The Best Candidate May NOT have the Prefect Resume!

Why smart employers are hiring for potential—not just pedigree

For years, recruiting followed a familiar formula: write a job description, identify the required experience,

collect résumés and look for the candidate whose background most closely matches the wish list.

That approach is becoming increasingly outdated.

Today, some of the best candidates may not have the exact job title, industry experience or perfectly linear career path employers traditionally expect. What they may have instead is something even more valuable: transferable skills, adaptability, curiosity, and the ability to learn quickly.

And in today's workplace, those qualities matter.

The Résumé Is Changing

AI has made it easier than ever for candidates to create polished résumés, tailor applications to job descriptions and prepare for interviews.

That doesn't make résumés irrelevant. But it does mean employers need to look deeper.

A résumé tells you where someone has been.

A strong recruiting process helps determine where that person can go.

When Monarch evaluates candidates, we believe the conversation should go beyond:

“Have they done this exact job before?”

Employers should also be asking:

Can they learn it? Can they solve problems? Can they communicate? Are they dependable?

Do they have transferable skills? And will they thrive in our organization?

Stop Hiring the Job Title

Consider a customer service professional who has never held the title “Recruiting Coordinator.”

They may already know how to manage competing priorities, communicate with different personalities, solve problems quickly, work within technology platforms and create a positive experience for people.

Those skills transfer.

Or consider someone returning to the workforce after several years away. Their résumé may contain a gap, but their abilities didn't disappear during that time.

The same is true of candidates moving between industries, veterans transitioning into civilian careers, recent graduates and experienced workers looking to reinvent themselves.

When employers automatically eliminate these candidates because they don't check every box, they may be eliminating some of their best potential hires.

The New Hiring Advantage: Skills + Potential

The employers winning the competition for talent are increasingly willing to distinguish between two things:

What must someone know on Day One?

and

What can we teach them after they arrive?

That's an important distinction.

Technical processes, company-specific software and internal procedures can often be taught.

Work ethic, judgment, communication, curiosity, resilience and the willingness to learn can be much harder to develop.

Before posting your next opening, take another look at the requirements.

Ask yourself:

Do we truly need five years of experience—or do we need someone capable of doing the job?

Does the degree actually matter?

Is industry experience essential, or could someone from another industry bring a valuable new perspective?

Are we hiring for what the position has been—or what we need it to become?

Removing even one unnecessary requirement can dramatically expand a company's talent pool.

Where Staffing Firms Add Value

Technology can identify keywords.

Great recruiters identify people.

One of the greatest values a staffing partner can provide isn't simply sending more résumés. It's recognizing talent that an automated screening process—or even a busy hiring manager—might overlook.

At Monarch Staffing, we've spent more than 25 years connecting employers and job seekers throughout the region. One lesson has remained remarkably consistent:

The best person for the job isn't always the person with the most perfect résumé.

Sometimes it's the person who simply needs someone to recognize their potential.

And that may be one of the biggest recruiting opportunities employers have today.

Monarch's September Hiring Challenge

Before staffing your next position, identify the three (3) things a candidate absolutely must bring to the job.

Everything else?

Ask whether it can be taught.

You may discover your next great employee has been hiding behind a résumé you almost passed over.