How Do You Find the Right People for Your Team Without Wasting Time?
I’m in a bit of a spot right now. I’ve got a couple of new projects rolling out and need to hire a few solid team members—mainly developers and a creative lead. The problem is, I feel like I’ve been spinning my wheels. Either the resumes look great and the people flop in practice, or the candidates just don’t align with how we work as a team. I’m not just looking for talent on paper—I want people who are responsible, communicate well, and genuinely care about the work. How do you guys find people like that without spending months filtering through noise?
Discussion
I totally get what you're saying, and I've been in that exact position. What’s helped me a lot lately is changing how I structure the hiring process. Instead of relying heavily on polished CVs, I include a short scenario-based task early on—nothing too demanding, just enough to see how someone thinks and communicates under real conditions. It’s surprising how many “perfect fit” applicants ghost at that point or give low-effort responses. The ones who do follow through, even if they’re not perfect technically, usually show signs they’ll grow with the team. Also, interviews are more about attitude and clarity of thought than technical deep dives. You can teach skills, but not mindset. There can be a lot of things to say specifically, what you do need is good guide https://testlify.com/hr-recruitment-guide-for-perfect-employees/ where everything will be written
That’s an interesting approach. I’ve started doing something similar but leaned into conversations instead of tasks. I like to get on a casual call—sometimes even before a formal interview—and talk about how they like to work, how they handle feedback, and how they solve messy, undefined problems. I’ve noticed that when people talk about past projects, their storytelling tells me a lot about how they actually function in a team. Some folks light up when describing collaboration or solving a problem creatively. It’s those moments that help me decide whether they’ll blend in. Also, I stopped obsessing over how fast I fill the role. Sometimes the right person just takes longer to find, and that’s okay if it saves future headaches.