How to Restructure Traditional Hiring Processes

After building TestGorilla from 0 to thousands of customers across 100+ countries, I've learned that most companies fail at hiring before they even post a job. Here are the 5 steps that separate world-class hiring from expensive mistakes: 1) Define your talent requirements (most skip this) "We need a great developer" isn't a hiring strategy - it's wishful thinking. Great companies get surgical about exactly who they're looking for: • Specific technical competencies (not just "knows Python") • Required experience levels for each skill • Cultural attributes that predict success in YOUR environment • Growth trajectory you need (steady performer vs. high-potential) Vague requirements = mediocre hires. Every time. 2) Identify their decision drivers (this is where magic happens) You're not just competing on salary. Top talent has options. Ask yourself: • What frustrates high performers in their current roles? • What career aspirations keep them up at night? • What would make them leave a "safe" job for yours? • What do they value more than money? When you understand their psychology, you can craft offers that speak to their souls, not just their bank accounts. 3) Design your evaluation framework (objectivity beats gut instinct) Most hiring decisions are made in the first 10 seconds of an interview. That's not evaluation - that's bias confirmation. Build systems that predict actual performance: • Skills-based assessments that mirror real work • Structured interviews with consistent scoring • Objective measures of potential and values fit • Efficient processes that respect everyone's time Data beats "good vibes" every single time. 4) Establish your selection criteria (know your non-negotiables) What actually distinguishes your top performers from average ones? And here's the harder question: Why should A-players choose your process over companies with bigger brands and deeper pockets? Your hiring process IS your product. Make it remarkable: • Faster time-to-decision than competitors • More meaningful evaluation than "tell me about yourself" • Clearer communication throughout • Genuine respect for candidates' time and expertise 5) Communicate your hiring philosophy (story beats specs) Stop posting job descriptions that read like legal documents. Start telling stories: • Why does this role exist? • What impact will this person have? • What's the vision they'll help build? • What's your approach to finding and developing talent? People don't join companies. They join missions. TAKEAWAY: Most companies treat hiring like procurement - find the cheapest resource that meets basic requirements. World-class companies treat hiring like product development - deeply understand your users (candidates), design remarkable experiences, and iterate based on data. The companies that master this don't just fill roles faster. They build competitive advantages one hire at a time.

Rethinking recruitment for inclusion and equity Recruitment can feel like a fair process on the surface, but for many candidates when you consider the different components there are hidden hurdles at every stage. Small changes can make a big difference: 🔹 Job adverts : Keep language clear, avoid jargon, focus on essential skills, and be explicit about adjustments. 🔹 Applications : Offer flexible formats (CV, form, video), and avoid unnecessary timed tests. 🔹 Interviews: Share structure and sample questions in advance, allow choice of environment, and train interviewers to recognise bias. Consider the skills you want to see and assess for these (and not judging skills that are not essential for completing the job) 🔹 Onboarding: Provide timetables and expectations in writing, work rules, use buddy systems, and break information into manageable steps, set up regular meetings to check understanding of expected outcomes. Check if there are training needs. True inclusion isn’t about lowering standards. It’s about removing barriers so people can show their best selves and employers have access to the best talents. When recruitment is transparent and flexible, organisations don’t just “accommodate” difference, they unlock talent that may otherwise be overlooked or talents may be lost. What’s one recruitment adjustment you’ve seen that really makes a difference for you?

