Oh boy, hiring folks with little experience? It’s a gamble, sure, but sometimes you luck out and find someone who’s an absolute gem. Fresh ideas, zero baggage, and usually a little hungry to prove themselves. Sticking to the old-school formula—y’know, resumes jam-packed with job titles—might actually make you miss out on the good stuff. Lately, tossing that out the window in favor of skills assessments? Way smarter.
what matters more—someone’s magic number of years at some desk, or how fast they can learn and actually solve problems right now? Especially in places like tech or customer service, the landscape changes way too fast for “experience” to mean much. Online courses, side projects, figuring stuff out on YouTube—people are coming in with real skills, just not always the traditional kind.
Experience is kinda overrated sometimes. There’s no LinkedIn badge for “Can roll with the punches” or “Fast learner who won’t burn out after two new workflows.” Plus, if you only care about who’s been around the block, you get the same bland ideas recycled forever. Boring.
So, how do you actually spot these diamonds-in-the-rough?
1. Forget the fancy resumes. If somebody’s green, try giving them tests that actually measure what they can do. Write some code. Solve this pretend problem. Teach a fake class. You get the picture.
2. Throw a real-world curveball and see how candidates think on their feet. Case studies, little simulations, those “what would you do if…” questions. You might be surprised who can connect the dots when it gets tough.
3. Learning agility—yeah, that’s ten-dollar HR lingo, but it basically means “can you pick up new stuff fast?” Fire off a scenario they’ve never seen. Maybe a quick quiz on something brand new. Their brain gears whirring in real time? Music to a hiring manager’s ears.
4. Interviews don’t need to be stiff. Skip the “Tell me about your career in 1997” and hit ’em with hypotheticals. How would they handle a meltdown? How did they teach themselves something tricky? Ask stuff that actually matters for the gig.
5. Seriously, just let ‘em try out the job. Short paid projects, trial runs, job simulations—whatever. People can talk all day, but showing they’ve got the chops? That’s what counts.
End of the day, hiring like this isn’t just about feeling nice or edgy or whatever. It’s practical. You get to see who’s got drive, brains, and maybe a little grit—stuff you can’t always teach. And, you’re not passing someone over because they didn’t follow the “right” path on paper.
Instead of chasing unicorns with perfect resumes, let’s actually figure out who can do the work. Sometimes, the best folks haven’t even had the chance yet. Give them one, and they might surprise you—and heck, even make you look good for finding them.
