5 Traits That Differentiate Impressive Hires From the Average Employee

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Welcome to Recruiter Q&A, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you’d like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter Q&A!

Today’s Question: What can a new hire do to impress you quickly and prove their worth?

The answers below are provided by members of FounderSociety, an invitation-only organization composed of ambitious startup founders and business owners.


steve1. Show the Ability to Get Along With the Team

By the time I’ve hired someone, they’ve already proven their worth on paper. What I’m looking for after that is personality. If they work well with the rest of my team, that immediately indicates to me that they were the right choice. The thing too many business owners forget is that it’s important that you like your employees – and that they like one another.

Steven Buchwald, Buchwald & Associates  

Angela2. Take Initiative

New team members should have a can-do, positive mindset and dive in with activity, ideas, and solutions. We often think we identify this in the interview process, but that resume doesn’t always equate to real life. You don’t really know a new hire’s character until they jump in the fire. Meeting deadlines, taking initiative, and managing tasks with little oversight are also very important.

Angela Delmedico, Elev8 Consulting Group  

ajmal3. Understand the Company and Offer Suggestions

I have many new applicants every month, so a new hire would really need to stand out in order to get a job. Typically, the applicants that offer the best first impression are the ones that know about my company, what it focuses on, and what they believe we should change. I like innovation, and I definitely prefer the independent employees.

Ajmal Saleem, Suprex Learning  

todd4. Learn Constantly

We’re always looking for passionate learners to join our team. We love seeing our team constantly learning and consuming new information through books, courses, blog articles, YouTube videos, podcasts, and mastermind groups. The real impressive part is when they come back with what they’ve learned with a plan to apply in our business or for our clients.

Todd Giannattasio, Tresnic Media  

stephanie5. Share Solutions, Not Problems

The best thing a new hire can do to impress me is to share solutions and not problems. We are all aware that there are challenges in every business. Employees who recognize there are challenges and are able to solve problems, share solutions, and execute with a positive attitude will become great assets to their teams.

Stephanie Cartin, Socialfly  


By Recruiter Q&A