u/ragsyme

We say we want top talent. But our process might be rejecting them first.

A few things worth checking:

1. Your ATS is doing more screening than your team is.
   • If the keyword logic hasn't been reviewed in a year, you're rejecting people who can do the job. Tools that screen for skills rather than resume formatting can flip this dynamic; worth comparing skill‑based assessments with what you’re getting from your ATS.
2. Your job description is a wishlist.
   • "5+ years required" for a role that didn't exist 3 years ago. Every inflated requirement shrinks your pool and skews it toward credentials rather than capability.
3. Too many interview rounds.
   • Good candidates have options. They drop off. The longer the funnel, the more you're selecting for availability, not fit.
4. You're using the resume as a proxy for performance.
   • A well-formatted resume from a known school beats a messy one from someone quietly excellent. Every time. Unless you're actually testing for the job.
5. No feedback loop.
   • If you don't know why the last few hires didn't work out, you can't fix the process that hired them.

What would you add?

We've had this happen twice in the last year candidate looks great, solid resume, communicates well in the interview, and references check out. They start and within 60 days it's clear they can't perform at the level we expected.

I've been trying to figure out where the process is breaking down. Are we asking the wrong interview questions? Is the job description attracting the wrong people? Or are some candidates just really good at interviewing?

We've looked at adding skills assessments, tried a short TestGorilla test for one role, and used structured scorecards in Greenhouse for a few others. Both helped a little, but I still don't feel like we have a reliable signal.

Hiring managers who've figured this out: what's actually working for you? Is it work samples, take-home tasks, extended panels, or something else entirely? And does any of it scale when you're hiring for multiple roles at once?