Résumés are dead signal. And most companies are still using them to make multi-hundred-thousand-dollar hiring decisions. Many HR functions are facilitating a dysfunctional process and not a critical business enablement function that gives leverage to the business. (Also highly frustrating to job seekers spending hours on resumes, applications, and interviews.) If your recruiting process starts with a résumé review and ends with a generic job description, you’re optimizing for polish—not performance. Here’s what high-growth, high-trust hiring actually looks like: 1. Hire from work, not words. Résumés are marketing copy. Ask: “What did you build that still works without you?” Have them walk you through it. A deck. A dashboard. A system. The best operators speak in outcomes. Everyone else describes process. 2. Prioritize ownership over optics. “Led,” “managed,” “oversaw”—those are spectator words. Ask: “What decision did you make—and what tradeoffs did you weigh?” Use this framework: What was the situation? What was your call? What happened next? You’ll know if they owned it—or just had a front-row seat. 3. Screen for judgment, not perfection. You’re not hiring someone who’s always right. You’re hiring someone who gets smarter with every rep. Ask: “What’s a decision you’d revisit now with new information?” Judgment compounds faster than skills. Look for signal that they’ve updated their playbook. 4. Run performance-based interviews. Would you greenlight a $300K contract based on a résumé and three Zoom calls? Then stop hiring that way. Create a scoped, role-relevant project. Debrief it live. You’re not testing polish—you’re testing how they think under pressure and with context. 5. Stop mistaking pedigree for potential. A Stanford degree or FAANG stint is just context, not signal. Ask: “What did you do that others around you weren’t doing?” Look for stretch, creativity, and earned scope. 10x people don’t always come from the obvious places. 6. Ditch culture fit. Define behavior. “Culture fit” is often a proxy for “feels familiar.” And that’s how you build sameness, not scale. Ask yourself: “What are the behaviors our best people consistently demonstrate?” Interview for those. Not vibes. Not style. 7. Design the org first. Then hire. Too many job descriptions are written after someone quits. That’s backfilling, not architecting. Ask: “What friction does this role unblock? What velocity does it add?” You can’t hire for leverage if you don’t map where you need it. 8. Hire for trajectory—not title. Title is a lagging indicator. Trajectory is a leading one. Ask: “Where were you two years ago—and what’s changed since?” Look for acceleration. People who scale themselves can scale your company. You don’t build a generational company by playing it safe. You build it by designing a hiring system that finds slope, judgment, and ownership—and rewards it.

If your hiring still uses resume screening or quizzes or tests, you’re mostly getting weak hires. a key lesson great CEOs of small companies truly understand (or are open to understand : ) Hiring for tech roles is still stuck in the past. Quizzes, coding puzzles, and theory-heavy tests are easy to run but do not give strong signals of people who can actually do the job. You end up with candidates who are good at theory knowledge, not at engineering. What works better? 3 methods stand out from our experience - 1. Proof of Skill Assessments Run open-ended technical discussions based on real job problems. Skip the “explain this concept” type of question. Instead, ask them to debug a slow API, optimize a SQL query, or fix a broken Docker setup. You see how they think, solve, and adapt when facing work they will actually do. The best signal for deep technical judgment. 2. Video Cover Letters Ask for a 2-minute video where they explain a recent technical challenge or onboard a new team member. Use the video as an effort filter and a way to check clarity, communication, and authenticity in one shot. You quickly cut down a large pool to people who care enough to apply properly and communicate well. 3. Open-Ended Project Submissions Give a real-world project and 48 hours. Candidates can use any tool, resource, or documentation (yes, they can use even AI tools). You see how they break down requirements, make trade-offs, and deliver working code. This is close to real work. Look for how they document, build, and explain decisions. You find builders, not test-takers. Here's a critical point -- most traditional hiring steps (resume screening, quiz, theory interview) filter for the wrong things. They reward memory, not skill. What to assess instead: -- Can the candidate solve actual real problems under realistic conditions? -- Do they show clear thinking and practical judgment? -- Is their code readable and well-organized? -- Can someone else follow their process? If you want confidence in your next hire, start with one of these methods. Test for actual work, not theory.

Is it time we disrupt recruitment? So many people I know are job-hunting right now, and the process is exhausting. Having recently gone through a recruitment process at my organization, I saw firsthand how even well-intentioned systems can fall short. 👉. We skipped the cover letter, asked two focused questions, acknowledged every application, and gave feedback. And still, I know we can do better. So I’ve been wondering: what needs to change? - Why do we still expect every applicant to write a tailored cover letter? - Should we really celebrate 1,000 applicants when 999 are left jobless? We’ve normalized a system that demands hours of unpaid labour from candidates, with little transparency, no feedback, and often, zero acknowledgment. 👉. In most industries, that would be unacceptable. In recruitment, it’s standard. Candidates are expected to thank interviewers for their (paid) time, while their own emotional, mental, and logistical labour often goes unacknowledged, even as they navigate financial stress, bias, systemic barriers, or burnout. - Traditional hiring doesn’t just overlook people, it reinforces exclusion and bias. - The systems we’ve normalized disproportionately disadvantage those already marginalized by age, class, gender, disability, and more. What might a more equitable recruitment system look like? ⭕. Here are a few places to start: 👉. Cover letters on invitation only: Ask for them after shortlisting. Focus on relevance, not volume. 👉. AI transparency: If AI use is discouraged or encouraged in applications, say so. Level the playing field. 👉. Applicant volume visibility: If over 100 people have applied, inform candidates and give them the option to opt in or out. This transparency respects their time and expectations. - While I'm not a coder, I trust this would be relatively straightforward to implement on most application platforms. 👉. Close applications after a fair volume: Don’t quietly collect thousands of applications. Be clear. Set limits. 👉. Feedback as a norm: Even a short, automated “why not” message honors people’s time. Ghosting doesn’t. 👉. Paid interview stages: If you want a presentation, strategy, or task, outside of the interviewing time, pay for it. Unpaid tests = free consulting. In other words, no “take home” assignments. 👉. Skills over credentials: Prioritise portfolios, projects, and experience, especially for career-changers and self-taught talent. 👉. Human + tech screening: Don’t outsource discernment to Applicant Tracking System (ATS) filters alone. Tech should assist, not replace. 👉. Co-designed job descriptions: Involve people who’ve held the role. Ditch jargon. Center lived expertise. Recruitment should reflect the values we claim to hold in our workplaces: transparency, respect, accessibility, equity. Disruption doesn’t mean throwing everything out. It means rebuilding what was never fair to begin with. ❓. What other practices would you add?

