Industry Experience (Worked in a company that does the same or similar work as your company.)
• Soft Skills (Interpersonal skills, time management, emotional intelligence, leadership abilities.)
• Culture Fit (Core values, goals, aligns with mission and vision.)

Naturally, there are additional needs that are specific to each position. However, these steps will help assure you do not pass over potentially strong applicants. Understanding and implementing much of this will help increase job satisfaction and organizational efficiency, thus reducing turnover and lost revenue.

If you need assistance with this and/or hiring new employees to support your company growth, please reach out to us. We'd love to hear from you. Call 678-682-4819. Thank you.