But recently I came across a fascinating video about how professional soccer teams recruit players using data and analytics. What surprised me was not the technology. It was how familiar the logic felt.

The more I watched, the more I realized how much hiring teams can learn from the way elite soccer clubs think about recruitment.

So I am starting a short series: What Hiring Can Learn from Soccer.

This first post is about profiling.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗪𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴

In hiring, we often jump straight to assessment - interviews, assessments, and home tasks.

But there is a quiet step that is often rushed or skipped altogether.

Clearly defining what we are actually looking for.

Many hiring processes start with a job description that is broad, vague, or aspirational.

Then interviewers each assess candidates based on their own mental model of “what good looks like.”

That creates inconsistency, bias, and confusion.

How Soccer Teams Do It Differently

Here is the part that struck me.

Before a soccer team even looks at players, they do not ask:

“Who is the best striker we can find?”

They ask:

“What kind of striker do we need for this team, this system, this role?”

They define the role first. Very precisely.

Not just position.

But style of play.

But strengths needed.

But tradeoffs they are willing to accept.

Only after that do they evaluate players against that profile.

They are not looking for “talent in general.”

They are looking for fit to a defined profile.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗹 𝗜𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁

Great hiring works the same way.

The goal is not to find “great people.”

It is to find people who are great for this role, in this context, right now.

That requires:

Defining job relevant skills clearly

Agreeing on what good performance looks like

Separating must-haves from nice-to-haves

Aligning interviewers around the same profile

Only then does assessment become meaningful.

Without a clear profile, interviews become opinion sharing.

With a clear profile, interviews become diagnosis.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀

In soccer, profiling allows teams to:

Reduce randomness in recruitment

Avoid being impressed by irrelevant strengths

Make decisions they can explain and defend

In hiring, the same is true.

At Informed Decisions , we see this consistently in client data. When teams score candidates against defined, job-related skills first and only then step back to form an overall impression, hiring decisions become more accurate, more consistent, and fairer.

Profiling is not paperwork.

It is the foundation of good decisions.