You can't teach resilience.

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Sales is hard, and rejection is constant.

And frankly, not everyone is wired to handle it.

This part isn't groundbreaking - you know soft skills drive success in sales.

But soft skills are also the toughest to vet when hiring. In our experience, the problem actually starts before the first interview; it’s when the role isn't clearly defined.

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The wrong job profile can limit your candidate pool.

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Many companies tell us they’re looking for someone with X years of experience, with deep industry and product knowledge, and currently in the same role they’re hiring for.

This isn’t always wrong, but it seriously narrows the candidate pool you’re pulling from. Your next top rep might not come from your industry, sell your exact product, or currently hold the role you're hiring for.

To find them, you have to broaden your candidate pool.

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How to expand your candidate pool without compromising quality:

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Figure out what traits you’re looking for in this person for the role, and then sort those traits into 2 buckets:

• Bucket #1: Teachable - industry, your sales process, call points, product knowledge, etc.
• Bucket #2: Not teachable - someone’s wiring, resilience, drive, work ethic, EQ, etc.

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Be willing to bend on some of the teachable skills, but don't compromise the non-teachable skills. You can teach someone your industry, but you can’t teach someone how to keep dialing after the 50th “no” of the day. Hire based on the non-teachable skills.

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This also helps elevate your candidate value proposition. Instead of chasing someone with years of industry experience who’s just looking for a bigger paycheck, you’re targeting candidates with the right DNA: someone who can rise to the challenge and thrive in your role.

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At Pursuit, we call this creating a “Job Profile." Writing it down before you start the search gives you a clear reference point throughout the hiring process, and keeps your team aligned on what really matters.

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💡 TL;DR:

Hire based on skills that can’t be taught. Teachable skills like product knowledge or processes can be trained, but resilience, drive, and grit are built in. Focus on the non-teachable traits, broaden your candidate pool, and create a clear job profile before you start hiring.

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