The Questions You’re Not Asking, and Why You Should Be
When I made the transition from retail management into healthcare administration, it was impossible to know whether any of my experience would relate. I spent seventeen years in retail—building teams, enhancing customer loyalty, managing a business, leading change. Seventeen years of floor sets, color wheels, customer experience acronyms, leadership development, celebrations, and tough conversations. Seventeen years of product knowledge, party planning, holiday hours, and early morning inventory. Seventeen years of building, learning, growing. What would this mean to a recruiter or hiring manager in a completely different industry? It turns out for many of the roles I applied for, not much.
There are a multitude of transferable skills in every industry, so why do we so often fail to acknowledge them? I would never go so far as to say that I have the one true answer, but one potential reason may be a lack of awareness regarding the skills other industries require. And another? The misguided belief that the alignment of a candidate’s job experience is vastly more important in the hiring process than their proven capabilities. And don’t even get me started on the frequent use of the phrase “I need someone who knows this already, because I don’t have time to train.”
Take retail for example. What skills does a simple floor set require (or at the bare minimum develop)? The ability to manage a project, track and monitor time, delegate roles and responsibilities, think critically to adapt and evolve when product inventory isn’t at the level that the floor set requires it—all are fundamental skills for ensuring a floor set’s success. Oh, and did I mention that floor sets occur, at a minimum, every six to eight weeks and are often run by lower level keyholders who only have one to two years of job experience?
We push networking in every industry as an absolute must for future leaders. I would argue that it’s even more important for current and future leaders of people to network with leaders in industries other than their own.
Do you ever ask your friends what they do for a living and allow them to get away with providing an explanation you don’t really understand? I challenge you to dig deep…get curious. Find the common denominators between the skills required in your industry and theirs. Going to a networking event? Do the same! Purposely find someone who doesn’t work in your industry and do your best to uncover where your industries align.
Here are some questions to get you started. Hint* - These are great interview questions too. :-)
Tell me more about your work. What does a normal workday look like to you?
What kind of software do you use in your job?
What knowledge and capabilities do you look for when you’re hiring?
Are there any other industries you like to hire from? If so, why?
What’s a common problem you have to solve?
Is there anything you wish your team could do better? If so, what skills are they missing?
Let’s train ourselves and others to see job experience—and the skills that experience develops—in a whole new way.