According to a 2021 PwC study, 60 percent of people are worried that automation is putting many jobs at risk. A McKinsey survey in February 2020 stated that 9 in 10 executives and managers are either already facing skills gaps in their organisations or expect gaps to develop within the next five years.
Now add Web 3, NFT, crypto, and the metaverse into the everyday mix of emerging job sectors. Yes, the entire job and skills landscape as we know it is changing at wrap speeds.
Emerging jobs bring with it a host of people looking to switch careers to survive and for a variety of reasons like flexible schedules, better pay, work-life balance etc.
But a career change without re-skilling and upskilling is like a theme park without roller coaster – empty and useless. And how fast the roller coaster is working when you get it on the track matters a lot since sitting on a slow-moving roller coaster going down a steep incline is darn scary and dangerous.
According to the Business Standard, 79 percent of professionals intend to upskill this year. This is a good sign that many are open to upskilling. But is every employer ready for an “intern” workforce all over again?
Here’s a list of 5 things that you, as an employer, can keep in mind while hiring someone who’s in the middle of a career change.
- Necessary skills
The person you’re hiring might be high on enthusiasm and desire to learn, but low on the skills required to do the job.
What do you do in that case? You can ask them to start off as an intern at an intern’s salary and learn on the job.
You can also provide them with upskilling opportunities that will help them learn the job quicker.
The key issue you will face here will be whether they can financially afford this and whether their ego is ready to take this blow especially for those who were once high earners.
2. Incremental roles
It is common that a person switching careers might expect their role to be a senior one as a manager as if picking up from where they left off.
This may not work for the company and allow them to gain the respect and trust of the younger team members more qualified.
A tech manager who has no clue about current code and trends in technoligies of his team will face a revolt from his developers.
As an employer, you can introduce the policy of 3-6 months incremental roles, wherein anyone can get a role raise as much as they upskill and ready to handle the role. It will drive learning and allow your fast trackers to bubble up quickly to the top.
3. Cultural fit
One of the biggest concerns that most employers have while hiring individuals who are switching careers is that they might not be a cultural fit for their organisation.
Working at a Fortune 500 company is very different to working at a start-up. Working in a particular mature sector and coming into an emerging sector company is very different.
The best solution to this to ask your new employee to network as much as he can within your organisation before joining.
The more people he talks to, the more he’ll naturally learn about how things function the more he or she and you will know if the right fit.
4. Learning agility
If you’re bringing someone on board and trusting them with a role to play in your company, you want them to know how to get the job done. Period.
However, with someone who is changing careers, that might be easier said than done. In such a scenario, you can choose one of two ways.
You can either ask him to start with side hustle projects temporarily and learn the job so you can evaluate hi.
Or you can bring him on for a probation of 3 months and be very clear about what success looks like.
Providing him with re-skilling and upskilling opportunities can also prove to be a win-win only if there is true value to the business from Day 1.
5. Speaking up first when it is not working
They think they can learn on the job and get it done with time. You aren’t too sure about it given they are three months in already and the learning is slow.
You need as an Employer, regardless of resource restraints in this tough labour market, to make some hard decisions and decide if to continue trying.
What can you do in this case if you decide to keep trying? Talk to a few references they have worked with in the past again.
Keep a pulse of their attitude. Pay attention if they go on the offensive when being corrected. Then decide if you want to try again for another three months and be open about your concerns and what metric you will use to ensure alleviated.
If you are not clear about this, you will cause yourself and your team unnecessary anxiety and be responsible for the anger, frustration and burn out of the ill prepared party.
Giving someone a shot switching careers can be the best thing you do for your business. Many companies do it to shake up their old business sectors and models under transformation such as airlines, oil and gas, schools, telecom companies etc. Career Shifters often can turn out to be your star employee.
However, proceed with caution since everybody today is a digital marketer and influencer after taking a course on Udemy. This does not mean they can execute. And those who can execute win … always.
Sallyann Della Casa, founder of Gleac.com
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