Though I view my career trajectory as one that has generally risen over time, the positions I’ve had seem to have gone in reverse order from what that view would suggest: I was a founder before being a partner, then a director at different retail and fashion companies, and now finally as an employee at Kandidate. These two seemingly at odds views point to the fact that regardless of position, finding an industry and a company that fulfills and engages is imperative.
Switching to a different industry from the one you know and have become entrenched in, be it to fulfill a dream or just to get out of a field that is no longer of interest, requires a leap of faith but is ultimately rewarding. This is something I have experienced myself as an employer, an employee, and a recruiter.
It takes just as much a leap of faith from the company doing the hiring, and I believe can be equally rewarding from that perspective. Sound advice that we often tell our clients is to “hire the person.” Granted, some roles, especially those in engineering, require specific technical know-how garnered over years or decades and its easier for any new hire to hit the ground running when they have ticked off every requirement and proof point. However, processes and programs can be learned.
If the choice is between a candidate that clicks with your team, is inspired and will work hard but may need a few weeks of training vs a candidate that may be perfect on paper but doesn’t quite gel, I will always recommend the former. I know what its like as a founder: spending the majority of your time fixing problems, analysing, executing, not spending as much time as you’d like to innovate. The thought of having to carve out more of your own or an employee’s time to train a new hire is tough to justify in the short term, but a solid culture fit, an aptitude, and an enthusiasm to learn and do well is the most efficient and rewarding choice in the medium to long term. Investing in people pays off (I am pretty sure my boss agrees with that statement).
