The people who say potential never got anyone anywhere may disagree with recent research conducted by Zakary Tormala, an associate professor of marketing at a top business school*, who found employers are more excited about people with potential than those who have demonstrated success in the workplace.

Tormala and his team of researchers decided embark on a series of studies looking at the hiring practices of companies after hearing that some human resources people preferred those seeking a business administration degree over proven members of the workforce.

"We had a question about how objectively impressive the person’s resume was at present, and participants did say that the achievement guy was more objectively impressive," Tormala said. "Yet they were more excited about the person with potential and more interested in hiring that person. So people see the objective difference on paper, yet still get more excited about the person with potential."

Potential can be best utilized during the interview process, according to Business Insider**. Demonstrating how education and prior professional achievements can lead to strong performance is something young professionals should doing during their job search.

*http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20120809005290/en/high-potential-vs-proven-track-record/Stanford-business-school/Zak-Tormala

**http://www.businessinsider.com/your-potential-means-a-lot-more-than-your-achievements-2012-7