5 Advantages Of Hiring A Young Person With No Experience
When a hiring manager is flipping through a stack of résumés (or scrolling through an online application software) in search of the best candidate, they often limit their search to someone with industry experience.
It's natural, almost standard even, to include “previous experience” as one of the requirements on job listings. But this leaves a whole slew of potential candidates completely unexplored.
Here are 5 reasons why hiring a young person with no experience might be just what your company needs.
1. No Bad Habits To Break
While employees with previous experience are likely to catch on quickly to their new role, they are also often set in their ways. Young professionals on the other hand are deeply malleable. They haven’t had the time or the opportunity to develop any habits, let alone bad habits. This is the perfect opportunity for you to train and mold your perfect employee. Habits are a lot easier to build than they are to break.
2. Fresh Ideas and New Perspectives
One of the strengths of hiring young professionals is that they’re young! Younger generations are flush with new ideas that can be an incredible resource for a company. Gen Z is beginning to enter the professional workforce and they bring valuable insight on trends, the importance of social media to a brand, as well as a variety of other novel ideas that can help a business succeed.
For more insight on the benefits of having a multigenerational workforce, check out the article Hiring And Creating A Successful Multi-Generational Workforce.
3. Passion For The Job
Passion is an ever-flowing, ever-evolving force that moves and motivates workers. After a substantial amount of time in a role or industry, it can be easy to lose contact with that fresh and fiery passion you once had for your job.
The beauty of hiring young professionals is they are still ripe with passion and excitement!
Recent graduates are often some of the most passionate and motivated employees you can find. While new grads might not have the ten years of industry experience as another candidate, they have likely been eager to trade homework for a paid position to do what they have studied the last few years.
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4. Taking A Chance Can Pay Off
How do you gain industry experience if you need industry experience to get the job? This line of thinking can begin to feel a lot like “what came first, the chicken or the egg?” debate where there isn’t any easy answer. Everyone has to start somewhere, right?
Taking a chance on someone with no experience may seem like a risk, but it is a risk flush with rewards. Not only does taking a chance on someone immediately boost morale, it also can help produce a loyal and dedicated employee. Investing in a young professional’s potential is an investment that will always pay off.
Most young professionals already have some basic skills to succeed in an entry level position. Here are 7 Top Skills For Entry Level Employees that you can look for in potential employees.
5. Hard Skills Can Be Taught, Soft Skills Come Naturally
If your only introduction to a prospective employee is their résumé, a young professional with no experience will leave an incredibly unimpressive impression. Résumés often only show the hard skills a person has. It is a road map of professional and educational accomplishments.
While these are important things to take note of, it often doesn’t paint the full picture of what a candidate can bring to the table. You can teach an employee hard skills, things like Google analytics or how to code a website.
Soft skills are more inherent to a person’s demeanor or personality and aren’t accounted for on the usual résumé. Soft Skills Employees Need In The 2022 Job Market outlines what skills are needed and how they can be beneficial in a work environment.
Final Thoughts
It can be easy to stand in our own way, utilizing age-old methods to filter out potential candidates based on a degree, or substantial industry experience. But these methods weed out some of the best options for the job opening at your company. Young professionals are valuable, malleable, and bring great value to your workforce. Next time a new job opens up, don’t click the “previous experience only” filter, or toss out less established résumés. Young professionals with no experience can be a powerful, but often untapped resource, in your search for your next employee of the month.
Related:
10 Perfect Questions For Young Professionals To Ask An Interviewer
Tips To Professional Growth After College From Two Career Coaches
Meet The Writer!
Hey there! I’m Kay. I am a writer, editor, student and creator with a passion for all things creative. As a current student at the University of Cincinnati, I am studying English Literature and Cultural Studies, Copy Editing and Publishing as well as pursuing a minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. I am also the owner and operator behind Paper and Glue Independent Press (@paperandgluepress). My writing aims to uplift, educate and broaden our understanding of the world around us, and the people that inhabit it. Let's connect. Website. LinkedIn. Instagram.
