Building a stellar team is one of the key activities for a new company. I’ve noticed that hiring dynamics (who gets hired or courted) and success stories (how CEOs discuss their hires) often focus on credentials: which school new hires went to, companies they were a part of, and roles they filled. Conversely, one of my competitive advantages in hiring is hiring the less experienced based on their aptitude and attitude, and helping them grow. This has worked well in FraudSciences, where all the analytics team (including me) had very little experience before coming on board; in Klarna, where the Risk team’s leadership is still comprised of talented people whose first job out of school was at Klarna; and even today, at TrueAccord. Experience is important when you have a specific problem to solve and limited time to solve it. At any other time, hiring inexperienced people is a competitive advantage when everyone else focuses on experience. Why, then, isn’t that a more common practice?

Maybe because hiring inexperienced people early is difficult: they’re, well, inexperienced. Often they won’t come up with unique insights early on because they are unfamiliar with the domain. They will make rookie mistakes. They will be too much or little action driven. They definitely won’t help you hire them by signaling how or where they can help. But following just a few rules will allow you to define where inexperienced people can fit in your organization, make the best of them, and enjoy the advantages: a strong drive, a unique type of creativity sparked by zero pre- and misconceptions, and a much easier supply and demand dynamic. Here are a few pointers for succeeding in hiring inexperienced people.

First, know your domain and how to hire for it. I wouldn’t be able to hire inexperienced engineers, but for data science and operations roles it takes me roughly 20 minutes to know whether an interviewee is a right fit. Knowing the type of skills and mindset you’re looking for is imperative.

Second, you must have an initial mental model for the problem they need to work on, and some kind of onboarding plan (even if that only means a few hours of your time). You can’t just say “here’s a problem, solve it for me” – that’s setting your new hire to fail. The good news are that if you maintain proper documentation and involve every hire in a newer hire’s training, soon they will be able to do the onboarding themselves.

Third, invest a lot of time in mentoring. Identify when they need to “level up” and what that “leveling up” means, then guide them through the process. I learned that the ability to translate a perfect mental model to reality and deliver an MVP is a key capability. I’m ruthless in forcing team members to deliver when I feel they’re ready, even at the cost of their extreme discomfort. Once they’ve leveled up and understand the lesson, you’ll get constant improvement. Bonus: plan ahead and let them take on new roles in your team as they evolve. In the best-case scenario, inexperienced people are like stem cells. Having no previous experience, they’ll immerse themselves in your product, and become ideal candidates for product, marketing and customer success roles.

Fourth, teach them how to say no. By definition, being their manager and an experienced operator means that your opinion will be over-weighted. You won’t identify all of your mistakes in advance, and if the whole team follows you blindly, they’ll exacerbate the situation. You can hire opinionated people, but it’s also crucial to make them aware of your mistakes when you make them, so they don’t delude themselves that you’re perfect. Properly voicing your opinion is an acquired skill, and they need to learn to disagree.

Last, be prepared for mistakes. They will happen, and you’ll need to help them identify, analyze and correct them. Don’t just let them fail. However, know that hiring this way can definitely yield false positives, and be prepared to identify them fast. In the long run, no one likes being stuck in a role they clearly don’t fit.

Are inexperienced candidates the answer to all your hiring woes? Of course not. Experience still plays a huge role in leadership and specialist roles. Still, they represent an incredible talent pool. Especially nowadays, when talent is scarce in many tech hubs, hiring and growing them can fuel the growth you need to make your company successful.