Hire the Person, Not the Resume
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Hiring the best person for the role, not the best resume for it.
Have you ever worked with someone who was terrible at their job?
There’s no way you have to think very hard to answer that question. Now consider this: that job is going to be on that person’s resume.
This reality underscores a crucial point — just because someone has done a job doesn’t mean they have done it well. A shiny resume only tells you where they’ve been — not how well they’ve performed or whether they’ll succeed with your team.
“Making great hiring decisions has a huge impact on team dynamics, culture, and the success of companies.”
Making great hiring decisions has a huge impact on team dynamics, culture, and the success of companies. To accomplish that, it’s important to focus on the person, not the resume when making decisions about who will join your team.
Hiring is hard, don’t just wing it.
The hiring process is difficult because it’s relatively impossible to know who will be great, or not, in the role once you’ve made a decision.
Here are my top three pieces of advice when it comes to making the best decision possible.
1. Focus on the traits you want for this specific role.
When you’re hiring for someone new on your team, think about the role in terms of the personality, traits, and qualities that you want for this role. Not just their credentials. Write down an intentional list of what this person needs to be successful based on the role:
Are they adaptable?
Do they take and give feedback well?
Can they multitask or manage projects or people effectively?
Are they a strong communicator?
Are they personable and collaborative, do they have high emotional intelligence?
Yes, experience is important. But experience doesn’t automatically mean excellence. Someone can spend years in a role and still be terrible at it. Get crystal clear ahead of time of what you are looking for in the person.
“Someone can spend years in a role and still be terrible at it.”
2. Be very aware of unconscious bias.
This part can be really tricky: hiring the person, not the resume, doesn’t mean hiring someone just because you “click.”
You love Star Wars? Great.
They’re a fellow baseball fanatic? Awesome.
You both believe pineapple belongs on pizza? Fantastic.
But none of that tells you if they’ll be great at the job. Just because you hit it off and click with someone has no bearing whatsoever on how they will perform in their role.
While it is important to hire people with positive energy who are easy to engage and get along with, it’s vital to make sure that your hiring decision is not based on that alone.
Use hiring practices that help mitigate unconscious bias:
Structured interviews. Use a standard list of questions and follow the same format and style for every interview.
Use real work examples. Pair structured interviews with work samples or simulations to see how candidates perform in real-world scenarios.
Involve more people in the hiring process. Especially in smaller teams and companies, having only one person do all of the interviews and hiring creates blind spots and is ripe ground for unconscious bias to rule the day.
“Just because you hit it off and click with someone has no bearing whatsoever on how they will perform in their role.”
3. Have a clear list — use it and stick to it.
To keep yourself grounded, have a set of non-negotiable traits you want in your ideal candidate. Like a blueprint for the role. If you could design the perfect hire from scratch, how would they rank in terms of:
Communication skills
Emotional intelligence
Problem-solving abilities
Drive and resilience
Ask interview questions that hone in on and focus on these qualities. Then, when it comes time to evaluate candidates and make a decision, choose based on that list — not your personal preferences.
Final thoughts.
Hiring the right person means looking beyond the resume. It’s about finding someone who embodies the traits that this role and your team needs to thrive. So, when you’re hiring, remember:
The best resume doesn’t mean the best candidate.
Personal affinity and “things in common” don’t equal job competence.
A proactive, trait-focused approach beats gut feelings every time.
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This article was created by Galen Emanuele for the #culturedrop. Free leadership and team culture content in less than 5 minutes a week. Check out the rest of this month's content and subscribe to the Culture Drop at https://bit.ly/culturedrop
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