Recruiters place too much value on job experience in their hiring process. Talent is the No. 1 trait hiring managers should be looking in top-tier candidates, suggests Jay Forte on Human Capitalist.
Recruiters are wrong to think that experience creates talent, says Forte. Experience can uncover talent, but experience isn't synonymous with talent. Instead, it is one of three factors that define talent; the other two are interest and ability.
"What makes an employee talented is when his abilities align with the abilities needed to consistently and successfully complete the activities required by his job," writes Forte. "Couple this with profound interest or passion for his job, and he has the potential to soar."
Experience Doesn't Cut it
People jump from one job to another primarily because they're not interested in their current job or don't feel they have the skills necessary to do it well. Forte cites his own recent encounter with a restaurant waitress who would not accommodate his food allergies.
"She told me that I had to take the food the way the restaurant prepares it or I could leave," writes Forte. "I then asked her what she thought that response would do for my loyalty as a customer. She quickly said she didn't care." The waitress, who has worked at the restaurant for 25 years, had experience but not the desire to do her job.
