Innovative hiring: The benefits of recruiting from outside your sector

Do you hire outside of your sector?

Many employers prefer to hire candidates who are knowledgeable about the company's industry when it comes to effective hiring.

However, while industry experience is beneficial, hiring candidates from outside your sector offers your workforce unique value.

Read on to learn more about the advantages of hiring candidates from a different field as part of your innovative recruitment strategy.

Innovative hiring and adaptability

Hiring candidates from outside of your industry opens the door to innovation. Someone who isn’t experienced in your sector won’t have industry fatigue and may be able to bring new and fresh ideas into the workplace.

Although hiring someone who knows your sector might feel safer, taking a chance can add more value in the long run; it could lead to innovative changes that help your company grow.

Those new to the industry also tend to be more adaptable and open to new working styles. On the other hand, candidates who have been in the sector for a while can become comfortable with their way of doing things.

Employees with less industry experience won’t have any bad habits to break, but you can help them make many good ones within the role.

Transferable soft skills

Although many job descriptions specify the hard skills candidates need to fulfil the role, soft skills are also important. These include:

• Analytical skills
• Initiative
• Priority management
• Communication skills
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Organisational skills
• Problem-solving

Whilst all of these skills are important in a candidate, they don’t necessarily apply to one specific sector. These skills sets are essential across all industries, and by widening the net into other areas, you’re more likely to find candidates who possess all of these qualities.

For example, while construction, engineering and manufacturing companies may prefer to hire project managers from their own space, there are many other industries where the ability to manage high-value projects is sought after and nurtured.

Leadership and commercial skills can also be sourced outside the existing energy, process and infrastructure talent pool.

Transferable hard skills

Some job roles have similar criteria across industries, so it can make sense to hire from another sector.

For example, many energy companies target ex-military personnel as they have a high number of transferable skills, such as leadership and engineering skills. This means they’ll still be qualified to do a great job within your company, even if they’re new to the industry.

Approximately 14,000 employees leave the armed forces on a yearly basis, providing a pool of top talent for energy bosses to tap into.

Discovering new potential 

Although skills are essential when hiring new talent, it's important not to discredit potential. Exploring candidates with potential rather than an exact match provides a great opportunity to develop the employees and grow their careers with you. It also keeps the employee engaged for longer and helps to increase your company's retention rate. 

Many candidates looking for new opportunities are in search of personal development and growth, so offering that can attract employees who fit well within your company culture. Providing excellent training and mentoring to these candidates keeps them loyal. 

Valuing potential over skills expands your talent reach because it means you're looking outside the box. Focusing on factors outside your job description checklist increases your chances of hiring someone who fits perfectly within your team dynamic. Skills can be taught, but attitude is more difficult to change, so it's essential to consider this during hiring. 

Increasing your talent pool reach

You may have reached the limit of your potential candidate pool and traditional recruiting tools. When hiring within your current sector, you might find passive candidates harder to find, and employee referral programs may be exhausted.

If this is the case, looking for qualified candidates outside of your industry could widen your talent pool and introduce you to fresh potential employees with transferable skills perfectly suited to the job you’re hiring for.

Widening your candidate search will also help you to develop a more diverse culture. If your candidate pool consists of potential employees with similar experience levels, ethnicities, and educational backgrounds, it might be helpful to broaden your search and look for talent within other industries.

Reduction in payroll costs

Companies often offer higher wages when recruiting from competitor businesses to motivate potential employees to leave. As a result, salaries can increase, adding to the payroll burden and potentially impacting budgets.

Hiring someone from another industry means you don’t have to compete with other employers based on wage alone - you can offer candidates the excitement of working in a new sector where their skills are unique rather than a commodity to be haggled over.

Demonstrating flexibility and diversity

Most companies thrive on their ability to be flexible and learn to adapt to changes in the market.

Sometimes, hiring job seekers with extensive industry knowledge is risky, as they might be so used to their way of working that they become blind to fundamental changes within the industry. On the other hand, someone with less experience may be more open and adaptable to change.

Employing staff with different professional backgrounds can enrich your company by adding diversity. These workers can fulfil the job requirements while offering a fresh perspective and new ideas to the business, giving your company a competitive edge.

How Airswift can help you find top candidates for your company

Here at Airswift, we’re dedicated to helping companies and hiring managers in the energy, process and infrastructure industries find the talent they need.

With more than 40 years of experience in recruiting engineering talent in countries all over the world, we have a range of services that can help.

Our talent acquisition specialists will support you throughout the hiring process and identify candidates according to your specific needs. We’ll help you hire the perfect workers for your company, while offering a great candidate experience too.

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