The Risks of Candidates Climbing Back Down the Corporate Ladder
Should you hire people into more junior roles than their last role? You can, but here are the potential pitfalls to consider
Source | www.entrepreneur.com | George Deeb
Our brains have been wired to think about our careers going up the corporate ladder over time. A manager becomes a director, a director becomes a vice president, a vice president becomes a president, etc.
Obviously, there are a lot fewer job positions the further you go up the ladder. A typical company may have 125 managers, 25 directors, five vice presidents and one president. The odds of moving up the ladder aren’t really in your favor, with 80 percent fewer positions at each next level.
But, people need to make a living. What happens when an employee needs to go back down the ladder to find more open positions? Is that a good idea for you as a hiring manager to consider that candidate?
Let’s find out.
Does the candidate have the right skills?
Let’s talk about the sales department as an example. Most “upper ladder” sales managers have been “lower ladder” salespeople at some point in their past careers. It is highly likely and logical that a sales manager has the knowledge and skills required to succeed as a salesperson again but the job of a sales manager is completely different from a salesperson.
