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In many industries experiencing a shortage of specialists, there is indeed a practice of hiring inexperienced students and graduates. Internship programs help prepare new personnel, but it takes time to develop professional skills. In a fast-paced business, this can be a problem, as companies often need specialists immediately.
Newcomers with a background are a special case
The key is that if you hire not a newcomer, but an experienced specialist from another industry who has decided to change professions, they will be able to adapt to new conditions more quickly. The time it will take them to master a new specialty will be significantly less than the time you spend searching for a rare professional. Moreover, the costs of retraining may be much less than the losses your business will incur due to a shortage of the necessary specialists.
The secret to successfully adapting to a new profession lies in a combination of soft and hard skills, known as "soft skills" and "hard skills." An experienced professional already possesses a set of useful "soft skills," which play a key role in any profession. Developing the necessary "hard skills" becomes a matter of technique, especially if the candidate demonstrates interest in the new field and has the aptitude to learn. Therefore, when selecting a specialist, it's important to pay attention to soft skills, strong motivation, and a willingness to learn, which are also crucial soft skills. This will not only speed up the onboarding process but also increase efficiency in the new role. An experienced professional, even if they're not a specialist in the field, doesn't need to be explained the basics of work processes. If their principles were similar in their previous field, they're already familiar with effective collaboration with colleagues and clients. They're also likely proficient in using universal work tools such as Trello, Jira, or Active Collab. This significantly simplifies and accelerates their onboarding compared to those just starting their careers.
We've gathered the opinions of several learning and development (T&D) experts on this approach.
Many industries experiencing talent shortages do indeed employ inexperienced students and graduates. Internship programs help solve this problem, but achieving a high level of professionalism takes a long time. When employees are urgently needed, such delays can become a serious obstacle to business. Therefore, it's important to find a balance between the need to quickly fill vacancies and the long-term development of talent.
When a retrained newbie is more useful than an experienced one
A person with experience in another profession is able to freshly evaluate work processes in their new specialty, providing unique perspectives unavailable to those who have worked exclusively in this field their entire lives. The experience and skills gained in a previous profession can have a significant impact and benefit colleagues in the new field. For example, in the Data Science department of QIWI, this approach demonstrated its effectiveness when employees with different experience brought fresh ideas and solutions.
The Data Scientist profession includes a variety of competencies, such as mathematics, statistics, big data processing using SQL, knowledge of frameworks for hypothesis testing and machine learning algorithms. Programming, often in several languages, is also an important aspect. However, data scientists, unlike developers, spend less time writing code. We were delighted to welcome an experienced Perl developer with a strong knowledge of Python to our team. He has a strong technical background and over ten years of programming experience, which gave us confidence that his skills would be beneficial to our work. We decided to train him in the necessary competencies in data science, which he had not previously worked with. This step proved successful: within a year, he reached the level of Senior Data Scientist, confirming the correctness of our choice.
We invited an economist and business consultant specializing in systematic budgeting to join our team. His work was related to IT, as Alexander emphasizes. Importantly, we valued his soft skills and ability to immerse ourselves in the subject matter. Data science is based on analytics, which requires active interaction with clients. We were right in our choice: he went on to become one of the leading specialists on our team.
Alexandra Belova is an HR manager at QIWI. In her role, she is responsible for recruiting and developing talent, as well as building an effective team, which contributes to the successful functioning of the company. Alexandra is actively involved in the development of HR strategies aimed at increasing employee motivation and improving corporate culture. Her professional experience and skills in HR allow QIWI to attract the best specialists and ensure their growth within the organization.
How to assess the potential of a "mature newcomer"
There are a number of key rules that must be considered for the "hire and retrain" approach to be effective. The right selection of employees and their subsequent training can significantly impact the success of the business. It is important not only to identify the right skills but also to create the conditions for successful training and adaptation of new employees. This includes the development of a clear training strategy, regular feedback, and support from management. Effective implementation of these principles will help achieve significant results in team development and improved overall performance.
