How Data-Driven Hiring Spotted Hidden Talent & Sales Potential
Today’s hiring market is tougher than ever. 75% of companies report they are struggling to hire or retain employees in key roles, and 60% of talent acquisition professionals say that finding candidates with the required skills and experience is one of the top challenges they face. Add in rising turnover rates and persistent talent shortages, and it’s clear: instinct alone won’t cut it anymore.
The challenge doesn’t stop there. With the rapid rise of AI, hiring managers can no longer assume resumes tell the whole story. In fact, a LinkedIn report revealed that 78% of hiring professionals say candidates exaggerate or leave out important details in their applications. So, how do we really know who’s the right fit?
That’s where data-driven hiring comes in. By looking beyond resumes and using science-backed assessments, companies can uncover hidden potential, predict performance, and make confident hiring decisions.
At Prevue, we rely on the same science for our own hiring . This is the story of how our assessments led us to Joe — a former Bar Manager with no sales background — who is now one of our top-performing Sales Executives.
The Hiring Challenge: Finding Sales Talent Without Experience
On paper, Joe wasn’t the obvious choice. His background was in the food and beverage industry, where he worked for five years as a server and Bar Manager. He was quick on his feet, great with people, and had a strong work ethic — but no formal sales training, no SaaS experience, and nothing that tied directly to the role.
For most hiring managers, Joe’s lack of experience would have been an automatic “no”. And it’s not hard to see why. Managers already face major obstacles in the hiring process: nearly half (46%) say inefficiency gets in the way, 30% feel slowed down by too many procedures, and more than a quarter (26%) admit that expectations of the “ideal” candidate are simply unrealistic.
This mindset creates blind spots. Candidates like Joe — who might not check all the boxes on paper but have the raw potential to succeed — are often passed over before they ever get a fair chance. The truth is, when hiring managers evaluate job fit instead of relying solely on resumes, they can effectively double their talent pool and uncover high-potential performers they might’ve otherwise missed.
Using Prevue Assessments to Measure Candidate Job Fit
This is where Prevue Assessments change the game. Instead of focusing on past titles, we measure aptitude, personality, and interests — then compare them against the benchmarks for specific roles. It’s a way to go beyond the resume and identify the potential that doesn’t always appear on paper.
When Joe completed his assessment, the results told a different story about who he really was. His Job-Fit Score revealed strong alignment with a Sales Hunter profile. Specifically:
- Personality: Joe’s scores showed persistence, competitiveness, and resilience — all critical traits for sales success.
- Aptitude: His results suggested he could quickly learn new products and adapt to the fast pace of SaaS sales.
These insights gave us confidence to move Joe forward in the process, even though by traditional standards, he might never have made it past the first screening.
The Interview: How Assessments Helped Overcome First Impressions
Walking into his interview, Joe was already facing an uphill climb. His resume didn’t include the kind of sales experience most hiring managers are trained to look for — no quota history, no SaaS background, no track record in business development. For many candidates in his position, that lack of traditional experience would have been enough to end the conversation before it even began.
This is where our assessment proved invaluable. Instead of relying solely on past experiences or gut instinct, the hiring manager turned to Joe’s results. His profile showed a strong alignment with the benchmarks of a Sales Hunter — a role that requires drive, resilience, competitiveness, and the ability to thrive under pressure. The data backed up what a resume couldn’t, confirming that Joe had the core personality traits and learning agility to succeed in sales.
The Hiring Outcome: From Hospitality to SaaS Sales Success
Fast forward nearly a year, and Joe has become one of our top-performing Sales Executives. His background in hospitality gave him incredible people skills, and his natural drive — confirmed in his Prevue results — has helped him thrive in a competitive SaaS environment.
Joe’s journey is proof that data-driven hiring assessments can uncover hidden talent that resumes alone might disqualify. When you evaluate job fit instead of just experience, you open the door to candidates who bring new energy, transferable skills, and the potential to become star performers.
Data-Driven Insights That Outperform the Resume
Resumes can highlight where a candidate has been, but they rarely predict where they’ll excel. That’s where data-driven hiring makes the difference. By relying on objective assessments and analytics, organizations can move past surface-level information and uncover the skills, traits, and potential that directly impact future performance.
And the numbers back it up. According to Deloitte, companies that use people analytics report 25% more productivity and see 50% higher employee engagement. In other words, data doesn’t just help you make better hiring calls — it has a real impact on performance and culture.
The benefits extend across the entire hiring process:
- Better quality of hire – Data-backed decisions reduce the risk of costly mis-hires, saving time and resources down the line.
- Consistency across teams – Standardized benchmarks ensure candidates are evaluated against the same criteria, rather than leaving outcomes to individual bias.
- Scalability – As hiring needs grow, assessment data helps companies handle higher applicant volumes without sacrificing decision quality.
- Future-proofing the workforce – Analytics highlight candidates with adaptability and learning agility, critical for navigating today’s fast-changing industries.
- Reduce turnover – hiring people who are the right fit from day one can cut turnover by as much as 50%
For us, those insights were invaluable. Our data-driven hiring tools provided the evidence needed to see Joe’s true potential — and the confidence to move him forward, even when his resume suggested otherwise. That’s how you find people like Joe: someone who might not stand out on paper, but who has the raw potential to become a top performer once given the chance.
How Prevue Helps Companies Uncover Hidden Talent
Joe’s success is proof that Prevue doesn’t just help companies hire faster — it helps them hire smarter. Whether you’re building a sales team or filling roles across your organization, our assessments give you the data you need to make confident, bias-free hiring decisions.
👉 Explore Prevue Assessments >> and see how data-driven hiring can transform your recruitment strategy.