Hiring the Right Person Takes More Than a Good Resume
Updated: Aug 22
Hiring can be frustrating.
You find someone who has the right experience. They interview well. Their resume checks the boxes. You make the offer.
Then a few months later, it becomes clear that something isn't working.
Sometimes the problem isn't that you hired someone who couldn't do the job. It's that the hiring process didn't give either of you a clear enough picture of what success in the role would actually look like.
Start With the Job You Actually Need
Before posting a position, get clear about what you need this person to do.
That sounds obvious, but job descriptions have a way of growing over time.
Responsibilities get added because the last person handled them. Requirements get copied from an old posting. Nice-to-have skills quietly become must-haves.
Before recruiting, ask yourself:
What does this person really need to accomplish?
What skills do they need on day one?
What can they reasonably learn after they're hired?
What will make someone successful in this particular role?
A clearer job makes it easier to recognize the right candidate when you meet them.
Think Beyond Skills and Experience
Skills and experience matter. They just aren't the whole picture.
Think about how the work actually happens in your business.
Does the employee need to work independently or collaborate throughout the day?
Is the environment structured, or do priorities change frequently?
Will they interact with customers?
Do they need to make decisions without much direction?
What kind of communication does the role require?
Those aren't questions about whether someone is exactly like the people you already employ. They're questions about whether the person and the role are likely to work well together.
Be Careful With "Cultural Fit"
You will often hear employers talk about hiring for cultural fit.
There is something useful behind that idea. Your values, expectations, and work environment matter.
But "fit" shouldn't mean hiring people who think, communicate, or behave exactly like everyone already on the team.
Instead, get specific about what matters.
If accountability is important, what does accountability look like in your business?
If communication matters, what do you expect employees to communicate and when?
If teamwork is important, what does good teamwork actually look like?
The clearer you are about those expectations, the easier it is to evaluate candidates based on something more meaningful than whether you simply clicked during the interview.
Ask Questions That Tell You Something
A good interview should help you understand how someone approaches situations they may actually encounter in the job.
Instead of relying only on questions like "What are your strengths?" ask candidates to tell you about real situations.
For example:
Tell me about a time you had to handle competing priorities. What did you do?
Tell me about a time you disagreed with a manager or coworker. How did you handle it?
Give me an example of something you had to learn quickly.
Tell me about a mistake you made at work and what happened next.
The exact questions should reflect the role you're hiring for.
And whenever possible, ask candidates for specific examples rather than what they think they would do in a hypothetical situation.
Give Candidates a Realistic Picture Too
Hiring isn't only about deciding whether you want the candidate.
They're also deciding whether they want the job.
Be honest about the role, the work environment, the expectations, and even the parts of the job that may be challenging.
You don't gain much by selling someone a version of the position that they'll discover isn't accurate two weeks after they start.
A good hiring process gives both sides enough information to make a better decision.
Don't Rush Because You Need Someone
This is probably one of the hardest pieces of hiring advice to follow.
When you're short-staffed, the pressure to fill the position is real. Every week the role stays open may mean more work for you or your team.
But urgency can make it very easy to lower the bar simply because someone is available.
That doesn't mean holding out indefinitely for a perfect candidate. Perfect candidates don't exist.
It means knowing which requirements really matter before you start interviewing so you can make a thoughtful decision even when you're under pressure.
A Better Hire Starts Before the Interview
A strong hiring process doesn't need to be complicated.
Start with a clear role. Know what success looks like. Ask questions that relate to the actual work. Give candidates an honest picture of the position. Then make the decision based on the things that genuinely matter.
The goal isn't to find someone who looks perfect on paper. It's to find someone who has a reasonable chance of being successful in the job and in your business.
Need Help With Hiring?
If you're growing and want to put a more consistent hiring and onboarding process in place, HR support can help you build something that works for your business without making the process unnecessarily complicated.
Or, if you're working through a hiring need now and want to talk it through:
