3 Common Hiring Mistakes Hiring Managers Make

After working with over 300 founders and hiring managers at Fueler, I’ve spotted a pattern that surprises me: companies truly want great people. Yet they keep making three key mistakes that drive the very talent they need away.

If you’re hiring (or planning to hire soon), understanding these will help you stop missing out.

1. Relying on Resumes More Than Real Work

Most hiring managers still judge candidates by:

• Which college they went to
• What their job title was
• Which “big-name” company they worked at

But here’s what’s missing: what the person can actually build. A resume shows past labels—it rarely tells you how the person works, how they solve problems, or how they learn.

Research shows that resumes offer a limited view of future potential. For example, relying solely on a resume means you might miss a candidate’s adaptability or problem-solving skills.

Also, many talent-acquisition experts argue that skills matter more than years of experience.

So when you hire based on degree + title alone, you often bypass people who are self-taught, passionate, and have built real things—sometimes ten-times more impact than someone with the “right” resume.

What you can do instead:

• Ask for a portfolio or real project examples.
• Look for self-driven work: side-projects, open source contributions, freelance work.
• Give weight to what someone has built, not just where they have been.

2. Interviewing Instead of Testing

Here’s another common mistake: many hiring processes centre around how well someone talks in interviews rather than how well they do the work.

Yep, I’ve seen this again and again:

• A candidate lights up in the interview.
• They’re articulate, polished, confident.
• But once the job starts, they struggle to deliver.

Traditional interviews are useful but incomplete. According to hiring-research, they often don’t capture how someone behaves in real scenarios. Structured, task-based assessments work better. drjohnsullivan.com+1

What you can do instead:

• Give a small assignment relevant to the job. Let the person show how they think and build.
• Observe how they approach the work: Do they ask questions? Do they make assumptions clear? How do they handle feedback?
• Use this as a screening tool before investing in long interview rounds.
• Make sure the assignment is realistic, not just theoretical.

3. Hiring for Experience, Not Hunger

Another trap: “We need 5 years’ experience.”

But what that often misses: the hunger, the drive, the learning-mindset.

Someone with one year of experience who is always building, always learning, always adapting—they may outperform someone with five years who just showed up day after day without growth.

Research indicates that leading with years of experience alone doesn’t always predict value or performance.

What to look for instead:

• Evidence of self-learning: weekend projects, online courses, building outside of work hours.
• A hunger to prove themselves: passion, curiosity, adaptability.
• A growth mindset: ask how they learned something new, how they handled a failure, how they improved.
• Fit with the role you have now and potential for the role you’ll need next year.

Why These Mistakes Matter

When you hire by resumes, by talking, by years of experience:

• Hiring takes longer.
• You risk bringing in the wrong people.
• You miss hidden gems—people who didn’t follow a traditional path but can deliver big results.
• You build a team that may fit on paper but not in performance or culture.

On the flip side:

• If you hire based on skills + real work + mindset, you move faster.
• You find people who bring new ideas, adaptability, growth.
• You build stronger teams that deliver and last.

How Fueler Helps and What You Can Do Right Now

At Fueler, we help companies hire in this smarter way.

We focus on:

• Skills, not just resumes.
• Real projects, not just interviews.
• What people can do, not just what their CV says.

Our assignment-based hiring model lets you see a candidate’s actual work before you make a decision. It gives you conviction.

If you are tired of filtering endless resumes, slowing down because of long interviewing cycles, or hiring “safe” but not great people—then this approach is for you.

What you can start doing today:

1. Rewrite your job description: emphasise what the person will build and learn, not just years of experience.
2. Add a short assignment early in your process. Even a 1-hour task gives you more data.
3. Ask for proof of work rather than brand names on resumes.
4. Measure how fast people learn, adapt and ship—not just what they have done in the past.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What hiring mistakes should I avoid when recruiting top talent?

Avoid relying only on resumes, skipping real-work assessments, and requiring long years of experience instead of checking learning potential.

How can I test a candidate’s skills beyond interviews?

Give a small task or realistic assignment, ask for past project links or portfolios, observe how they solve problems in context.

Why is experience less important than skills for many roles today?

Because the business environment changes fast, the tools change fast, and someone who can learn quickly and build things often adds more value than someone with many years of static experience.

How do I recognise a candidate with hunger and learning-mindset?

Look for examples of side-projects, self-teaching, asking good questions, taking initiative, and improving over time.

How does the assignment-based approach improve hiring outcomes?

It gives you real evidence of what the candidate can do, reduces bias based on brand/college/title, shortens hiring time, and increases the chances you’ll hire someone who delivers.

Lastly, If you’d like help in creating your next job listing or designing the assignment for candidates, I’d be happy to help. Let’s hire better together.

What is Fueler Portfolio?

Fueler is a career portfolio platform that helps companies find the best talent for their organization based on their proof of work. You can create your portfolio on Fueler, thousands of freelancers around the world use Fueler to create their professional-looking portfolios and become financially independent. Discover inspiration for your portfolio

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