“I need proven talent.”
I’ve heard that line more times than I can count from startups, CEOs, team leaders, and hiring managers alike. For years, I nodded along, assuming the customer was right. On the surface, it makes perfect sense. Who wouldn’t want a candidate who checks every box from industry knowledge, to the right licenses, polished skills, or even a solid network?
Then COVID hit, and everything changed. I started noticing the cracks in this all-or-nothing approach, the idea that someone was either fully “proven” or not worth the risk. The market shifted fast and “Proven Talent” suddenly had a lot of demands: big salaries, remote work requirements, more flexibility, more freedom if they weren’t leaving their fields altogether. It was basic supply and demand, and the talent pool started shrinking fast.
We were hiring a lot, and the quest for that plug-and-play candidate had become nearly impossible. (It’s eased a bit since then, but let’s be honest, it’s still tough.) Instead of accepting the “experience matters” mantra at face value, I got curious and started digging deeper.
When clients asked, “Where did all the talent go?” I realized the answer usually came down to three simple questions: where you live, what you can pay and the level of experience needed for the role. If two out of those three were working against you, you weren’t hiring. It didn’t matter how you used to recruit, what you used to pay, or how things “used to be done.” By 2022, there were over 12 million job openings in the U.S. The old playbook no longer applied and new realities were reshaping employment. Many business leaders weren’t ready for them.
If two out of those three were working against you, you weren’t hiring. It didn’t matter how you used to recruit, what you used to pay, or how things “used to be done.” By 2022, there were over 12 million job openings in the U.S. The old playbook no longer applied and new realities were reshaping employment. Many business leaders weren’t ready for them.
Since most of us weren’t packing up (a lot of people did that too!) and moving our businesses, and our budgets are what they are, that left only one lever to pull. It came down to experience. I continued to get a consistent response like “Steve, I need proven talent. You know, an empire builder that can really own the role at a high level, someone that can hop right in on day one.” There were a lot of assumptions with this point of view but I did empathize with the sentiment. We hire people to solve problems, not create them.
Leaders have lots of problems in multiple parts of their business to solve every day. We all want employees that can own their role and make things easier for the business to run more smoothly. Most leaders do not want someone to own all their problems, just to be in it with them. That all seems like a fair ask. But the hiring process itself started getting in the way. Whether we liked it or not, every added requirement was shrinking the talent pool until it was almost gone.
I began challenging clients to reconsider the weight they placed on qualities like mindset, ambition, drive, integrity, and grit compared to the importance of skills, licenses, or years in the field. What was primary and what was secondary? There still wasn’t enough focus on mindset. And what I learned with my clients was that many of those so-called “must-haves” were really just “nice-to-haves.” The real “must-haves” had very little to do with experience.
Once we stripped away the noise, what really mattered came into focus. The hires that stuck, the ones who grew the business, took ownership, and drove results weren’t always the ones with the seasoned resume. They were the ones who showed up curious, adaptable, and willing to learn, not defensive or rigid. We stopped hearing, “That’s not how I did it at my last job,” and started hearing, “How can I help?” The hiring focus aligning values and mindset revealed the right people.
When you think about it, experience tells you what someone has done. Mindset tells you what they’ll do next. And that’s where most hiring processes fall short. We rely too much on the past instead of assessing future potential. We search for proof of experience rather than signs of resilience, adaptability, and problem-solving.
I started asking my clients to consider:
Those conversations started producing different results and better hires. Teams stopped waiting for unicorn candidates and started focusing on systems to equip the right people. We began hiring for potential, not perfection.
If you’re still looking for someone who’s ‘ready on day one,’ stop. You don’t have a hiring problem, you have a training problem. Experience can be trained, but mindset can’t. You can teach skills, scripts, and software. You can’t teach hunger, ownership, grit or curiosity. When you find someone who’s got those, invest in them. If you’re still holding out for the “proven” hire who can start on day one and solve all your problems, maybe the problem isn’t talent. Maybe it’s training.
The leaders who win in this market are the ones who build their own “proven talent.” They don’t wait for it to walk through the door, they develop it from within.
Steve Ciprani
Author
