Hiring during the Great Resignation: It's okay to think outside the box

We quickly consider the candidate with the long resume and years of notable experience, but should we?

It’s often more beneficial to hire people who bring determination to the table and are ready to tackle whatever their new role throws at them. (Photo: Andrey Popov/stock.adobe.com)

In the wake of The Great Resignation, there is no shortage of talented employees to fill all roles across organizations in every industry. However, the movement has left executives completely rethinking the hiring process and reconsidering what is most important when looking to onboard new talent. Often we quickly consider the candidate with the long resume, years of notable experience and a successful career, casting the young and eager candidates to the side. But what if we reversed this notion and gave the less experienced individuals with in-the-weeds knowledge and a drive to dominate a chance?

Hiring the right person takes time and effort, but the consequences of hiring the wrong person can be far more debilitating for a team, the business and the candidate themselves. Along the way, I’ve learned you must be crystal clear with yourself, your team and company leadership on what exactly you are looking for in open roles. You must also know what you need from the individuals you hire to take these positions on—such as hiring someone who can do it better than you, especially at the functional manager or leader level.

Related: Hiring managers need to bring their A game in today’s market

In my current role as chief marketing officer, I am working on building a team to scale with the growth trajectory of our business. My department and I spent much of last year hiring folks for key roles to ensure functional output across the marketing organization. Now, we are looking for that unique blend of functional experience and fresh talent, ideally made up of candidates whose mindsets are cultural fits in our fast-paced, dynamic work environment.

Don’t get me wrong; I’ve had a couple of hiring mishaps along the way due to my desire to simply fill roles quickly. I was faced with this challenge recently when a new position opened up. Candidates went through a smooth interview process where they were vetted by multiple people, and everyone liked what they heard. I started finding a pattern with the experienced folks. They only wanted to focus on tactics but not dive into the execution. I knew in this instance, that if I hired someone fast and jumped at the candidate with years of experience that was only used to setting strategy, there could be less execution and overall team function might be disrupted. You need an employee that will act as both a player and a coach in order to drive your business forward.

Instead, I took the leap of faith and hired an individual who didn’t have any leadership experience before landing this role, but she did have an execution mindset and an unparalleled amount of drive throughout her entire career. There was no doubt in my mind that she knew what would be needed to take this role to the next level. This experience led me to look for others in different roles who were also ready to dive in and roll with the punches. It also taught me that it’s often more beneficial to hire people who bring determination to the table and are ready to tackle whatever their new role throws at them.

Your candidate needs to be motivated to deliver results versus laser-focused in one specific area when working in a fast-paced industry. Sometimes you may have to hire the experienced individual who can look at your organization and point out what’s missing to get you to the next level. But regularly you can apply the theory of hidden gems who want to take their career to the next level—which could be more beneficial in the long run.

Now, how do you actually do this? Lately, we have stopped just looking at resumes and what these folks can say about themselves in an interview. While it is important, it doesn’t really showcase what this individual will accomplish.

We have started giving our candidates assignments, such as making decks to present to a team on real issues we are having at the company. This lets us see what they can bring about and how they will fit our goals should a problem like that occur once they are hired. Once these decks are presented to the interviewers, we ask the candidates questions to better understand their motivations and strengths. With this simple addition to our hiring process, we have been able to separate the “been there done that” talent with the talent that is going to step up to the plate and make concrete change for the business, the industry and themselves.

It is also important to ask yourselves these simple questions during the recruiting process to help better visualize what you are looking for so you can make the best decision:

The single most important lesson I’ve learned is that in a start-up environment poised for growth and scale, you should never hire someone in haste unless you know without a shadow of a doubt that person can fulfill the job expectations. Hiring takes time and effort, especially during The Great Resignation when the pool of qualified people with a wealth of experience is vast. If you take the extra steps and home in on what this new hire will mean for the bigger picture it will more greatly benefit your team and company.

My biggest takeaway from this is to find the perfect “mixology” of a team for vision and execution. It’s an art and a science and it requires a little bit of patience and sheer luck, but if you can find that perfect mixology, you could make gold. Building a team is not for the faint of heart. I have found hidden gems, and I’ve stumbled upon ultimate disappointments. The major lesson I’ve learned (the hard way) was to always trust my gut and never be afraid to dig in and challenge the candidate.

Carrie Kelly is chief marketing officer at Critical Start.

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