Ok, I had to read this abcnews.com article slowly – Need a New Job? Go On Vacation. To cut to the chase – people are using their vacation time to test drive a new career they would prefer to have. Vocation Vacation – what a great name – offers this service:
the company offers more than 75 different career experiences all while your boss thinks you’re off sunning yourself on some sandy beach.
We have encountered companies that are implementing various forms of trial-for-hire programs even amongst high end sales positions. From the company’s perspective, I think it is a great opportunity to make sure you hire the right person for your culture.
However, from the employee’s perspective, the risk is monumental. If the employee is confident about their abilities and their fit to the company, they may pursue the trial for hire program. But they are the ones with the majority of the risk. They are (most likely) walking away from their existing position without a guarantee for this new position. It may appear that the hiring company is not completely sold on their candidacy as the best option. Granted, this is true in any hiring scenario (the dreaded 90 day probation period). Yet, the hiring company in the trial-for-hire situation seems less committed to the employee whether true or not.
May I be so bold as to suggest improving your hiring odds by using a repeatable hiring process that provides more insight into an external candidate than you may possess on your current employees?