What does experience mean to you?

Let’s pretend you’re a hiring manager. Does the following statement impress you? “Practical contact with and observation of facts or events.” No? Me either… that’s the first definition of experience from a Google search.

This word is held to a very high standard. It’s a requirement in more job postings than a bachelor’s degree. But, what is experience and why is it the bane of young professionals looking for a chance?

I have never understood why experience is held in such high regards, often a deciding factor when it comes to who is even interviewed. The Marine Corps has fourteen leadership traits: Justice, Judgment, Dependability, Initiative, Decisiveness, Tact, Integrity, Enthusiasm, Bearing, Unselfishness, Courage, Knowledge, Loyalty, and Endurance. These words are almost never listed in the job’s Minimum Requirements. Why is that? If I was in a position to hire, I would select an individual with these traits because, I would want leaders, not managers. Leaders don’t need a title to lead. Leaders promote things like, innovation, communication, and teamwork. I would want all my employees to be leaders.

Experience is not a trait. Your ability to gain experience sometimes comes down to being in the right place at the right time. Experience is gained through time. I could be the worst (still good, just not a top performer) at my job and, as long as I hold that position, I’m still getting the experience that is often listed under job requirements and deemed the deciding factor in many situations.

In my efforts to be the best I can be, and to take the next steps in my career, I was asked to take Gallup’s Strength Finder 2.0 assessment. First, let me assure you experience isn’t one of the possible strengths. My top five strengths (in order) are, Competitive, Strategic, Futuristic, Maximizer, and Deliberate. To me, these represent the types of qualities (strengths) I would look for in a future employee.

I don’t think hiring managers realize that losing out on a new position because of experience is probably the most depressing reason to a prospective employee. In my opinion, that is saying “We don’t believe in you.”

Employers don’t want to take chances anymore. The corporate world has created a false emphasis on experience and is giving the impression “the company doesn’t have time to train”, “training isn’t in the budget”, and/or “it is really important the individual selected can hit the ground running.”

They want someone else to deal with training. Everyone is looking for the “plug-n-play” employee. Unfortunately, I think this is because many leadership positions are filled by managers – not leaders. Harvard Business Review has a great, short article on the “Three Differences Between Managers and Leaders.”

Don’t get me wrong, I understand experience has its place. In no way am I saying any and all positions should be willing to accept the inexperienced. However, I believe there should be more emphasis placed on candidates past successes and ambition. I don’t believe experience should ever be the deciding factor in the hiring process, unless all other avenues have been discussed. With experience comes comfort, and with comfort, innovation and creativity often take a back seat. With technology constantly advancing, employees with leadership traits are the keys to staying competitive.

When experience is held in such high regards over so many beneficial traits… what kind of workforce are we creating?