When it comes to recruitment, most employers look for candidates with the most relevant experience from their current industry. It’s often a safer option for recruiters who are looking to find professionals who are an exact match for certain roles. However, if employers want to open themselves up to a wider talent pool, they should pay attention to sales candidates with transferrable skills.
While there’s no doubt that hiring people with experience in a relevant area is an effective strategy, it is beneficial for companies to recruit sales candidates with a more varied work history. When you look for transferrable skills, you can unearth hidden talent that can bring instant value to your business. In a challenging market, it’s all the more important to recruit professionals who can add something new. Here’s a breakdown of the importance of transferrable skills when recruiting.
Flexibility and change
The best companies thrive on diversity. Even if you’ve always recruited candidates with industry experience, there are still plenty of reasons to hire professionals with different backgrounds. When you only rely on people with direct experience, there’s a risk that they might be less responsive to different ways of working. However, when you hire professionals with less industry experience, but with transferrable skills, they may be more adaptable. When you expand your talent pool, it increases the chances of finding top-performers that you might have initially overlooked. The worlds of marketing, sales, and technology are becoming more and more intertwined, so consider hiring sales candidates who have proven success in other disciplines.
New potential
There are huge benefits when it comes to hiring candidates based on potential. For instance, it allows you to develop the employee and shape their career as your company grows. By seeking candidates with transferable skills, you can find new talent where you’ll be able to provide mentorship and more learning opportunities. In turn, employees will feel more valued and may even stay at your company for longer. Many candidates are always searching for new, challenging roles in different areas or industries. In fact, research has shown that 62% of the workforce want to change careers – which is all the more reason to focus on potential and transferrable skills. In doing so, you increase the chances of hiring a professional with a great attitude and who is committed to learning all they can about your company.
Stronger team
Hiring people with transferrable skills can lead to stronger teams internally. In addition to developing a more diverse culture, you’ll be able to create a team of professionals who have rich and varied skills. In this way, the leaders at your company will have an easier time treating each member as an individual, which can ensure increased employee engagement. The key benefit of having professionals with skills taken from different roles is that they’re able to approach the work from a new perspective.
During the interview process, always ask interesting, problem-solving questions that show transferrable skills. For example, if you’re a sales manager, you could ask a candidate what they would do to achieve their monthly targets. That way, you’ll be able to probe a candidate’s skills and understand how they can be utilised in a new role. Bringing more skills into your organisation means you’ll have broader expertise, helping your business work more efficiently and grow faster.
We can find you the best sales candidates
The job market is constantly evolving. If you want to build a top-performing team, you need professionals with a diverse range of skills. That’s why recruiting outside of your industry or looking at different roles for transferrable skills can be beneficial. A leading sales recruitment agency, we have an excellent team of recruitment consultants who have the experience and expertise to help grow your team. We’re dedicated to sourcing only the very best candidates. Contact us to speak to a member of the BMS team or read more of our career advice articles for further insights.
