In recruiting, you might be happy to come across a candidate with an impressive education, like an MBA or another advanced degree. But how do you know if that education will translate into real world skills? Here are some things to think about.
Ideally, you’ll find a candidate with plenty of experience as well as a good education. But that doesn’t always happen. If you interview someone who leans more toward the education side, you’ll want to focus as much as you can on the experience they do have (internships, for example). Asking how what they learned had helped them in those jobs can help you find out if their learning was practical, or too academic.
Too specialized?
Another potential problem with those higher degrees is the fact that in many disciplines, the higher you go, the more specialized your learning. For example, an MBA-holder may have a narrowly defined specialty. That can be a good thing if it’s the specialty you’re looking for. But you may also want someone who can oversee or rotate among a few departments, so you’ll need to make sure they have skills that translate.
And finally, as with all candidates, you need to make sure your company is a good place for the person. You don’t want people who’ll see themselves as a big fish in a small pond, or who’ll use the company as a stepping stone (i.e., as a way to quickly get that experience they lack, and then moving on to something else). During the interview, be clear about what kind of room for growth the position offers.
