What It Means to Be an A-Player at BlitzMetrics

We’ve been hiring a lot of people recently, and I want to share some thoughts on what it truly means to screen for A Players. Many applicants claim they are a “10 out of 10″—absolutely amazing at what they do.

They’re not. Only about 10% of applicants are worth hiring, and only about 20% of those we do hire show enough value to keep.

For example, even when we give applicants our article guidelines and ask them to repurpose a video, it takes them 4-5 iteration cycles on average to produce an article that’s worth publishing. 

Think about that. That’s 8 different back-and-forths (over the course of a week or more) to produce a single piece of content that I could write in 10 minutes by myself. Can you imagine the time our team would have to spend correcting their work if we hired them?

Therefore, being an A-player is more than just confidence, which anyone can have. Being an A-Player is about being excellent in everything you do – especially in reliability and problem solving.

The Core of an A-Player: Excellence in Every Role

Being an A-player doesn’t mean you have to be a genius or the hardest worker in the room. It means you strive to be excellent in whatever role you take on. Jensen Huang, the founder of NVIDIA—the world’s most valuable company—started as a busboy at Denny’s.

He didn’t just do the job; he aimed to be the best busboy possible, ensuring efficiency, attention to detail, and earning rave reviews from those around him.

Even as a busboy making minimum wage, he strived to do the best possible job in his role. Most employees in a similar position would do the bare-minimum not to get fired. Instead, Jensen did the most – and now owns the world’s most valuable company.

This is the standard. Ask yourself, are you generating positive feedback from those who work with you? Do people say, “That person is incredible! Every time I hand them a task, they not only deliver but do it exceptionally well”?

Excellence leaves clues and so do A Players.

The Standard of Reliability and Ownership

An A-player is someone who can be trusted completely. When a task is assigned, there’s no doubt it will be done correctly and on time. They don’t create additional burdens for their team or their employer—they take work off their plate, not add to it.

Mark Zuckerberg once said his hiring standard was simple: Would he be willing to work for this person?

While this is a Silicon Valley perspective, the essence applies universally. Would you hire yourself? Are you someone who takes full ownership of your work, or do you need constant corrections and oversight?

We’ve found that our best employees are the ones we need to talk to the least – since the job is completed well without need for multiple iterations. If we have to constantly ask where you are or if a project will be completed on time, you’re not an A Player.

One example of an A Player is our operations VA Muzamil, who went from $3/hour to $3,000 USD/month within a few months of working with us. Just like Jensen at Nvidia, she didn’t think $3/hour was “below her”. Instead, she did the work competently and now is in the top 1% of earners in Pakistan.

This means doing great work the first time, with limited revisions (if at all).

Problem-Solving Over Problem-Creating

An A-player doesn’t constantly require help to function—they are problem solvers, not problem creators. This doesn’t mean you can’t ask for guidance, but it does mean you take the initiative to figure things out. Instead of asking basic questions that Google can answer, an A-player seeks solutions proactively, leveraging available resources like training materials, past work, or research.

This is shown in practicing active listening and understanding what’s required before working on projects, hence learn, do, teach (LDT). 

One of the key traits of an A-player is their ability to identify and attract other A-players. It takes one to know one. If you are truly excellent, you will naturally recognize others who operate at that level, and you will contribute to building a stronger team, not dragging it down.

In the digital world, imagine we assign you a video to be repurposed. It takes you 7 days to repurpose the video, only for our article grader tool to give you a C- review when you submit it.

Instead, you could use the tool yourself, QA the article yourself, and submit an excellent version in a day or two that doesn’t need revisions. This is what we mean by problem-solving vs problem-creating. 

The Reality of Digital Marketing—and Excellence

The good thing about digital marketing is that nothing is inherently difficult. It’s all broken down into checklists, processes, and repeatable steps. Yet, despite this, very few people reach the A-player level. Why?

Because excellence requires effort and consistency. Most people settle for average, which means they need frequent hand-holding and corrections, making them a net burden rather than an asset.

If you’re applying to work with us at BlitzMetrics and find yourself needing a lot of assistance early on, that’s a sign you may need to level up. It’s not about perfection or being an expert from day one—it’s about demonstrating a mindset of excellence, ownership, and constant improvement.

On the other hand, if you’re someone who practices excellence in everything they do, most of the work which would be challenging to others is a breeze for you – since you’re reliable and able to follow through.

Simply following the 9 Triangles Framework is enough to propel you to places you wouldn’t believe possible. For example, DDD (do, delegate, delete) is important for being an A Player, since if you don’t have personal efficiency under control, everything else becomes 10x harder.

Another example of how personal efficiency impacts work if your ability to manage messages. If you’re not at inbox 0 daily, how can you expect to do excellent work while feeling overwhelmed? 

Are You an A-Player?

If someone sent you this article as part of the hiring process, consider why. Are you the type of person who needs everything explained to you? Or are you the kind of person who, when given a challenge, figures out a way to overcome it? Are you able to recognize and attract other A-players, validate work, and manage responsibilities effectively?

The good news is that there’s so many amazing potential consent specialists out there who would do an excellent job with us. But ironically, to attract these A Players, we need more A Players ourselves. Maybe you’re one of them.

At BlitzMetrics, we are looking for people who add value, not ones who need constant correction. If you’re ready to take full ownership of your work, solve problems independently, and operate at a level of excellence, then you just might be an A-player—and a great fit for our team. If that’s you, visit our welcome VA page and apply yourself to see if you have what it takes.