Written by: Georgina Barrick, Head of Sales at Resourgenix.
Recently I have just placed 2 executives who really didn’t fit the job profiles the client had briefed me on. They were my wild cards. People whose capabilities had shone so brightly in my meeting with them that I knew, despite what their CV said, despite the industries they had worked in, they would be able to excel in the role. In both instances I had to leverage my longstanding relationship with the client to get them to see the candidate. I almost had to beg…
This made me think about the talent that never makes it to the interview table—not because they’re unqualified, but because they don’t look qualified on paper. Welcome to the Hidden Talent Economy: where gold-standard candidates live in the shadows of keyword filters, degree snobbery, and archaic job specs. It’s not just a missed opportunity; it’s a systemic blunder.
If you are working with a client where you don’t have relational leverage, these candidates will never be seen.
Here’s the brutal fact (yes that’s a nod to Jim Collins): the Applicant Tracking System has become the digital equivalent of an overzealous nightclub bouncer. If your CV isn’t wearing the right shoes (read: degree from a ‘top tier’ university, exact job title match, flawless chronology), you’re not getting in.
These systems are designed to streamline, but in the process, they’re screening out brilliance and potential. Brilliant minds who took non-linear career paths. Career step changers with transferable superpowers. High-performing autodidacts. People with grit and street smarts and life experience that no algorithm is trained to recognise just yet.
I’m sure no organisation is intentionally looking to block good talent. But guess what? Bias doesn’t need to be malicious to be damaging. It just needs to be embedded in the filters.
We’ve built hiring models around some pretty outdated assumptions:
- That a university degree is a proxy for intelligence.
- That stability means loyalty and value creation.
- That gaps in employment are red flags.
These assumptions are not just tired; they’re costing companies millions in missed opportunity and innovation. The market is filled with people who have taken non-traditional paths. Self-taught developers, career changers, freelancers who built mini empires. Yet many never get a shot because they don’t tick the usual boxes.
Spoiler alert: I think the box is broken.
The time has come for us to reframe the way we think about talent. The future of hiring isn’t about pedigree, it’s about potential. Not where someone has been, but what they can do. Enter skills-based hiring: a model that values capability over chronology.
Skills-based hiring flips the script. It focuses on real, demonstrable skills and problem-solving, adaptability, technical know-how, collaboration, over arbitrary gatekeeping measures. And guess what? It’s not just more inclusive; it’s more effective and gets the wild cards a seat at the table.
In a recent article by The Global Association for Total Rewards & Compensation, companies like Google, IBM, and Accenture have been credited with already started ditching degree requirements for some roles. Not because they’re going soft, but because the data doesn’t lie. Performance correlates far more strongly with skills than it does with educational background.
So, if your organisation wants to build resilient, high-performing teams? Work with recruiters who are prepared to start looking in unexpected places (and then humour them)
- Former stay-at-home parents re-entering the workforce (hello multitasking geniuses).
- Gig workers with entrepreneurial drive.
- Neurodivergent professionals who may not thrive in interviews but deliver mind-blowing output once hired.
This is your untapped advantage. The candidates flying under the radar don’t lack talent or potential; they are lacking access to a conversation.
So, what should the playbook look like for smarter, more inclusive hiring?
- Ditch the degree filter: Unless it’s legally or medically required, stop making it a gatekeeper.
- Overhaul job descriptions: Focus on outcomes and competencies, not wish lists.
- Challenge your ATS: Optimise for skills and potential—not just title matches and keywords.
- Train hiring managers: Teach them to spot agility, growth mindset, and unconventional wins.
And finally, and unsurprisingly most importantly …
- Work with a trusted recruiter who will look out of the box: Work with someone who understands your company and the kind of skills and behaviors that succeed in your environment and then listen to them when they ask you to interview someone who isn’t obvious
The war for talent? It’s over. Talent won.
The question now is: can your organisation evolve fast enough to keep up? If you’re still fishing in the same small pond, blue-chip CVs, predictable paths, you’re not hiring the best. You’re hiring the most visible. And visibility isn’t the same as value.
So go deeper. Be braver. Look past the surface. Pick your recruiter wisely. The Hidden Talent Economy is teeming with people who could transform your business—if only you’d stop screening them out.
