A resume tells you where someone has been.
A good hiring process helps you understand where they can go.
That distinction may become increasingly important for employers.
myHR Partner CEO Tina Hamilton recently wrote about a contradiction in today's labor market for Inc.: employers have jobs they can't fill while qualified candidates are struggling to get hired.
Her article clearly struck a nerve. It is trending number one as we publish this blog and is getting mentioned in newsletters.
And the latest jobs report adds another dimension to the conversation. Hiring has slowed, but millions of positions remain open. At the same time, longer-term workforce projections point to a significant shortage of available workers in the years ahead.
So maybe employers shouldn't just be asking, "Where are all the candidates?"
There's another question worth considering: Are we looking for the right things in them?
For years, hiring has often started with a wish list.
Five years of experience. A particular degree. Knowledge of a specific software platform. Experience in the same industry. Ideally, someone who has already done almost exactly the same job somewhere else.
That person may be out there.
But increasingly, they may not be.
Or they may have several other employers looking for them, too.
This doesn't mean lowering your standards. It means getting much clearer about which standards actually predict whether someone can succeed in the role.
Before posting your next position, consider asking:
Those questions can create a very different candidate pool.
Look Beyond the Obvious Candidate
The right person may not come packaged the way you expected.
Someone changing industries may bring highly relevant skills without the exact job title you're looking for.
A recent graduate may have the capability to grow quickly but lack years of experience.
Someone returning to the workforce may bring maturity and perspective that doesn't show up neatly in an applicant tracking system.
An experienced worker may want to keep contributing long after the traditional retirement age.
Tina highlighted a striking statistic in her Inc. article: 93% of HR departments have no recruiting program specifically aimed at workers age 65 and older.
That doesn't mean every employer needs a recruiting initiative for older workers. It does raise a bigger question:
Who else aren't we looking at?
Experience matters.
But experience isn't the only predictor of future performance.
Transferable skills matter. So do adaptability, problem-solving, communication, motivation, judgment, and the ability to learn.
That's especially important when the exact experience you're looking for is increasingly difficult to find.
Hiring for potential doesn't mean taking a chance on someone who isn't qualified. It means evaluating the whole candidate rather than allowing a checklist to make the decision for you.
Consider someone who spent years managing projects in another industry. They may not know your particular business yet, but they understand deadlines, budgets, competing priorities, client expectations, and how to get people moving in the same direction.
Those skills don't disappear because the industry changes.
The question becomes whether the gaps can be taught.
Sometimes the person you need simply isn't going to arrive fully formed.
That's where hiring and employee development begin to intersect.
Could an existing employee grow into the position?
Could someone with adjacent experience succeed with additional training?
Could you partner with a local technical school, college, apprenticeship program, or industry organization to develop a stronger talent pipeline?
Could a more intentional onboarding process allow you to consider candidates who have the right capabilities but need to learn your industry?
In a tighter labor market, organizations that become good at developing talent may have an advantage over those that only know how to compete for it.
There's also a larger conversation leadership teams should be having.
Hiring shouldn't always begin when someone submits a resignation.
Look ahead.
Which positions will your organization need over the next few years? Which are consistently difficult to fill? Where do you have potential successors internally? What skills will become more important as technology changes the way your organization works?
And perhaps most importantly:
Where is your future talent going to come from?
Those aren't simply recruiting questions. They're workforce planning questions. And workforce planning is increasingly part of business planning.
The disconnect Tina identified in her Inc. article doesn't have one simple explanation.
Demographics are changing. Skills aren't always aligned with available jobs. Employers and candidates aren't always in the same places. Technology is reshaping some roles while making other skills more valuable.
Employers can't solve all of those challenges.
But they can reconsider how they hire.
Look beyond the perfect resume. Get clear about what the job actually requires. Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves. Recognize transferable skills. Consider people whose careers have taken a different path. Develop talent when the right capabilities are there.
The goal isn't to lower the bar.
It's to make sure you've put the bar in the right place.
Hiring the Right Person Starts with Knowing What You're Really Looking For.
At myHR Partner, our hiring approach goes beyond matching resumes to job descriptions. We help organizations define what success looks like in a role and evaluate candidates for the experience, transferable skills, capabilities, and fit that can lead to long-term success.
If you're curious what a true hiring partner looks like, let's have a conversation.