5 Non-Obvious Ways to Find A-Players (That Aren't On LinkedIn)

A group of business people are shaking hands over a table.

Let's play a game. Open your LinkedIn inbox. Now, count how many copy-pasted, "hope-you-are-well" recruiting messages you have.


Five? Ten? Twenty?


Now, understand this: every single A-Player you want to hire has an inbox that looks exactly the same. The "obvious" talent pool isn't a pool; it's a tiny, overfished, and exhausted puddle. Everyone is using the same filters, the same keywords, and sending the same bland messages.


Exceptional companies aren’t built by fishing in the same talent puddle as everyone else. High-performing teams require intentional, strategic recruiting - and that’s where most companies fall short.


A-Players are not "looking for a job." They are busy, head-down, and crushing it at their current one. They are passive, skeptical, and annoyed by traditional recruiters.


To find them, you have to stop thinking like a "hirer" and start thinking like a "sourcer." You need to hunt where they live, work, and play. Here are 5 non-obvious, high-signal ways to find A-Players that your competition is completely ignoring.

1. The "Side-Project Sleuth"

A-Players are often passionate makers. They can't not build, create, or write. They have side projects, public portfolios, and active profiles on platforms that have nothing to do with their "job."


While your competition is filtering for "5 years of experience" on LinkedIn, you should be looking for passion on:


  • GitHub: For engineers, don't just look at their work contributions. Look at their side projects. Is their code clean? Do they write good documentation? Are they contributing to open-source projects? A thoughtful pull request on a project they care about is 10x more valuable than a resume.
  • Dribbble & Behance: For designers, this is a given. But don't just look at the pretty pictures. Read their case studies. Did they just "make a logo," or did they identify a user problem, iterate on a solution, and explain their process? Look for the thinkers, not just the artists.
  • Kaggle: For data scientists, look at their competition rankings and public notebooks. How do they approach a problem?
  • Medium & Substack: For marketers, strategists, or product managers. Who is writing thoughtful, in-depth articles about your industry's problems? The person who can clearly articulate a complex problem is often the person who can solve it.



How to engage: Do not send a cold "I saw your GitHub" message. Engage with their work. Ask an intelligent question about their project. Compliment a specific, non-obvious part of their case study. Start a human conversation about their passion, not a job.

2. The "Community Conduit"


Where do the smartest people in your field really hang out? It's not in the comments section of a LinkedIn influencer's post.


It's in private, high-signal, niche communities.


  • Niche Discord servers
  • Private Slack communities
  • Industry-specific Reddit (subreddits)
  • Curated forums like Hacker News


The rule for these communities is simple: Don't join to recruit. Join to participate.


A-Players are in these groups to learn from their peers, not to be spammed. Spend a month in a community. Answer questions. Ask smart questions. Add value. You will quickly and organically identify the top 5% of thinkers. They are the ones giving the best advice, sharing the most insightful links, and challenging old ideas.


Once you've identified them, you're not a "recruiter"; you're a "community peer." A DM from a fellow trusted member is a warm introduction, not a cold pitch.

3. The "Un-Job Ad" (Sell the Problem)

Your job description is killing your talent pipeline.


A-Players are not looking for "competitive compensation" and a "fast-paced environment." They are looking for a mission. They want to solve hard, interesting problems with other smart people.


So, stop posting Job Ads and start publishing Mission Briefs.


Instead of: "Seeking Senior Software Engineer" Try: "We're Trying to Solve the Hardest Problem in FinTech (And We Need Help)"

Instead of: "Responsibilities include..." Try: "Here's our 2026 roadmap. Here are the 3 challenges we haven't cracked yet. We're looking for someone who finds these problems as exciting as we do."


This "un-job ad" can be a blog post from the founder, a tweet thread, or even the actual job description. It does two critical things:


  1. It attracts problem-solvers (A-Players).
  2. It repels resume-padders (C-Players) who just want a list of tasks.

A-Players want to know the why. Sell the mission, not the "perks."

4. The "Reverse Reference" Check


This is my personal favorite, and it's shockingly effective.


The next time you hire a fantastic new employee, don't stop there. Their network is your goldmine. But "do you know anyone good?" is a lazy, low-yield question.


Instead, during your normal reference checks for the candidate you're about to hire, ask their old manager this one, powerful question:


"Besides [Your New Hire], who was the most talented person you worked with at [Old Company]? Who was the one person you'd fight to work with again?"


Managers love to talk about their best people. You will get a name, a glowing review, and a pre-vetted lead for another A-Player. This is a 100% warm lead. You can now reach out to that person with a powerful, personalized opening:



"Hi [Name], I was just speaking with [Reference's Name], and he/she said you were one of the most talented people they've ever worked with. I'd be foolish not to introduce myself..."

5. The "Customer Service" Channel

This one is completely off-radar. Some of your best future hires are interacting with your brand right now.


Listen to your customers and users.


  • Who is submitting incredibly detailed, well-researched bug reports?
  • Who is in your community forums, suggesting brilliant new features (complete with mockups)?
  • Who is sending your support team detailed, critical feedback that is 100% correct?


These are your power users. They are passionate about the problem your product solves. They are already product-obsessed, user-empathetic, and have a high bar for quality.


These are your future product managers, QA specialists, and customer success leaders. They already know your product better than half your company. Reach out. Thank them for their feedback. Ask them what they do for a living. You'd be stunned at the talent hiding in your own support inbox.

Stop Fishing. Start Hunting.


Finding A-Players is not a passive activity. It's a proactive, creative, and human-centric hunt.


The best talent is not where it's convenient to look. They are where they are passionate. Go to those places. Be human. Add value. And sell them on a mission, not a job.