Better Business, Better Life Hiring Hack: Finding A–Players with Rick Girard
Oct 3, 2026
Rick Girard, CEO of Stride Search and Intertru, is a recruiter, author, and creator of HireOS. He explores why hiring needs its own operating system, how structured interviews and company values can replace bias, and why copied job descriptions fail. They also discuss attracting A-players beyond salary, understanding career wounds, scaling values-based hiring with technology, and choosing the right co-founder.
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Attract A-Players By Healing Career Wounds
- A-players often remain in acceptable jobs without truly thriving.
- Hiring improves when founders uncover those career wounds and show how the opportunity can heal them.
Rick Girard Fell Into Recruiting While Chasing Snow
- Rick Girard initially pursued professional photography but rejected the poor-starving-artist lifestyle.
- He accepted a recruiting opportunity partly because it offered financial upside and mountain snowboarding.
Interviews Fail When They Measure Likeability
- Hiring tools fill the funnel, but interviews usually fail to gather evidence about candidate performance.
- Many decisions reduce to whether the interviewer personally likes someone and enjoys their company.