Mary feels a rush of adrenaline after reading the perfect candidate's qualifications. You know the feeling -- realizing your expensive, time-consuming search could finally be over.
However, Mary's moment of elation quickly drops to a pit in her stomach. "One, two, three," she counted. Three jobs in four years. Another job hopping resume found its way to her desk and another quickly hits the 'no' pile.
Hiring costs an immense amount. That's why when a candidate with job hopping tendencies and perfectly aligned qualifications comes along, it's important to understand the positives behind them leaving previous employers.
Here's what you need to consider before sending job hoppers to the 'no' pile again:
Opens up the talent pool
Mary's sense of relief after thinking her candidate search was over stems largely from a scarce talent pool. She isn't the only employer having trouble finding qualified new hires. In fact, a 2015 ManpowerGroup survey revealed 38 percent of employers had difficulty filling jobs globally that year.
A talent shortage means employers need to be even more open-minded about the resumes they're willing to place on the interview pile. Immediately denying candidates based on their apparent job hopping tendencies limits the number of qualified candidates during the interview process and may be costing companies their next best employee.
Thanks to other companies having the same hesitation, job hoppers may be easier to recruit. Open up your recruiting network to allow job hoppers into your interviews, and they just might surprise you.
Be ready to ask detailed questions about why they've had so many jobs in the last few years. Why did they leave? Are they currently looking for long-term employment? If offered this position, what is one reason they would consider moving on?
Highly skilled employees
Job hoppers get stereotyped frequently by recruiters. Mary, for example, tossed a highly qualified candidate aside simply because she assumed they frequently left jobs because they were bored, didn't allow enough time to actually like their position, or don't like following company policy.
It's inevitable that some job hoppers fall into these undesirable categories. However, many leave for reasons most employers understand, appreciate, and even encourage, such as outgrowing a position, they were offered higher pay somewhere else, or they discovered their true passion.
No matter the reason for leaving, thanks to many job titles and task lists, job hoppers acquire a wide variety of skills. Among this long list is the ability to quickly acclimate to a new environment and retain information.
Use job hoppers' qualities to your organization's advantage. During interviews, have candidates run through practice tasks that new hires will are required to do. Assessing if their previous experience has equipped them to catch on quicker than other candidates will let you know if they're worth hiring.
If you find they are, thanks to their differing skills, this job hopper turned new hire may grow and advance at the rate of the company's best employees.
Know what they want -- and what they don't
With experience comes wisdom. Moving between multiple positions and companies affords many job hoppers the opportunity to discover what they want out of their career.
After having a couple jobs within three to four years, they might be applying to this position because they've narrowed down their list of wants. Working among many different personality types makes them more secure in their ideal company culture, and experience in many roles and fields gives their passions direction.
Josh Tolan is the CEO of Spark Hire, a video interview solution used by more than 2,000 companies across the globe. Connect with Spark Hire on Facebook and Twitter.