Job Experience vs. Talent: Which to Choose When Hiring

It's a typical conundrum for any hiring professional: do you hire the candidate with the pristine resume or the one with an "unorthodox" background but impressive skillset? How do you choose between experience and talent when hiring? 

When to Hire for Experience

Experience matters for management positions. These roles require leaders and decisions makers. Rookie mistakes may cause the entire department — or even the entire company — to suffer. You need the assurance that candidates can make hard decisions and have the work ethic and creativity to carry out new ideas that will expand and grow the company.

When to Hire for Talent

When individuals are hired based on talent, their particular skills make the entire company more innovative, productive, and successful. These people are often full of fresh new ideas, willing to create strategies and procedures to carry out projects. If your company is looking to move in a new direction or generate new ideas, talent may be ideal.

In many situations, candidates who possess impressive skillsets but lack experience are young. Your company can use this to its advantage, shaping and molding these individuals into ideal employees through training programs and mentoring. Talented employees have potential, which can't be underestimated. 

When Does It Matter?

Hiring the best candidate will come down to specific characteristics of the candidate and qualifications of the job you are filling. For example, in the medical field, a doctor with ample experience and education is a must. For a website development position, talent is a big plus. As you look for the ideal job seeker, consider exactly what the role requires and how the candidate will help your company expand and grow. 

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About HiringThing

HiringThing is a modern recruiting platform as a service that creates seamless hiring experiences. Our private label applicant tracking system and open API enable technology and service providers to embed hiring capabilities from sourcing to onboarding. Approachable and adaptable, the platform empowers anyone, anywhere, to hire their dream team.