One of my previous Fortune 500 hiring leaders was kind enough to tell me that out of the two-handfuls of recruits I brought into their particular division over the years, all of them have been formally reviewed as either ‘fully contributing’ or ‘exceeding expectations.’ The latter is the top performance percentile not easily granted nor earned. (Instant warm-fuzzies upon receiving this feedback, by the way).

This inspired me to (1) conduct an actual audit of my interview notes from the past couple years, and (2) think about the specific top performers I’ve sourced – whom I specifically remember out of the thousands of conversations I’ve had – and refresh myself on what exactly it was that won me and my clients over during our interview interactions. Now, do the following guarantee that the candidates will be top talent, of course not. But there’s something to be said for consistencies. Here are some that I found:

• They weren’t just engaging, they were inspiring. They sat up straight, looked me in the eye, and when they spoke about the industry or told a story they completely lit up. They showed passion that wasn’t forced or fake. I actually felt inspired and literally energized after sitting down with them.

• They said something so unique or profound that it caused me to actually isolate their statement as an actual quote – underlined with asterisks everywhere – amidst my chicken scratch notes. I don’t mean just something compelling, but the type of statement where if they were presenting on a panel and you were the facilitator, you’d want to interrupt and say: “Wow, that’s cool. Could you just repeat that one more time so people can hear that again?”

• The motivation felt compelling, even personal. They were well-researched, and their answer to “Why are you interested in this opportunity?” or “So what do you know about us?” wasn’t canned. They made me feel like they had a very personal connection to the opportunity, and even if they didn’t have a personal connection to the industry or company and the opportunity was just something completely new and intriguing to them . . . they made it feel personal and compelling to me.

• They effectively diffused my concerns. Whether it was something about their work history, or an area of marketing in which they seemed light, (1) they were prepared to discuss it; (2) they were real about it, and (3) at the end of it all, I and/or my interview team found ourselves simply looking past it (and thankfully so, as they soon showed my company how they shine during new business pitches).

• They reminded me they’re human, not just a rockstar candidate. What do I mean by this? They nailed the behavioral-based questions like a pro and convinced me and my hiring teams they would excel in the role . . . and yet throughout the conversations I realized that we also laughed, cracked a couple jokes and talked about dogs and sports rivalries.