Recruiting an employee starting a new career is a significant challenge. Standard candidate assessment methods are ineffective. The key is assessing potential, not just experience. There are specialized methods for identifying the abilities of a newcomer. Using the same test tasks as for experienced specialists is inappropriate. It is important to determine whether the candidate's thinking style matches your company's requirements and the specific tasks they perform.
If a candidate has experience in another field, we do not expect them to flawlessly complete a technical assignment. We formulate assignments to evaluate the candidate's logical thinking. This allows us to see how they begin solving a problem, how they choose a direction, and how they analyze the results. This approach helps us identify the candidate's potential, not just their technical skills.
Alexandra Belova is an HR Manager at QIWI. In her role, she is responsible for recruiting and managing talent, which contributes to the creation of an effective team. Alexandra is actively involved in developing strategies to increase employee engagement and improve corporate culture. Her experience and professionalism help QIWI attract and retain top talent, which in turn has a positive impact on overall business performance.
A genuine interest in a new specialty is a powerful incentive to quickly acquire the necessary knowledge and skills. If a company offers training from scratch, the question arises of how to determine whether interest in the chosen field is truly genuine. One indicator is independent efforts to understand the topic: the person may have attended courses, read specialized literature, or practiced on specialized platforms. Such actions demonstrate a genuine desire to develop in this field and a willingness to invest time in learning a new profession.
It is important for us that the candidate demonstrates a desire and commitment to developing in a new professional field. Applicants should independently master basic skills before the interview. This does not necessarily require spending money on expensive courses. Currently, there are many accessible and free educational resources: articles, videos, online courses, and Telegram channels. If someone truly wants to gain knowledge, practical experience, and ultimately find employment, they will find all the necessary opportunities.
Alexandra Belova is an HR Manager at QIWI. In her role, she is responsible for recruiting and managing talent, as well as developing the company's HR strategy. Alexandra is actively involved in shaping the corporate culture and implementing new approaches to employee training. Her experience and professional skills contribute to building an effective team, which in turn contributes to achieving QIWI's business goals.
Communication skills are critical for effective learning, even if the new profession does not require active communication. Individuals who are able to easily establish rapport learn information from colleagues more quickly because they are not afraid to ask questions and clarify unclear points. Developing such skills promotes a deeper understanding of the material and accelerates the process of adaptation to a new professional environment.
An interesting situation arises when a candidate changes professions and comes from a completely different field, where work processes are organized differently. For example, if a person was an intensive care physician and is now seeking to move to an office environment, it is important to understand how their expectations relate to the actual tasks of the new position. It is necessary to assess their knowledge of the specifics of the job, as well as their understanding of interactions with colleagues and clients in a new environment. This will help avoid misunderstandings and facilitate adaptation to the new environment, ensuring a successful entry into the new professional environment.
If a person has no previous experience in this field, they may not be aware of what to expect. At the first meeting, it is important to thoroughly discuss the upcoming tasks and outline the next steps. Otherwise, there is a risk that the employee will soon resign. Clear communication from the start will help avoid misunderstandings and increase the likelihood of long-term cooperation.
Alexandra Perepelitsa is a Training Manager at Skyeng. In this role, she is responsible for the development and implementation of effective training programs aimed at improving the skills of employees. Alexandra is actively involved in creating innovative methods that promote the development of professional skills and improve the quality of training. Thanks to her contribution, Skyeng continues to be a leader in the field of online education, providing its clients with access to high-quality educational resources.
The "70-20-10" training model emphasizes employee development, emphasizing that only 10% of success is achieved through formal training, 20% through social interaction and knowledge sharing, and 70% through practical tasks and projects. Theory is important, but for full development, practical experience is essential, which can be gained through interaction with experts and constructive feedback. This approach promotes deeper acquisition of knowledge and skills, which in turn improves employee performance and facilitates their professional growth.
Alexandra Belova is an HR Manager at QIWI. In this role, she is responsible for recruiting, onboarding, and developing talent, which plays a key role in achieving the company's strategic goals. Alexandra actively implements modern HR management methods, which contributes to the creation of an effective and motivated team. Her professional experience and skills enable her to successfully address HR challenges and improve QIWI's corporate culture.