Maintain Humanity in Hiring

We are looking at work experience wrong. 

I have worked a lot of different jobs. My favorite one was on the river as a white water raft guide during the two summers after college. I also enjoyed working at the Geek Squad counter with a little clip on tie while I finished high school. And the toughest job I ever loved, as they say, was as a health volunteer with the Peace Corps in Nicaragua. 

None of these roles have direct experience to my current job. None of these roles are on my resume or would be considered for my next and future roles. But all of these roles have shaped how I lead people (from the back of the raft with servant leadership), how I engage with customers (with kindness and transparency), and how I build relationships (with humility and humanity). 

There are many jokes floating around with this same content - for example, how you need to have 10+ years work experience and start working at 8 years old; or my personal favorite, when 

Sebastián Ramírez, the inventor of FastAPI didn’t have enough experience for his own framework.

The tech industry moves quickly, and for most jobs, it’s more important to have someone who is adaptable than someone with years and years of historical information. These jobs can be stressful, I’d personally rather work with a resilient person who can set boundaries and regulate their emotions than a person who spouts facts or figures from memory. However these aren’t qualities listed on the job description. 

Since it can be biased and inequitable to seek these traits as a “cultural fit” I believe there is a better, clearer way forward. 

1. Reduce the amount of years required for positions - do you really need TEN years of experience with the same title for a mid-tier role?

2. Identify the specific skill requirements and create a matrix for assessing how a person fits those needs during the interview process. 

3. Train hiring teams to ask the same specific behavioral questions and how to make notes about the personal qualities discussed in a candidate’s answer. 

4. Stop selecting candidates by committee over the course of several weeks. Give candidates more grace and make decisions quickly, not everyone can be “on” for so long.

5. Set up candidates for success - bump up your documentation requirements across the company, and define and set achievable goals for the role. 

We need different people, different voices, and different backgrounds to make the best products and work environments. Companies are missing out on really excellent candidates by overlooking someone’s qualities that can make a significant impact. Let’s look at individuals as humans with interesting backgrounds and histories that can complete the tasks of a role differently, and possibly even better. 

What would you change about the hiring process? How would you address the gap in work experience requirements?