Offer Training Opportunities to Find Workers with Skills You Seek

Savvy employers looking for workers with the skills their organizations need can find those candidates by broadening their recruitment approach, focusing on candidates’ experiences, and offering short-term training opportunities.

That was the message during the panel discussion “Sail into Success: Navigating a Sea of Opportunities with Micro-Internships, Internships, Returnships, and Apprenticeships” on June 25 at the SHRM Annual Conference & Expo (SHRM24) in Chicago.

Employers should look beyond a job candidate’s college major or grades. For example, someone who graduated from college with a philosophy degree “has learned how to craft an argument [and] problem-solve,” said panelist Jeffrey Moss, founder and CEO of Chicago-based Parker Dewey, which facilitates micro-internships.

His organization works with many student-athletes. While the vast majority of them don’t go on to professional sports careers, they have displayed “grit, teamwork [and] coachability,” he noted.

“Look at the individuals,” Moss advised employers. “We need to make sure our recruiting process is giving credit” for other traits “and harnessing that and helping them appreciate those skills.”

Micro-internships are a way to give college students and early professionals bite-size projects and help organizations “engage, assess, [and] build relationships with individuals who could be those future hires,” Moss said.

They are a way, he said, for the organization to “test-drive a candidate,” as well as for the candidate to size up the potential employer.

Other panelists offered the following action items for employers:

Look into different training programs. “There’s such a richness of different approaches,” said Phill Haig, global director of Early Career Programs at Visa. Also, “don’t be afraid to pitch something new” to leadership as a way to find new talent.

Build your case. Find the right time to have the conversation—and prepare the right narrative—when presenting the idea for an apprenticeship, micro-internship, or other training program.

Haig approaches individual hiring managers to ask if they would like to get a small assignment off their desk. He frames the solution in a way that doesn’t require a heavy lift from the stakeholder.

Additionally, getting someone in leadership attached to the program “is really, really crucial,” said Brawnski Armstrong, engineering head at DRW. The Chicago-based trading firm’s apprenticeship program is overseen by a leader whose own experience as an apprentice fuels his drive for the program’s success, Armstrong said.

Start small and have a clear goal. “You need a North Star,” Haig said. “What is the end game? If we start small, what are we building up to?”

Be careful of offering too many training opportunities. “Oversubscription” occurs when employers offer more training opportunities—such as apprenticeships—than there are jobs to fill once that training ends.

“[You] may not have the roles to support the people down the tracks,” Haig cautioned.

Be curious and challenge your own biases and own stereotypes. Look into training programs you may be unfamiliar with.

Learn the constraints of different training approaches, work around them, and tailor your message to leadership’s concerns.