With a new year upon us, you may be looking to bring fresh energy to your team in the wake of a few tumultuous years. However, you may find it tough to navigate today’s job market, and it might also feel like you and your peers are “fishing in the same ponds” when it comes to recruiting.
To find new pools of talent, you have to refine your approach. Companies of all sizes have reported success with skills-based recruiting. This is where the recruiting process tests for skills, where ability matters more than having a big-name school or employer on a resume.
Before becoming a writer, I worked in B2B sales for four years and another four in strategy consulting. During that time, I often encountered silence and confusion when I expressed a desire to move into journalism. Undeterred by the sea of no’s, I was excited to land an interview with a major publication, believing that my breakthrough was near. The application asked for ideas about how I’d approach the job. The next round asked to expand on those ideas and write out some responses to the news. It felt empowering to know that I had a chance, and that merit (or something close) would be a deciding factor.
I didn’t get the job, but knowing that people were looking for journalists with that level of care gave me confidence that I could break through if I gained the necessary experience. Over time, I landed increasingly prominent freelance gigs and eventually a full-time job two years later. After five years and stints at Business Insider, Fortune, and Morning Brew, I’m happy to say I’m now on the journey to finding fulfillment through this work instead of just looking to hold on to a job.
It wouldn’t have happened without a few hiring managers willing to look at my skillset and passion instead of my resume. Still, it would have been great for this potential to be seen much earlier, as I’d been trying to break through for over five years.
Building a more diverse recruiting pipeline is critical, and it requires opening yourself up to non-traditional job candidates. Through conversations with colleagues, community members, and a review of the data, we’ve laid out key steps you can take.
Think about skills before job titles
One piece of the solution is mindset: accepting that people who have had the “right” – often narrowly defined – job titles or education credentials are not the only people who can succeed in the job. This is a foundational belief of the skills-based recruiting approach, which emphasizes that many potential great hires are weeded out by filtering systems in the early stages of the recruiting process, such as automated or recruiter-driven resume screening.
Shayla Mars, a marketing consultant, began her corporate marketing career at American Express in 2018. Before that, a friend with a startup hired her to lead marketing. But before that, she says she “jumped around” between jobs in nonprofits, education, and local government, without corporate experience.
Mars said her friend hired her for the startup because she knew “I was the kind of person who could easily learn to do something [and] was personable and trustworthy.”
When she applied at American Express, the role was looking for people with several years of experience in finance and marketing. But despite narrowly defined experience, she landed the role.
“When I asked why they selected me, I remember being told that I’ve worked directly with small businesses and I had varied experience, which to them meant I could move in white space and come up with new ideas,” Mars explains.
Your next great hire can come from anywhere. Anyone who has worked in a demanding or high-stress environment also brings something unique to the table if you’re looking for people who are calm under pressure.
Rethink requirements in job descriptions
When posting a job description, do you truly need more than a dozen requirements? These can be viewed as a barrier to applicants who may be discouraged if they’re not sure they fully fit all requirements. For instance, historically women tend to be less likely to apply to roles if they don’t believe they fully meet every single bullet point in the criteria.
If the role does entail a lengthy list of prerequisite requirements, one simple change would be to write something like the following: “Candidates who do not meet all of these requirements are encouraged to apply.”
One such requirement is the requirement for a college degree. This is perhaps a convenient filter to some, but it is a major barrier to reaching a meaningfully diverse pool of talent, as only around 40-50% of the US adult population holds a bachelor's degree.
Non-profits such as Opportunity@Work have supported the concept that all job experiences, whether you’re a cashier, lifeguard, or customer service rep, can be applied to corporate roles for a person who is passionate about a company or industry.
Look for hustle and alternative credentials
According to Anna Fatlowitz, a director of influencer marketing, “For junior team members, we see any service industry experience as a plus, particularly working at a restaurant,”adding that this approach led to “one of the best hires I’ve made.”
Echoing this sentiment, “I took a chance and hired a marketer whose only true marketing experience was running her parents' restaurant,” says Sandhya Simhan, chief of staff at Workday. “She not only exceeded my wildest dreams, but she became my right-hand person at the company and went on to work for DoorDash and Uber in technical marketing roles.”
The value of diverse teams goes beyond representation and culture. Diverse teams have been found to create more innovative products and services, drive stronger collaboration, and ultimately deliver more profitable outcomes. And that can mean more active customers for your business. For those collaborating on something like an advertising campaign or social media management, this is also relevant in terms of expanding a business’ reach and bringing in new audiences or segments to your customer base.
By fishing in the same small ponds of traditional, narrowly-defined methods, you’re missing out on a whole slew of people who can add significant value in your organization. There is no better time than now to change that.
