Pros and cons of hiring freshers and laterals

The importance of work experience cannot be stressed enough when it comes to recruiting a candidate for a specific job. Having a college degree alone isn’t sufficient to prove that a person would be suitable for a given job even if his degree is relevant to the job position. Having relevant work experience shows that he has the required skill set for the job. However, hiring an experienced candidate can have a few downsides – they may not be very flexible working in the new environment, may have higher expectations for remuneration, or may not show a lot of enthusiasm for acquiring new skills. On the other hand, a fresher or even a lateral usually is very enthusiastic about learning, since it is their first job and they are more focussed on acquiring new skills and preparing themselves for the role instead of expecting a big salary.

Now, with that in mind, let us examine why is it important for you to consider recruiting freshers and laterals for your upcoming campus recruitments.

Benefits of Hiring Freshers

• Easy to train: Freshers have better adaptability as they are keen to learn new skills and update themselves according to the market requirements. Since they do not have any prior knowledge or experience, they can be easily moulded as per the job profile.
• Tech savvy: The current generation has been brought up with smart-phones and other gadgets. They are also naturally inclined towards keeping up with the latest trends and developments in technology. Therefore, they can easily learn a new skill that requires the use of technology.
• Fresh perspective: Freshers do not come with any bias when they enter a workplace as they are primarily looking for learning opportunities. Also, lack of experience can be a good thing because they aren’t set in their ways and thus it is easier for them to come up with unique solutions for a given problem statement.
• Lower salary expectations: Receiving higher salary may not be a top priority for freshers since they are looking for opportunities to learn and grow in their domain. Acquiring new skills and learning new technology are more important for them to sustain in the market.
• Cost effective for the company: Companies can hire a large number of freshers by visiting colleges during campus placement drives. Also, training a large number of employees in one go saves a lot of time and money for the company.
• Ready to work hard: They have an urge to prove their mettle and would happily go the extra mile to achieve their targets. They are also highly goal oriented.
• Adapt to a new work culture better: Experienced employees tend to draw a comparison between their previous and their current workplace and thus have a harder time adjusting to a new culture. Since, freshers do not have prior experience, they can easily adjust to their new work culture.

However, hiring freshers has its own set of disadvantages as well. Let us look at a few reasons below:

• More training required: They need to be trained from the ground up.  Furthermore, they need to be trained on multiple skills and it will take time for them to be productive. Also, training freshers requires a lot of time and money.  
• Longer time to settle in: As they are fresh out of college, they still have the mindset of a college student.The transition from a college student to a working professional takes time.
• Professionalism: They have an easy going attitude and need to work on their levels of competence.
• High Attrition: They are unreliable in the sense that they do not hesitate to switch jobs in case a better opportunity shows up. Also, as the initial pay usually isn’t substantial they might immediately take up a better paying job.

On the other hand, laterals are individuals with some experience and are already familiar with the industry standards. So, let us look at a few reasons why hiring laterals could be a good idea.

Benefits of Hiring Laterals

• Minimal or no training required: Since they already have a considerable amount of expertise, they generally do not require training. However, in some cases a minimal amount of training can be provided if the functioning of the new workplace differs from the previous one.
• Little or no settling in time: They can hit the ground running as they have a good understanding of the nature of work that is expected from them. Also, as they do not need training, they can be productive as soon as they join your organization.
• Well versed with industry trends: As they are candidates with some experience, they are aware of the industry they are a part of and the skill requirement for the job profile. Also, they might have worked in close liaison with other organizations or individuals from the same industry which could be really beneficial for you.
• High efficiency and effectiveness: Efficiency and effectiveness are the two main parameters by which you can gauge the intrinsic value of an employee. Employees grow efficient with time. Clearly, laterals have an edge when it comes to efficiency as they would require lesser amount of time to do the same work. Likewise, they also learn how to be productive on the right things, something that only comes with experience.
• Better decision making and problem solving: Experience helps an individual take the best decision in a short period of time with the information available at hand. Similarly, laterals might also have a more sound problem-solving approach.

Now that we have looked at reasons why you should consider hiring laterals, let us examine the demerits of recruiting them.

• High salary expectations: As laterals come with some work experience, they naturally have higher salary expectations than candidates with little or no work experience.
• Higher attrition rate: As they have a sound industry experience, they have very specific expectations. They do not stick around if they feel that their expectations are not being met or a better opportunity shows up.
• Difficulty adjusting to new culture: This can be a daunting task for laterals as they are accustomed to the work culture at their previous work place and adjusting to a new work culture and different company policies may take time.
• Openness to change: Although they might be more efficient and effective than a fresher as they are used to working in a set manner and have a well defined work- flow, hence, they might not be as flexible as freshers.

Recruiting the right candidate for the job can be a tough task and it depends upon the job position and the skill requirements of your company. Laterals are a great fit for jobs with starting salaries and profiles which do not require a lot of domain expertise. If you are a recruiter looking to hire through campus recruitment drives and require some assistance, you can reach out to us at Pod.ai for hassle-free recruitment. Our expertise and tech tools can help you shortlist the top talent and also meet your recruitment numbers. Visit us at https://pod.ai/employers to learn more about our services.