Navigating the Job Search as a Nontraditional Candidate

by Sterling Nelson , Talent Consultant

The post above has over 102,000 likes and 30 million views on X (formerly Twitter)—and I get it.

Job searching is really hard; job seekers often send out hundreds of applications, and most of them disappear into the void, never to be heard from again. It’s particularly frustrating when you read a job description that seems tailor-made for you, only to reach the qualifications section and learn that you meet very few of them.

I understand the sentiment behind posts like these—and I think that, largely, the idea is correct. Most jobs are teachable to most people. I’m not sure it’s as high as 90%, but it’s definitely closer to 90% than 0%. But while “Give people a chance!” is a nice idea, the approach also raises a lot of questions.

As a talent consultant, I’m constantly evaluating candidates: first based on their written materials, like a resume or cover letter, and later in an interview. In both instances, I primarily use a candidate’s previous experience as a proxy for how they’d perform in a similar role with a new organization. If I’m not going to use previous relevant experience to evaluate a candidate, what should my criteria be?

Perhaps the answer is to broaden what I consider relevant experience. DRG practices this approach to some extent with our competency-based recruitment model. However, recruiting is an exercise in balancing risk. The candidates with the most relevant experience are the least risky to hire. Essentially, I can be reasonably confident that a candidate who’s served as a Chief Financial Officer in a mid-sized human services nonprofit will be successful in the same role at a similar organization simply because that candidate has done it before. Broadening the definition of relevant experience increases the candidate pool, but it also increases the risk that the job goes to a candidate who won’t be successful.

But does experience matter at all if most people can just learn on the job? The answer is a particularly unsatisfying “it depends.” Teaching a job is a skill unto itself, and it’s a skill that an organization might not have. If a new hire is going to learn, they need someone to teach them. Organizations might not have someone with the time or skills necessary to be that teacher.

Learning on the job also requires time. A new hire with more limited relevant experience is not going to be able to perform at the same level as quickly as a new hire with strong relevant experience. Organizations often don’t have that kind of time; they need a new hire to step in and perform at a reasonably high level right away.

A candidate also needs to have the aptitude and skills to learn a particular position. Yes, most jobs are likely teachable, but that doesn’t mean the job is teachable to every candidate. If an organization is going to invest time and resources into training, they need to be confident that the employee they’re investing in will learn skills quickly and be able to meet the role’s duties.

Nontraditional candidates need to do two things if they’re going to pivot careers successfully: they need to find a way to mitigate the risk of hiring them, and they need to prove that they can learn quickly.

A cover letter explains not only a candidate’s interest in a career pivot, but also how their previous experience relates to the job for which they’re applying. This can be a strong signal to an organization about how the candidate’s experience can translate to a new kind of role. Candidates should also take a thorough look at their network and set up informational interviews with individuals in the positions that interest the candidate. Gaining an understanding of the relative strengths and weaknesses of their background as a candidate in a new sector or position can help candidates understand which parts of their profile to emphasize.

Lastly, a candidate interviewing for a role outside their traditional experience will be asked about things they might never have done before. When answering, the candidate should acknowledge their lack of specific experience and pivot their answer to a similar success. They should also highlight a time they’ve quickly and successfully learned something on the job. Context is incredibly important to interviewers, and candidates who can explain succinctly and clearly how their previous experience might relate to the new position will be much more successful.

Diversity of experience can be incredibly valuable in an organization, and candidates from nontraditional backgrounds can be successful in a wide range of roles. While this is true for all candidates, nontraditional candidates must especially be able to expand clearly, and at times creatively, on their experience to show how it will be an asset to their desired organization.??

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