July 6, 2026
Every World Cup has one.
The player nobody expected.
The youngster who starts on the bench and finishes the tournament on billboards. The squad player who suddenly becomes impossible to leave out. The name that barely featured in the pre-tournament predictions.
Nobody saw them coming.
Yet every tournament creates another unexpected hero.
Funny how businesses do the exact opposite.
When hiring, most organisations want the player with the highlight reel. The proven performer. The candidate whose CV ticks every box before they've even walked through the door.
Potential feels risky.
Experience feels safe.
Except it often isn't.
Recruitment has become increasingly risk-averse.
Job descriptions grow longer. Experience requirements creep upwards. Interview processes stretch across weeks as everyone searches for certainty.
The irony?
Hiring is never certain.
A CV tells you where someone has been. It doesn't tell you how quickly they'll adapt, whether they'll thrive in your culture, or how they'll perform when the business changes direction six months later.
Those are the qualities that often separate good hires from exceptional ones.
Before they became household names, every elite performer was someone's gamble.
Someone gave them minutes before they had statistics.
Someone trusted them before they had trophies.
Business isn't football, of course, but the principle isn't far off.
Many of the strongest commercial leaders weren't the obvious choice at the time. They simply had the curiosity, resilience and ability to learn faster than everyone else.
Those traits rarely jump off a CV.
This can feel slightly uncomfortable…
Potential is harder to measure than experience.
You won't always find it through keyword searches or rigid sore cards.
Instead, you spot it through conversations.
You look for people who solve problems differently. People who've progressed quickly. People who've stepped outside their comfort zone. People whose ambition outweighs their experience.
These aren't soft skills.
They're often the very qualities that determine long-term success.
Businesses often believe the safest hire is the one who's done the job before.
Sometimes that's exactly what's needed.
But when every competitor is fishing from the same small pool of proven talent, two things happen.
Salaries climb.
Innovation slows.
Meanwhile, someone else hires the person who'll become the standout performer two years from now.
The candidate you overlooked because they didn't have the perfect CV.
Experience matters.
Nobody is suggesting otherwise.
But alongside technical capability, ask questions that uncover future performance rather than past job titles.
For example:
These indicators often tell you far more than another year of experience.
The strongest hiring decisions aren't made by choosing between experience and potential.
They're made by recognising when each matters most.
Some roles need instant impact.
Others are opportunities to invest in someone who'll out perform expectations over time.
Knowing the difference is where experienced recruiters add real value.
Because the candidates who change businesses rarely arrive with a perfect highlight reel.
Sometimes they just need someone willing to see what everyone else has missed.
Final thought
Every World Cup reminds us that stars can emerge from unexpected places.
Hiring should remind us of exactly the same thing.
The question isn't whether potential carries risk.
It's whether ignoring it carries even more.
What's the best hire you've ever made that looked risky at the time?
The answer depends on the role, but the strongest hiring strategies balance both. Experience can reduce onboarding time, while potential often predicts long-term growth, adaptability and leadership. The best employers assess candidates for what they can become, not just what they've already done.
Hiring for potential means looking beyond a candidate's CV to assess their ability to learn, adapt and grow. This includes qualities such as curiosity, resilience, emotional intelligence, problem-solving and ambition.
Look for evidence of rapid career progression, a willingness to learn new skills, commercial curiosity and examples of overcoming challenges. Structured interviews and competency-based questions can help uncover these traits.
Many organisations naturally reduce risk by focusing on candidates with direct industry experience. While this approach can feel safer, it may cause businesses to miss talented individuals who could outperform more experienced hires over time.
Every hire carries risk. The real question is whether the business has the right support, onboarding and development in place. When those foundations exist, hiring for potential can produce some of the highest-performing employees.
Yes. Experienced recruiters don't simply match keywords on a CV. They assess motivation, learning agility, cultural fit and long-term potential, helping businesses uncover candidates who might otherwise be overlooked.
