Money Ball Recruiting For Restart Employment Advisors

Why Hiring for Restart Advisors Is Like the Film Moneyball

If you’ve seen the film Moneyball, you’ll remember the core premise: building a winning baseball team not by chasing superstars, but by identifying undervalued players with the right attributes to succeed. It’s about seeing beyond the obvious and finding people with the skills, mindset, and potential to deliver results—even if their CV doesn’t shout it.

Recruiting for Restart Employment Advisors is no different.

The Traditional View Doesn’t Always Work

Traditionally, hiring managers look for candidates with direct experience: people who’ve done the exact job before in similar organisations. But the Restart programme is different. It’s target-driven, fast-paced, and requires a rare mix of empathy, resilience, and commercial acumen. Hiring solely from the same pool can be limiting—and often leads to burnout or underperformance if the candidate doesn’t have the right drive.

This is where a Moneyball mindset comes in.

What Makes a Great Restart Advisor?

When we look at top performers across the contracts we recruit for, there’s a clear pattern. Many weren’t working in employability before. Instead, they came from roles where they regularly supported people with similar barriers—like housing officers, support workers, care coordinators, or probation staff. Others were former estate agents, retail managers, or recruiters. What they had in common wasn’t the job title—it was the aptitude.

The best Restart Advisors share three qualities:

• Comfort with targets and structure: They’re used to working towards KPIs or goals, and they don’t shy away from performance frameworks.

• Empathy and people skills: They know how to build trust quickly and support people facing real-life challenges.

• Resilience: They can handle setbacks without losing focus.

These aren’t always skills you can spot from a CV alone. But if you know what to look for—and where to look—you can find brilliant candidates who others might overlook.

Our Moneyball Approach to Hiring

At Red 5 People, we actively seek out people from adjacent sectors. We might shortlist a recruiter who is tired of agency life but thrives under pressure and cares deeply about people. Or a housing support worker who wants more structure and progression. Sometimes it’s a retail manager who’s spent a decade leading a team, hitting targets, and helping customers through tough times.

By spotting potential where others might not, we help our clients build strong, sustainable teams—not just fill seats.

Final Thought

If you’re struggling to find the “perfect” Restart candidate, it might be time to take a Moneyball approach. Focus less on ticking every experience box, and more on the attributes that drive success. Because in the end, the best teams aren’t built from stars—they’re built from the right mix of people with the right mindset.