The way we have always screened resumes has removed resilience from the pipeline. Job hopping, for example. I’ve had a million debates on LinkedIn about just how important it is for someone to have spent 1 year vs 1 decade at a company. Why do we assume tenure means growth? I don’t know. There’s no evidence that long tenure improves performance or aligns with high performers. It proves that person chose not to make a change during this period of time.
Then there’s the reality I know all too well. I’ve never met a job hopper that didn’t have a story that made sense to me. The woman who lost her mom and husband 3 weeks apart and cried because she needed a mental health sabbatical and it looked like a gap in her resume. The young man taking care of his mom who was laid off on a phone call while he was at the hospital. The single mom with 3 kids who left an abusive situation and couldn’t go back to the office. They all have stories that make sense, human to human, but those stories are never told because a 6 second resume scan turns into a no.
Most people don’t just leave jobs. They leave awful managers. They leave towns to support their dreams and loved ones. They leave bad situations. But most folks don’t just leave suddenly because of one bad day. I worry that in these moments where split second decisions get made, we aren’t just saying no to a candidate. We might be saying no to someone with a deep resilience our team needs.
Recruiting For Resilience Improves Company Performance
Rejecting resilient people is a risky decision when you don’t know the technical skills you’ll need in the future. Any person you hire will need the ability to pivot during AI disruptions, handle economic volatility, and recover from burnout without losing productivity. Studies have found a strong positive correlation between resilience and career adaptability - the ability to solve complex, unfamiliar problems and transition between roles. Job hoppers exercise this muscle more than tenured employees. [Source]
Beyond predictions and fear of the future of work, there’s plenty of historical data that shows resilience has always been valuable to organizations, too. Resilient employees demonstrate 22% higher innovation and 18% higher team creativity, as they are more likely to view change as an opportunity rather than a threat (BetterUp Labs, Resilience in an Age of Uncertainty Report). Resilient managers lead teams that experience 52% less burnout and are 78% less likely to leave (BetterUp, The Resilience Ripple Effect Study).
Knowing all of this, I don’t see this influencing the screening stage. Instead, experiences that build resilience like layoffs, pursuing different roles across industries, and age are framed as “what if” scenarios during screening. What if they leave? What if they get bored? What if they aren’t tech savvy? We unintentionally screen out the most resilient candidates.
How To Recruit For (And Teach) Resilience
When the world changes drastically, it’s an opportunity to change our hiring processes. That’s the world we live in right now. What if we put tenure and other biases aside to solely consider if this person has the skills to do the job and the resilience to keep going when the problems are harder or different?
I believe that’s going to become a conversation we have to have a lot more often when we’re deciding who to hire. I have a few ideas to recruit for resilience now.
| Behavioral interview questions. | If you’re worried someone will leave because you saw they switched industries, just ask why they switched industries before. If it’s going to impact your choice, it should be addressed. Instead of running on what ifs, just ask for clarification during the interview. |
| Stop screening out job hoppers. | Look: a million people got laid off last year. I promise no one is quitting their job for fun. If there’s a short tenure, that’s ok. Focus on what they learned, not how long they were there. |
| Coach hiring managers. | Nothing changes if you don’t talk to them about their biases. This form of change management is hard and requires teams to be trained on the conversations - both how to communicate the issues clearly and data that supports the decision (that’s why I built my job post writing training to teach both - more on that here). |
| Hire veterans. | There’s no one I want more by my side in uncertain times than someone brave enough to navigate uncertainty with their career. |
And if you recruit resilient people, make sure your company is teaching everyone in the organization resilience. Recruiting a bunch of bold people into a group that can’t handle uncertainty is a recipe for disaster.
How do you teach resilience? Consider my new team training and company lunch and learn session called The Bounce Back Factor. It’s based on my book with practical systems anyone can implement at work for free to build resilience, team trust, and tolerance for change. You can learn more about the benefits and formats then book a meeting with me here.
