1. Internal candidates. A.) Covid. I was able to reassign and save a half-dozen employees from my previous employer who were otherwise going to lose their jobs due to Covid. I took coworkers from G&A (Travel) and HR specifically. B.) In many SaaS orgs, Customer Support is the entry point for new professional talent looking to get into tech due to their energy, enthusiasm, and affordability. Then, these individuals are primed with technical skills to become highly effective with customers. Personally, I believe it is one of the missions of CS to be a pillar of career development for the Company - coming in, going out, and traveling through.
2. HR and Tourism orgs. These professionals understand customer services, every spectrum of personas, and how to drive value for both people and business. After that, you can teach and coach the rest.
3. College grads. The world of CS, when explained properly, is a land of excitement and opportunity. No where else can a new professional see, touch, and learn from every end of their company, and every end of their customers' companies.
In the past 18 months, I grew a CS Dept from 15 to 50 without hiring anyone from social media or community networks I was a member of.
Additionally, in February of this year, of the 22 hires I had made, 21 did not have strict CS experience - some had account management experience.
I hire for mainly three things: character (internal drive, hunger for autonomy), growth mindset, and culture.
CS is so new and ever evolving that the rest can be coached, mentored, onboared, continuously trained, and co-learned.
For seasoned and veteran postions (CS Ops Manager, Team Leads, new managers), I promoted from within 11 out of 12 times.
