Black Creek Business Coaching

Each stage of the hiring process serves a unique and essential purpose in building a strong, high-performing team. From evaluating experience to assessing skills and gauging cultural fit, these steps provide a well-rounded approach to making informed hiring decisions. When implemented strategically, they ensure that your business follows the golden rule of hiring: “Hire slow and fire fast.”

Resumes: A Window Into the Past

A resume is often the first impression a candidate makes on your business. It offers a snapshot of their work history, education, and accomplishments, giving you insight into their professional journey. But a resume alone doesn’t tell the full story. While it highlights experience and achievements, it doesn’t necessarily demonstrate how a candidate will perform in your specific work environment. That’s why resumes should be seen as a filtering tool, not the final decision-maker.

I also pay close attention to elements on a resume beyond just job experience and technical skills. A background in the arts—such as music, dance, or theater—can indicate a candidate’s ability to collaborate, work towards a larger goal, and contribute creatively to a team. Additionally, I look at their earliest job experiences, as these often reveal the foundational training they received. Candidates who have worked for brands like Chick-fil-A, Publix, summer camps, retail stores, or in other customer-facing roles bring valuable experience in service, adaptability, and professionalism. These backgrounds reassure me that they can comfortably engage with clients and handle dynamic work environments.

Assessments: Measuring Skills and Fit

Once you’ve identified promising candidates through their resumes, the next step is to assess their abilities. Assessments can take various forms, including skills tests, personality assessments, problem-solving exercises, or job simulations. These tools help you measure whether a candidate has the technical skills, cognitive abilities, and emotional intelligence required for the role.

Beyond technical skills, assessments can also gauge a candidate’s cultural fit and alignment with your company’s values. For example, a team-based exercise might reveal how well they collaborate, while a case study could showcase their strategic thinking. Thoughtfully incorporating assessments into your hiring process minimizes the risk of hiring someone who looks great on paper but struggles in practice.

For our designers, we give them a small project with brand standards to see how well they follow a creative brief and brand standards. For our content team, we conduct a similar exercise but typically ask for a social media calendar along with the justification behind their approach. With our accounts team, we present them with tough scenarios and ask how they would solve the problem and manage an upset customer. These processes are currently undergoing an overhaul as we factor in how AI will impact hiring. This step is crucial because it ensures that before we invest time in interviews, we have verified that candidates can handle themselves in real-world situations. A resume can look great on paper, but we want to ensure that the skills listed translate to practical application.

Interviews: The Human Connection

While resumes and assessments provide valuable data, interviews allow you to get a real sense of a candidate’s personality, communication skills, and long-term potential. A well-structured interview should go beyond rehearsed answers and surface-level responses.

Behavioral and situational questions help reveal how a candidate thinks and acts under pressure, while open-ended discussions give them the opportunity to share their values and aspirations. This stage also lets you assess their enthusiasm for the role, their ability to problem-solve, and how they might fit within your existing team dynamic.

We always conduct at least two interviews because one great conversation isn’t enough to fully assess a candidate. Someone can have an outstanding first interview and then never show up like that again (I speak from experience here). Multiple interactions allow us to look for consistency and ensure that we’re seeing the real person behind the polished responses. Additionally, the more comfortable a candidate gets with us, the more they reveal their authentic self. This slow, intentional approach helps us make better long-term hiring decisions.

Bringing It All Together: A Thoughtful Hiring Strategy

The best hiring decisions come from integrating all three stages—resumes, assessments, and interviews—into a cohesive process. Relying on just one element can lead to costly hiring mistakes. For example, hiring solely based on an impressive resume might result in an employee who lacks the necessary skills or isn’t a cultural fit. Likewise, focusing only on assessments without considering personality and long-term potential can overlook key intangibles that contribute to team success.

By taking the time to thoroughly vet candidates at each stage, you reduce turnover, improve team dynamics, and ensure that new hires align with your company’s vision. Hiring slow and firing fast isn’t about being indecisive or ruthless—it’s about making strategic choices that benefit both your business and your employees. I know this all might feel like a lot, but it is worth it in the end to have the right team member the first time. Also, check out my blog on who is involved in the hiring process (hint: many hands make light work).

Final Thoughts

In today’s competitive job market, an intentional and structured hiring process is crucial for building a strong team. Resumes provide a glimpse into the past, assessments evaluate present capabilities, and interviews predict future success. When combined effectively, these elements create a hiring strategy that supports long-term growth and success.

By investing in a thoughtful, multi-step hiring process, you’re not just filling positions—you’re building a team that will drive your business forward.

Coming Up Next: Onboarding vs. Training vs. Continuing Education

Understanding the distinct roles of onboarding, training, and continuing education is critical to employee success. Onboarding sets the tone with a strong start, training builds necessary skills, and continuing education keeps team members engaged and growing over time. In the next blog, we’ll break down how to balance these elements to create a cohesive and effective development journey for your employees.