Viasto: Career-switcher numbers are increasing, but they make for great candidates

Recently, viasto, a company which provides video interviewing solutions, presented a webinar on the subject "career changers are not second-rate candidates, but the talents of tomorrow", in which graduate psychologist and viasto Co-founder Sara Lindemann presented the results of the study and spoke on specific recruiting tips for employers derived from its conclusions.

Overall, the study suggests that German workers are not afraid to leave their own occupational comfort zone. It's with good reason: lateral entry into non-vocational occupations is a standard part of career planning within academics. 

That's the result of a representative study polling Europe's leading video recruiting providers with over 1,000 people surveyed, and it suggests that a total of three quarters of all candidates could imagine working in a professional field that does not fit their current training and skill set. This openness to change isn't limited to a certain level of skills, age, or tenure, either; even candidates who have already mastered a lateral entry at least once may well consider switching to another.

Engineers have a strong desire to switch to other occupations 

Workers who appear to be highly committed at first glance, according to their training, are particularly open to a move to a career away from their current profession - 86% of them would like to try a non-engineering job. It's a similar situation is similar for IT specialists, of whom almost two-thirds (64%) work in their professional field, yet 78% of them have expressed interested in other jobs.

The proportion of new entrants into industries is also particularly high within the media sector (54%), the logistics sector (58%), as well as in business and administration (40%). The least in science (18%), but that number can rapidly change.

"Newcomers represent a highly interesting resource for seeking employers - one that has so far been under-addressed," said Heike Radtke from viasto when discussing the study's results. "Above all, their value is not always recognized correctly, because many HR departments have the misconception that they can not catch up on valuable specialist knowledge. However, this assumption is demonstrably wrong. We found out you can acquire specialist knowledge with teamwork, initiative, and innovative thinking. Employers who recognize this and adapt their recruiting to it could win over employees who might miss their competition."

_{About the study
For the study, the market research company respondi commissioned viasto to interview 1,045 people from all occupations throughout Germany aged 18-69.}

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