Workforce planning has always been an incredibly complex and difficult task. Despite valiant efforts to improve these models, they have remained relatively static and simplistic, relying predominantly on small teams crunching data or on predictions from the hiring manager community. In an ideal world, we would shift from a static, once-a-year exercise to a dynamic, more proactive model. We would stop reacting to what's happening now and start anticipating what's likely to happen next. Last week, I had the pleasure of spending time with our enterprise data and analytics team, a group that services over 800 customers. The most exciting topic we discussed was three pilots we're running with customers right now that aim to make this a reality: using a digital twin for work planning. It works by connecting vast amounts of external market data with a company's many internal data sources, some they typically wouldn't consider, such as ERP, CRM (sales), LMS, and Time and Attendance systems. This allows us to run scenarios and model future talent needs. Here’s a concrete example: By analyzing Salesforce, HRIS, and ATS data, we can predict that when multiple prospect opportunities reach a specific stage in our customer’s sales cycle, there is a high likelihood of winning at least one of them. We can then analyze the consistent skill sets across all of those prospect opportunities, allowing us to confidently and proactively start a recruitment process for those skills. The goal being that we have candidates at the final stages of the process, before an official requisition has been raised, positively impacting time to hire. We’ve also been able to replicate a similar model based on website sales activity. The question to ask is: what data is generated in what system that allows you to get ahead of the hiring process today. 

If you’re still personally hiring every role… you might be the reason your team isn’t growing fast enough. In the early days, it made sense. You were building the culture, shaping the team, and making sure every hire was “just right.” But as your business grows, being across every single hire becomes a bottleneck: - Recruitment slows to a crawl waiting for your availability - You focus more on “Do I like them?” than “Can they perform in the role?” - Your leaders don’t get the chance to build their own teams or their hiring capability When you’re the final gatekeeper for every hire, you send a subtle message: “I 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦.” That erodes confidence and pushes every hiring decision back onto your plate. Letting go of recruitment doesn’t mean letting go of standards, it means changing your role in the process. Here’s how to step back without losing control: 1. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 for each role and document it. 2. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 in structured hiring methods. 3. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 — usually at the senior leadership or business-critical level. 4. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 — focus on whether the steps were followed, not whether you personally “like” the person. When you shift from “final approver” to “culture and standards guardian,” recruitment speeds up, leaders grow, and you gain the capacity to focus on scaling the business. 📌 At 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦, I help SME owners step out of the weeds and build leadership teams who can attract, hire, and keep top talent, without the founder holding the clipboard.

