By the end of the third quarter of this calendar year, I found myself thinking more and more about the pros and cons of the attitudes and experiences of retail Car Sales Executives. Due to Q3 being a tough quarter to recruit experienced Sales Executives, I was placing more and more candidates that had some experience but a real enthusiasm for learning their trade.

Some experience, whether main dealer, independent or car supermarket was still necessary but a passion and enthusiasm were what won the candidates the jobs. Is this just a reaction to market conditions around September or is this a shift in the mindset of hiring managers that have generally wanted many years experience?

Does the current team dynamic have anything to do with it? If you have a team full of experience, you may have more time to spend training a relative newcomer to the motor industry. Attitude for the role and a real appetite can come from both experienced candidates as well as those relatively new to the industry.

So what wins? Attitude or experience...or a bit of both?