4 Signs of a Star Career-Changing Candidate

The average job tenure  today is about five years. No recruiter in their right mind, then, should expect to find candidates who want to stay at a company for life. In fact, given the prevalence of job hopping these days, most recruiters would probably find it a little strange if they came across a job-for-lifer.

While the job-for-life may be dead, many employers still expect candidates to at least maintain one career for life. Problem is, even the career-for-life approach is dying. As the average lifespan increases and education becomes easier to access, it’s not possible for many of us to have three or even four careers in one lifetime. Couple this with job seekers’ increasing demands for self-determinism and work-life balance — as well as high levels  of economic volatility in a number of industries — and it seems likely that multi-career lifestyles will soon be the norm.

This means that employers need to get used to increasingly diverse streams of applicants. More and more job seekers will be in the process of changing careers, and many job seekers will bring with them experiences from multiple careers.

Identify high-performing career-change candidates requires a new approach. We can’t assess multi-career candidates the same way we assess career lifers. To that end, I offer these signs of high performance and potential to guide recruiters and employers when they’re interviewing career-change candidates.

1. A Great Career-Change Candidate Has Plenty of Transferable Skills

Candidates who change careers don’t necessarily have to start from scratch in terms of skills. Throughout their many jobs/careers, a candidate may develop forward-compatible skills that can be transferred to great effect in their new career. The best candidates will be able to illustrate their forward compatibility by outlining their transferable skills and explaining how they will be of value in their new role/career.

2. A Great Career-Change Candidate Brings Lots of Uncommon Skills

In addition to readily transferable skills, a star career changer will bring with them skills that are common in their former career path, but highly uncommon — and very valuable — in their new career. When interviewing a career-change candidate, be on the lookout for some of their more unique skills, and think about how these skills may be of benefit in the new role.

3. A Great Career-Change Candidate Has a Clear Objective for Their New Career

There is nothing wrong with a candidate who wants to opt out of their old career, but employers should think carefully before hiring career changers who are still in the experimental phases.

Candidates who are still feeling things out — dipping their toes in the career waters, so to speak — may not be as committed as candidates who have already figured out what they want from their new careers. Recruiters and employers should target committed career changers who have developed plans for their new careers which include learning, development, and performance milestones.

4. Great Career-Change Candidates Usually Make Sacrifices to Pursue Their New Careers

Another strong indicator that a career changer is truly committed to their new path is that they have had to make a sacrifice to get in front of you. This sacrifice can take many forms. Perhaps the candidate has made a significant financial investment in training and development to help them succeed in their new career. Perhaps the candidate spent every evening for the last two years studying for a specific qualification.

It’s not essential for a career changer to make some sort of sacrifice in order to be a “serious” candidate, but it is one of the best indicators of a truly committed career changer. When considering career-change candidates, employers should heavily weigh any sacrifices the candidate has made to get to where they are today.

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Career changers will soon be the norm. If employers are to take full advantage of the talent market, they’ll need to become skilled at identifying high-performance career-change candidates.