Is your candidate who they say they are?

The Context
A small business with a strong, intentionally built culture was at a breaking point.
"This is the fourth salesperson who hasn't worked out," the president admitted. "Each departure has upended our team. We can't go through this again."

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Determined to understand the pattern, the company turned to Thrive Purpose for insight and support.

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The Action
We began by asking the president to describe the last four hires.

Each was charismatic, flexible, and instantly likable—the kind of people who shine in interviews. But after hiring, it became clear they weren't a fit. Some struggled with acquiring the base of knowledge required to sell the company's solution; others with building thorough quotes that would enable profit goals to be met. Though they were bright people, there was a definite disconnect with what was needed.

The root cause? The job ad was inadvertently attracting candidates whose natural abilities didn't match the demands of the role.

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The most recent batch of resumes was reviewed to see if there was a viable candidate. And one did indeed stick out. Its clean format, word choice, and structure suggested someone with strategic thinking, analytical ability, and a capacity for sales.

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But during the interview, something didn't add up.

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"Did you work with a career coach to help build this resume?" we asked.
"No. I did it all by myself."

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Later in the interview, Thrive Purpose gently probed further:

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"I see you've used a very specific methodology for how you structured your bullet points. How did you come to develop that?" we asked.
"Uh—"
"And your word choices are uncommon."

Silence.

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 Offering the candidate an opportunity to save face, we asked, "Did you use AI to help write this?"
"No, I just picked the words I thought sounded best," the candidate replied—promptly, but without conviction.

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But based on discrepancies between the candidate's responses and their resume, we suspected otherwise. From additional context, it appeared the resume was likely crafted by the candidate's father—someone with a vastly different cognitive style, known for doing things for their children rather than supporting their growth. Unfortunately, this well-intended help misrepresented the candidate's actual strengths.

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The Insight
It's not uncommon for resumes to be enhanced by others—parents, mentors, AI, or professionals—creating a misleading impression of a candidate's natural abilities. Without deeper inquiry, these misalignments often go undetected until performance issues arise.

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The Result
Though it was disappointing to return to the drawing board, the president saw the bigger picture:
"We dodged a bullet. Can you imagine if we had hired him? I don't even want to think about it."

By leveraging cognitive insights during hiring, you can develop a job ad that creates a far more curated pool from which to choose, and you can ensure people's abilities match the needs of the role- preventing costly hiring cycles and building a more aligned, sustainable path forward.