The perfect CV doesn’t mean the perfect employee
A lot of hiring managers still believe that the strongest CV wins. Good qualifications, relevant experience, the right job titles in the right order. Tick those boxes and you’ve found your person.
It’s an easy belief to hold onto because a CV feels objective, easy to compare and easy to justify a decision with. The trouble is, it can lead to a business hiring someone who looks great on paper but turns out to be a nightmare fit for the team.
Why the CV-first approach falls down
A CV tells you what someone has done. It tells you nothing about how they work with people, how they handle pressure, or whether they’ll actually get on with the team they’re joining. That’s cultural fit, and no CV can tell you if someone has it.
We’ve placed candidates with average CVs who’ve gone on to become someone’s best hire in years, and we’ve heard plenty of stories from clients about people with picture-perfect CVs walking into a team and being gone within three months. Skills can be taught. Cultural fit can’t.
How to shift the way you recruit
Start with a phone interview before anything else. It takes up far less time than a full face to face. That means you can actually speak to more people, rather than letting the CV do all the narrowing down for you. Leave room in that list for a few wildcards too, people who don’t tick every box on paper but might be worth a conversation anyway.
When you do get to the interview itself, keep it conversational and relaxed rather than a box ticking exercise. Give yourself the chance to find out who they are as a person, not just what they’ve done in past jobs. This is where you start to get a real read on cultural fit, not just whether someone can technically do the job.
One simple change is to bring someone from the actual team into part of the process, not just you. You’ll get a much clearer read on whether this person will genuinely slot in, not just whether they can do the job on paper.
Why the old way is fading out
More SMEs are realising that a bad hire costs far more than a slow one. Every wrong fit means more disruption to the team and back to square one when they inevitably leave. Waiting a little longer for the right person always beats rushing into the wrong one. The businesses getting this right are the ones recruiting for cultural fit, not just the CV.
We help SMEs across Cheshire and Manchester do exactly this every day, so if it’d be useful to chat, get in touch.
