Beyond the resume
Why traditional screening misses the best candidates.
Resumes optimize for past performance, not future potential. They reward people who’ve already had opportunities and punish those who haven’t.
The resume trap
When you screen by resume, you’re selecting for:
- Pedigree (school, previous companies)
- Longevity (years of experience)
- Keywords (technologies, frameworks)
What you’re missing:
- How they think
- How they learn
- How they collaborate
A better signal
The best hires I’ve made came from work samples, not resumes. Give candidates a problem similar to what they’d actually solve. Watch how they approach it.
You learn more from 2 hours of real work than from 10 years of resume bullet points.
Making it work
Keep it small. Don’t ask for a week-long project. Ask for something that takes 2-3 hours max.
Pay for it. Respect their time. This is work, not a favor.
Make it realistic. Don’t create artificial problems. Use real challenges your team faces.
The goal isn’t to find perfect candidates. It’s to find people who think the way you need them to think.