We all know that an employers’ mission is to hire a superstar for their team. We meet with hundreds of candidates who present extremely well – but can we identify a true superstar when we see one?
Turns out we can.
Warren Bongard, ZSA’s President and Co-Founder, tells us, “as put forward by author Malcom Gladwell in his book ‘Blink’, we do this by what Gladwell defines as ‘thin-slicing,’ — ‘using limited information to come to our conclusion.’ In what Gladwell contends is an age of information overload, he finds that experts often make better decisions with snap judgments than they do with volumes of analysis. A ZSA consultant can normally determine a game changer within minutes of meeting the candidate.”
Lana Driscoll, ZSA’s Senior Consultant, describes it as “all about attitude. Candidates who are ‘stars’ love their careers and show it. When they are looking for the next ‘challenge’ it is all about career growth and development – it is positive and forward thinking.”
Our candidates are excellent on paper, but that’s not enough. Caitlyn Waring, Consultant, explains that “superstars, of course, have a record of success in the workplace – but once we meet with them, they are so engaging and goal driven.” Amrit Rai, Consultant, adds that “soft skills are now just as important as technical skills; employers want to work with individuals that will not only exceed their expectations in the work place, but someone they can connect with outside of work too.” In other words, “superstars are the people that not only deliver substantively, but elevate the environment around them. I think that’s an excellent guiding principle that transcends what work you do to inform how you go about doing it,” echoes Travis Usher, Consultant.
On the rare occasion that a superstar isn’t hired, our clients often return to us trying to make room for them. Mike Aujla, Partner, observes “many times where firms/companies have a tough choice to make in deciding who they hire when they like more than one candidate. In many situations, they have come back to me after a few months or even a year asking if the runner-up would be interested in joining their team.”
Congrats to the ZSA superstars, you know who you are. You have a vision and are passionate about what you do. You are confident, genuine and go after what you want. Kudos and mazal tov to you—thanks for making us look good.
