Skills expire but attributes compound

Most companies get hiring the wrong way.

They focus on matching job descriptions instead of finding people with the right attributes.

My Dad always taught me “Nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM”.

The lesson here is the “safe choice” for hiring will never be questioned (like hiring IBM).

I see this every day with some of our members hiring requests - just checking boxes, making a safe choice, and “hiring IBM”

Example:
You need a executive assistant - so you ask ChatGPT to create some boilerplate hiring request for a recruiter to source for you.

The recruiter accommodates, and finds someone who checks all the boxes in your job description, an EA for 15 years at the largest company in Brazil.

You could never claim that they didn’t do a good job recruiting for you.

But there is something missing…

Speaking very personally, NONE of my best hires have ever had the right skills or industry experience.

They all had LIGHTS OUT attributes.

Beyond my big three attributes of (smart, hungry coachable) my best hires were off the charts in other attributes that I crave (like proactivity or curiousity).

Skills can be taught.

Attributes can't.

You can teach someone how to use your CRM, how to talk to roofing customers, or how to follow your specific processes.

…But you can't teach someone to be curious, resourceful, or energetic.

When we hire at Sagan, we look for people who are like rocket ships on the launch pad… filled to the brim with potential and attributes… even if their last job was in a restaurant.

These attributes matter more than whether they've used our exact tech stack or worked in our exact industry for X years.

I’ve seen ‘perfectly qualified’ people fail because they couldn’t adapt or needed constant direction. And I’ve seen people with ‘incomplete’ resumes become superstars because they were resourceful, hungry, and eager to learn.

This is even more important in the age of exploding opportunities with AI, Automation, and technology.

How can you recruit someone who has experience in a technology, that wasn’t even around a year ago?

You can’t.

But what you can do is hire somebody who loves playing around with new tools on the weekend (Curiosity… a great attribute).

Attributes are far more valuable than specific technical skills or industry experience that might be rapidly outdated, anyway.

Sure…for some specialized roles…certain skills are non-negotiable.

You need surgeons who know how to perform surgery.

But for most business roles, the specific skills matter less than you think.

So stop obsessing over the perfect match on paper.

Instead, look for signs of attributes that can't be taught: curiosity, thoughtfulness, resourcefulness, clear communication, good judgment, smart, hungry, coachable.

We practice what we preach.

Fabi was the first member of our account management team (from El Salvador), who just crossed a year with us.

I have no idea what she did before this, but it was absolutely nothing like what she spends her time doing now. She is fantastic, and I don’t think we even looked at her resume.

How to Use AI to Hire for Attributes (Not Just Skills)

Here’s how to actually hire for attributes instead of just skills—step by step.

(It is modified from a technique Christian Ruff taught at a Sagan U class a few months ago, recording is in our community)

When you are looking to make a new hire:

1) List out the “Outputs” you expect for the role, no more than 3 or 4 (Increase YoY sales 42%, map our new ERP solution, etc)

2) List how you will measure those outputs, with a number, to track progress.

3) Take that list, go to AI, and ask “Based on these outputs, write 2 or 3 open ended questions for each to ask during a job interview to assess the candidates attributes. Don’t phrase the question in a way that it is obvious what I’m asking about. “

4) Also give me a grading criteria for what to listen to in the answer with the following three grades: “Unsatisfactory”, “Less than Satisfactory”, and “Satisfactory”.

Yallah Habibi,

Jon

P.S. The team has been doing a “30 day content challenge” (where they each make a piece of content every day, for 30 days) and the results have been incredible. We’ve produced hundreds of pieces of unique organic content in only a few weeks. It’s already driving new business and engagement—full breakdown coming soon. I’ll do a whole newsletter on it when it is over, but here is a preview:

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