It's probably time to scrap a few deets from your job listing's required skills — starting with the mandatory number of years' experience to even qualify to apply.
Don't miss out on top talent because of an intimidating job description. In the end, diverting candidates from a position due to their lack of expertise sells your company short of the great team members they could be working with.
Here's what industry newcomers can bring to the table:
Relevant skills
With new tools, skillsets, and technology surfacing daily, the correlation between length of experience and adeptness becomes more and more insignificant. A candidate with five years of experience working with Python and Ruby may not understand the developing business model of emerging languages like Corelet. In addition, an engineer whose strengths are vast and limited may not be necessaribly be a teachable candidate who can move along with upcoming trends.
Keep a lookout for individuals who are motivated to continue learning, teaching themselves, and practicing different skills outside of their own job requirements. What's cutting edge now may not be all that applicable five years from now.
Fervent work ethic
Candidates' attitudes toward a company is reflective of how they strive to influence the team and the knowledge they hope to gain from the entire work experience. Potential team members who share common values and career goals that line up with the company's overarching goals communicate the notion they're just as driven as you to get their hands dirty and to wear multiple hats. A candidate who can demonstrate delivering what customers expect on time and with high-quality standards is a keeper.
Ability to stay up to speed
In a perfect world, employees experience something like a human software update that automatically keeps them privy to the latest news, business strategies, and industry trends. In this world, however, what recruiters and hiring managers can do is find candidates who are able to stay ahead of the curve by being versatile and keen to learning the latest languages and taking extra time to be better problem solvers. With new technologies come new issues, and having the gift of recognizing the cyclical trend is the cost of a candidate you're going to want to keep around. Remember: Your business is hiring for what it needs in its future, not just for what it needs at the moment.
Industry trends are shifting and morphing at a rapid pace. Staying out of the dark doesn't always require hiring candidates who have been through anything and everything, but instead, hiring candidates who understand how to effectively take the rest of their team through it.
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