You are interviewing two applicants for a job position, and both have different things going for them. While the first candidate comes with loads of experience, the second one is full of talent. Whom should you pick? A right choice might give your company the competitive advantage it needs, so you must choose carefully.
In this post, we’ve listed some guidelines about when to go for experience and when for raw talent, as well as the common pitfalls to stay away from.
When Should You Pick Experience
You’re interviewing for a manager’s job. While this looks obvious, you might be tempted to hire a promising professional having a solid track record for a manager’s role.
However, being an exception individual contributor and a top-notch leader are two different things. In case this professional hasn’t led a team before, he may struggle to create a team in a new working environment and aptly lead it.
You’re interviewing for a specialist job. Are you interviewing for a job position that’s new to your company? If yes, you should give priority to experience.
Similarly if your company is struggling with certain jobs at present and looking for new candidates, you should go with experience. Professionals with prior experience bring job skills, as well as process knowledge.
When Should You Pick Talent
You’re interviewing for any other kind of job than the two listed above. Many a time you are looking to add a new team member to a well-defined and existing function.
Here’s an example: You are looking for another content writer to become part of your existing content development team. The team has all necessary things already in place, like standard operating procedure.
In instances like this, you would be better served by hiring the person that’s most talented and productive, without giving much thought to experience. Professionals having raw talent bring many things to the table. They might develop new services or products or come up with new ways to solve problems while an experienced employee might be more inclined to go with the things as they are. Employees having raw talent might also be more loyal, hardworking, and malleable.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Decide beforehand who will be more suited for the job position—raw talent or experience? It is important for your hiring team to understand the requirements of the job for which they are interviewing candidates. Otherwise, they might waste theirs and interviewees’ time, or worse, hire a wrong person.
Don’t think that experience is a measure of talent.