Hiring beyond the resume.
The right approach to recruiting and hiring candidates.
18 years ago, my friend stepped away from her job as a medical technologist working in the laboratory. Her focus shifted to caring for young children as she and her husband expanded their family.
Fast forward to today and her interest in returning to the field is renewed - her kids are older, and life has opened space for new opportunities to explore.
She has decided to return to her field and recently began applying for medical technologist positions. Within days of submitting her resume to a few openings, she received interview offers from two prospective employers. Soon after her interviews, she was extended offers from both companies.
Just like that.
No drawn-out interviews, long waiting periods, or disjointed communication.
Despite her long hiatus from the field, these employers didn’t see this as a problem – they chose to look beyond her resume and focus on her as a valuable candidate. They saw potential in her qualifications and skills. They did things the right way throughout the entire process:
They were responsive and transparent.
They gave her a chance to interview and share her story, experience, personality, and connection to the work. By doing so, they met an intelligent, well-articulated, and capable professional. An opportunity they would have missed had they made a snap judgment on her resume.
They treated her with dignity, respect, and humanity.
This story underscores the importance of a fair, inclusive, and respectful recruitment process—one that values individuals over resume bullets. It should be the standard, but unfortunately, so many companies are still getting it wrong – as is evident by the countless stories shared by job seekers on LinkedIn.
It’s time to stop asking people to jump through hoops and start treating them like the human beings they are. Let's strive for better hiring processes. Let’s make these practices the standard across all industries.
Words to motivate:
“All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision.” — James Clear