Stop Judging Talent by the Resume: How to Find Hidden A Players

By Micaela Smith  

Hiring is hard, right? Especially when business is good, but your team is starting to be stretched thin. So, you decide you want to hire. . . and you want to hire FAST. Not only do you need this person quickly to give your current A players some help, but you also need them to hit the ground running! So, you post your Help Wanted sign and you post to all the hiring websites and the applicants start flooding in. Unfortunately, though, now your hiring team is not only overwhelmed by their workload, but they’re also overwhelmed by applicants, too (TalentRemedy can help you filter through those, by the way)! 

Your team is now matching resumes and conducting interviews. They get about 30 minutes to 1 hour on average with each candidate to assess their skill level and cultural fit. They need this person to make an immediate impact, and they’re largely basing their decision on a first impression. 

While first impressions are an important part of the interview process (think wearing professional attire), they aren’t everything. And sometimes companies, for various reasons, miss hiring A players based on situations that we have seen time and time again. So, what is an A player, and how can we ensure that we aren’t missing out on them due to a rushed interview process or a bad first impression? 

An A player is a motivated, competent, strong team player. They are reliable, volunteer often, are assigned more difficult projects, need less direction, and naturally step into a coach/mentor type of role for others.  

Unfortunately, sometimes A players show up to interviews with a less traditional background. Maybe they don’t answer questions in the best way. They might be light on experience or possibly TOO experienced. However, hiring them could mean that they outperform another potential candidate 30x over. But in the rush of hiring, they get overlooked. This is important to recognize because according to a study published in Personnel Psychology, which cut across several industries, the top 5 percent of the workforce at the researched firms produced 26 percent of the firm’s total output. The top-performing 5 percent produced 400 percent more than you would expect (26 percent rather than 5 percent).That means that top performers have an incredibly high ROI because they produce more than four times more; however, they are generally paid less than 20 percent over an average worker in the same job. 

Here are a few steps to ensure you don’t over”look” these A players that don’t “look” the part: 

• Ask questions targeting their career journey. If a candidate has a nontraditional background, look for skills that they excelled at that mean they learn quickly, even if they aren’t directly related to the skills needed for the job.  

• Ask questions about why they left jobs. If it looks like someone has “job hopped” they may have legitimate reasons for leaving jobs early. 

• Ask them about their relationships with their previous managers. A high performing employee probably has had good relationships with leadership at the companies they have previously worked for.  

• Ask them if they have ever mentored/trained/managed a team without having that team report directly to them. 

• Ignore a person’s first impression. Wait 30 minutes after an interview starts before you even start thinking about making a yes or no hiring decision  

Hiring the right candidates for your company is never easy. There are countless challenges, but one of the biggest obstacles is urgency. When teams feel the pressure to fill a role quickly, it’s all too common to rush through resume reviews and interviews just to get someone in the door. But speed shouldn't come at the cost of quality—to help you avoid this, we’ve shared a few tips to make sure you're hiring true A-players. Check out more tips and insights on our blog, website, LinkedIn, or just reach out.  

And if you're looking for extra support, TalentRemedy can help! From sourcing and pre-screening candidates to tapping into our trusted networks, we go beyond the obvious to find not just the best person on paper, but also the best person for your team. We have an eye for spotting these nontraditional A players—the ones others may overlook. When we find one, we’re always excited to share our insights to help you make a great hire!  Reach out to us at info@talentremedy.com or 703-362-0175 to explore how we can streamline your recruiting process and help you find the right fit.