Let’s talk about hiring and how we treat people in the process. There’s a lot going on in the world right now. For many, the job search only adds more stress and uncertainty. I’ve been thinking about how we can show up for our communities, and in my own work, that means prioritizing how we support candidates. In the progressive movement, we talk a lot about liberation, equity, and justice. But those values don’t always show up where they should (in our hiring practices). Whether we’re building campaigns, nonprofits, or foundations, *how* we hire is just as important as *who* we hire. The process is wicked important. It’s a window into how we operate, how we value people, and how seriously we take our commitments to equity. Here’s what it looks like to treat candidates well in the hiring process, especially in movement-aligned spaces: 1. Transparency & Respect ➡️ Post the salary every time. It’s not radical anymore, it’s baseline. ➡️ Share your timeline and stick to it. If things shift, update candidates about that shift. ➡️ Respond to everyone who applies or interviews. Even if it’s a no, it matters. ➡️ Share interview questions with your candidates ahead of time. This helps them prep and show up as their best selves to the call. 2. Remove Barriers ➡️ Ditch the cover letter and use clear application questions. Or, just ask for a resume and send a short written questionnaire as the first step in the process. ➡️ Again, be upfront about salary and benefits. It saves everyone time and builds trust. ➡️ Be mindful of time. Many strong candidates simply can’t afford to spend 10+ hours on interviews. Keep the process streamlined, focused, and as efficient as possible. ➡️ Compensate finalists for exercises. It shows you value people’s time and helps dismantle unpaid labor culture. 3. Consistent Process & Reduced Bias ➡️ Standardize your interviews. Same questions, same format = less bias, more fairness. ➡️ Use blind grading when appropriate. I like doing this especially for written exercises. A clear rubric helps us focus on key competencies.  ➡️ Make it collaborative. Final stages should include buy-in from both leadership and peers or direct reports the hire will work closely with. 4. The Candidate Experience Is Movement Work ➡️ Share your mission, values, and team vibe throughout the process. Candidates want to know what they’re stepping into. ➡️ For interviews, give candidates a heads-up on who they’ll meet and what to expect. When we treat candidates with dignity and transparency, we build stronger teams and stronger movements. We’re not perfect, and we don’t expect anyone else to be either, but we love partnering with clients who are willing to do the work to get better together. 🔍🔍 What would you add? What have you seen that works (or doesn’t) in progressive hiring? Drop your thoughts below. #EquityInHiring #NonprofitJobs #DEI #WorkplaceCulture #CandidateExperience #HiringEquity #PayTransparency 

Rethinking How We Interview: A Task-Based Approach to Hiring Hiring for roles that don’t neatly fit into industry norms requires a different approach—one that goes beyond traditional interviewing techniques. In my role as the head of learning design and learning science at Duolingo, I often hire for positions where the responsibilities are either unique or differ significantly from what candidates may have encountered before. This presents a challenge: how do you assess someone’s ability to excel in a role they’ve never had? Rather than focusing on past experiences in similar jobs, I prioritize how candidates can transfer their skills to new, uncharted territories. This is why I’ve moved away from the typical behavioral questions like “Tell me about a time when you…”. Instead, I embrace task-based interviewing. For example, when hiring learning designers who work on the Duolingo product, I don’t ask about their past experiences—the resume is all I need to be confident they meet our basic requirements. Instead, I show them a draft Duolingo lesson and ask how they would improve it. I present an exercise and inquire what they think works, what doesn’t, and how they would iterate on it. This isn’t just an interview—it’s a hands-on problem-solving session. This approach does more than just give me insight into a candidate’s thought process; it reveals their true potential to thrive in the role. It shows me how they can apply their skills in real-world scenarios, not just how they talk about their past. Task-based interviewing is more than a trend—it’s a necessity when you’re hiring for the future, not the past. It’s about finding those who can innovate, adapt, and excel in roles that may not yet have a clear roadmap. And in a fast-evolving industry like ours, that makes all the difference. #Hiring #Interviewing #Duolingo #Innovation #ProductInterviewing

I remember hiring a candidate who nailed the interview without hesitation. Within months, it was a disaster. During the interview, this lawyer had seemed like a perfect fit: • confident • articulate • charismatic. Once she started, though, this lawyer showed up late and left early. She didn’t align with our firm’s values. Her work was subpar. I had to admit that I let myself get fooled by a great first impression. The truth is, the traditional hiring process is broken. • exaggerated résumés • meaningless references (who lists someone that won’t praise them?) • performative interviews. If you're hiring based primarily (or solely) on interviews, then you run the risk of hiring people who can talk—or BS— their way into a job. The problem is that you might find yourself  standing knee-deep in their accumulated BS within a couple months. I've learned that lesson the hard way. That's why we stopped relying so much on interviews at the Mike Morse Law Firm. We've incorporated methods for ensuring candidates don’t just look good on paper. In addition to interviews, we administer skills tests to ensure that a candidate actually have the skills we need for the job. We also use different  assessments to learn more about a candidate's personality and whether they share our core values. Interviews still matter. But they matter far less today than they did when I was hiring 20 years ago. And that's reduced the guesswork in our hiring process. It's also helped us avoid those scenarios where we're left knee-deep in BS.