Hiring for Potential
Does your organization hire for potential? A better question is how much does future potential weigh into your assessment of a candidate? A classic example of hiring for potential would be a junior level candidate with only academic or internship experience. This candidate does not have the job skills and experience necessary for success in more senior roles but is brought on anyway because of the high likelihood that they will perform at an optimal level in the future.
It can be hard for hiring managers to look at the future potential of mid-level or even senior level contributors as a way to fill their jobs quickly. Often times this isn’t possible due to project deadlines. However, if it takes 3 months to fill a position with that perfect candidate but only 2 months to train a candidate, what makes more sense? This blog could read like a novel if I attempted to answer this question, but thankfully Dr. Charles Handler has a great article on ERE about hiring for potential.
You can find it here.
– Art Amela, Recruiter
