How will you spot potential in inexperienced juniors?/Unsplash
The last few years have been characterized by uncertainty in the markets due to a global pandemic, a macroeconomic crisis, wars in the world and here in Israel.
The instability gives its signals in all areas of our lives and correspondingly also on the labor market and the recruitment of manpower in particular.
In a macro view of the industry, the student and junior jobs were the first to be affected.
Organizations tightened their belts and teams, and as a strategic decision stopped recruiting employees without corresponding training and experience.
According to the CBS, the scope of student and junior jobs in the tech industry in Israel has been cut in half.
In the first half of 2022, the number of open jobs was 3,235 and today it is only 1,710.
On the one hand, the decline in junior recruitment is natural and an integral part of the company's risk management process in challenging times.
Despite this, the advantages of employing juniors outweigh the disadvantages, and most likely organizations will return to recruiting for these jobs, which are significant for continued future growth.
Versatility, creativity and hunger to succeed
Ricky Harel./Yifat Rabed
Growing companies, from small startups to big tech companies, are required for a wide variety of tasks that require a variety of talents.
As the organization grows, they will require projects of complicated architecture, as well as projects that require labeling, code maintenance and analyses.
The juniors enable versatility of the teams and the promotion of layered projects that require many functions.
Precisely in challenging days, both experienced and young employees are required to have the flexibility that is possible due to the diversity and human supply.
With the reality of an average of 20% of employees being recruited into reserves in technology companies, the young employees constitute a significant safety net for the continuation of business activity and for the soldiers on the front.
These roles are often characterized by human capital that is "hungry" to prove itself, learn new things and achieve success.
Employees in entry-level positions will invest a lot of effort and resources in performing tasks to establish their status and ensure their continued promotion in the organization.
As a result, the juniors' horstility is also mental;
Most of the time they will arrive at the task with an open mind, new and creative ideas, open to new practices and criticism.
Managers report that young employees adapt more easily and successfully to the working methods used in the organization, than seniors who are used to other work practices.
So the process of acclimatization and assimilation of junior positions is often fast and high-quality and it is easy to identify the employees with the high potential to grow within the organization.
With great power comes great responsibility
The ongoing training and support process of the employees is critical to the success and acclimatization of the new employees.
Organizations that recruit for these positions are required to prepare and formulate training programs that will provide the organizational and professional envelope and the tools that will help them perform their tasks to the best of their ability.
A quality training program will combine professional-technological overlap and at the same time a process of getting to know and assimilating into the organizational and team culture.
Even in the case of internal mobility within the organization, many times we will get an employee who is a junior in his field.
When a veteran employee starts a new function where he is junior in terms of professional knowledge and skills, the organization must accompany him in entering the position and ensure quality acclimatization.
Despite the professional gaps, these employees have proven themselves in the organization and in exchange for preserving the knowledge and cultural capital in the organization, they are given the opportunity to advance and gain significant experience in a variety of roles and jobs.
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Nurture the next generation
Although the employment of juniors is considered less profitable for the organization and requires greater human and managerial resources in the overlap and training process, the employment of students and juniors entails the socio-economic responsibility of organizations to continue moving the industry forward.
Hiring juniors means training the next generation of talents, who will drive the wheels of innovation and enable the continued prosperity of the high-tech industry and the Israeli economy in general.
Ricky Harrell is the Director of Human Resources at At-Bay Cyber Insurance Unicorn.
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