Phrasal Verbs – Is ‘Hire Someone into the Sales Department’ Correct and Natural?

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Could you tell me if it's correct and natural to say hire someone into the sales department? For example:

Kate has been hired into the sales department for her ability to connect with people.

If it doesn't sound right, can I say it the following way?

Kate has been hired for a position in the sales department for her ability to connect with people.

Best Answer

"Hired into" is slightly unusual, although there's nothing ungrammatical about it. English often allows a choice of pronouns.

You normally talk about someone being "hired for" a job in general, or "hired as" a particular job or position. Lexico has "hires someone for a job working a cash register" and "hiring him as his personal instructor".

An alternative might be:

Kate has been hired for the sales department for her ability to connect with people.

"For" is repeated, which is the only problem, and not a big problem.

It's common to talk about someone "being transferred into a department", "getting promoted into a job", and similar things, so "into" isn't weird. You may like "hired into" because it emphasises that someone is joining a team, and teams are important in business.

Or you could certainly write it as:

Kate has been hired for a position in the sales department for her ability to connect with people.

That is a bit longer though.

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