Profile of a Great Hire: What do Superstars All Have in Common?

March 22, 2023

Every company defines and rates talent differently. It depends on the role, the seniority level, the experience, and of course the company itself. But the difference between a great hire and an average one can be aggregated into a set of attributes that seems to be consistent with every superstar’s profile.

So what constitutes a great hire? What is it that Superstars all have in common despite the difference of roles?

A Curious Mind

A curious mind asks the difficult questions, the logical, insightful, and well-placed questions throughout their employment. At times, the questions are of a surprising caliber and come as a shock to direct managers.

Candidates who are curious by nature do all they can to learn as much about the product or service as possible. They don’t refrain from letting their curiosity lead the learning curve of joining a company that they know relatively little about. Acquiring internal knowledge is very important to high performers, and it takes priority during the initial stages of their involvement with the company.

Initiative & Drive

Model candidates possess incredible drive and take initiative whenever possible to make headway for the company. These individuals have an innate sense of accomplishment that sets them on the path of making a difference in an otherwise stagnant professional setting. They are always prepared to begin making a difference with a positive get-it-done attitude.

Whereas other employees are content following directions, completing assigned tasks, and delivering that which is expected of them, great hires go out of their way to innovate, to set processes in motion for the company, and to solve as many of the issues they see as possible. Innovative projects that companies launch are very often the product of a great hire being given the creative freedom to make a difference.

Integrity & Reliability

The candidate’s integrity and reliability are most apparent in how they handle responsibility and how they manage their time. In fact, this is one of those traits that make an employee the perfect candidate for a position in management. If you hand them responsibility, they rise up to the task and approach it with the same dedication that senior executives expect of themselves.

A great hire approaches their work by giving important tasks the same amount of dedication they do minor ones. They operate with a singular focus on producing quality results, regardless of the task at hand.

There’s also the matter of how a great hire manages their time. This not only refers to the mundane daily routine, but also to the twists and turns of unexpected business shifts. A great candidate has the ability to adapt to a crisis or an unexpected situation, think on their feet, and manage to re-orient themselves for maximum productivity.

Vision & Creative Input

Not everyone works with the bigger picture in mind. In fact, with the exception of a few roles, hardly any of the employees have a clear understanding of the opportunities ahead. Great hires, however, form a vision of what can be achieved and how to achieve it. They see the company’s operations from a different lens and are capable of devising creative initiatives that push the company forward.

Visionaries are extremely talented at providing creative input for issues or difficulties that the company faces. A great hire thinks outside the box and develops initiatives that simplify and accelerate the company’s growth.

Hiring Superstars

Simply knowing the signs indicating a great hire isn’t enough for more than a mere “ah-ha” moment when your candidate checks off all of the boxes. Knowing the profile and knowing how to source these superstars are two entirely different matters.

Employers need to accept that exceptional talent requires exceptional methods of talent acquisition. This can include a generous offer or a sweet perk package, but ultimately, it comes down to familiarity with the talent market both locally and globally. Knowing how candidates behave, where they dwell on the web and the type of digital professional spaces they prefer makes acquiring their talent a matter of recruitment experience.

At JB Hired, we’ve made it our mission to map the professional landscape and understand talent presence and behavior worldwide. The result was a team of recruiters with a vast global network of exceptional talent and access to the spaces where superstars discuss their industries. Our team vets all sourced candidates and screens applicants for these particular traits, so that our clients can focus on their business and its development, with great hires at the helm.

In case you’re looking for qualified talent to help you on this aspect, get in touch with JB Hired and source the talent your digital transformation needs!