Over the years in HR, I have sat across the table from a lot of candidates, and those conversations have gradually changed the way I look at interviews.
Earlier, like many HR professionals, I paid close attention to qualifications, experience, career progression and technical knowledge. These things still matter.
But over time, I realized something much more important:
A CV can tell me what someone has done. An interview often tells me who they are.
And sometimes, those two stories are very different.
I have interviewed candidates with excellent qualifications, impressive companies on their CV and years of experience who struggled to convince me that they were ready for the next step.
I have also met candidates whose CVs looked quite ordinary, but within a few minutes of conversation, I could see curiosity, ownership, humility and a genuine desire to grow.
Those experiences have changed what I look for beyond the CV.
The First Thing I Notice Is Attitude
Skills can be developed.
Knowledge can be acquired.
But attitude is often much harder to change.
One of the things I notice quite quickly during an interview is how a candidate talks about their previous experiences.
Do they blame their previous manager for everything that went wrong?
Do they speak respectfully about people they no longer work with?
When they describe a difficult situation, do they only explain what others did wrong—or do they talk about what they could have done differently?
I remember interviewing two candidates for similar positions.
Both had comparable experience.
One spent most of the interview explaining why previous managers had failed to recognize his talent. The other spoke about a difficult manager as an experience that taught her how to communicate differently and manage expectations.
That difference stayed with me.
The second candidate did not necessarily have a better career history.
But she demonstrated something valuable: self-awareness.
And in the workplace, self-awareness can take someone a long way.
I Look for Ownership
Another thing I listen for very carefully is the word “I.”
Not because I want people to take all the credit, but because I want to understand what they personally contributed.
When I ask, “Tell me about a difficult project you handled,” some candidates immediately say, “We did this, we did that, my team achieved this.”
That is fine and team work important.
But then I ask:
“What exactly did you do?”
Sometimes the answer becomes surprisingly unclear.
High-potential professionals are usually able to explain their contribution clearly. They can tell me what they decided, what they improved, what went wrong and what they learned.
Ownership does not mean saying, “Everything was because of me.”
It means being comfortable saying:
“This was my responsibility, and I was accountable for the result.”
That mindset matters enormously when hiring future leaders.
I Am More Interested in Learning Agility Than Knowing Everything
One of the biggest red flags for me is a candidate who believes they already know everything.
I remember meeting a technically strong candidate who answered almost every question with complete confidence. At first, I was impressed.
Then I asked a simple question:
“Tell me something you learned recently that changed the way you work.”
There was a long pause.
The candidate struggled to answer.
That moment told me more than the previous twenty minutes.
Experience is valuable, but experience without curiosity can become a limitation.
On the other hand, I have interviewed candidates who openly said, “I have not done that before, but I would like to learn.”
I find that answer much more encouraging.
You cannot teach someone everything.
But if someone has curiosity, humility and learning agility, they can often build the capability they do not have today.
Communication Is More Than Speaking Well
Good communication is often misunderstood as being fluent, confident or articulate.
For me, it is much more than that.
I look at whether a candidate actually listens.
Do they answer the question I asked, or the question they prepared for?
Do they pause and think before answering?
Can they explain a complicated situation simply?
Can they disagree respectfully?
And perhaps most importantly, can they have a real conversation rather than simply give polished interview answers?
Some candidates arrive with perfectly memorized responses.
After two or three questions, you can almost predict the next sentence.
But interviews are not examinations.
I am not looking for the person who can give me the most perfect answer.
I am looking for someone with whom I can imagine having a difficult conversation.
Cultural Fit Does Not Mean “Someone Like Us”
This is another area where I believe HR needs to be careful.
Cultural fit should never mean hiring people who think exactly like us.
For me, it is more about values and behavior.
Will this person respect others?
Can they work with different personalities?
Will they accept feedback?
Can they remain professional under pressure?
Will they contribute positively to the team?
I would rather hire someone who brings a different perspective but respects the organization’s values than someone who seems comfortable simply because they agree with everyone.
Diversity of thought can be a strength.
And Then There Is the Question I Ask Myself
After an interview, I often ask myself one question:
“Would I trust this person with a difficult situation?”
Organizations do not hire CVs. We hire people.
And people bring their attitude, habits, ego, curiosity, communication style and values to work every day.
My Takeaway
After years of interviewing and selecting people, I have become less interested in finding the candidate who looks perfect on paper.
I am much more interested in finding someone who is curious enough to learn, humble enough to accept feedback, responsible enough to own mistakes, confident enough to speak up and mature enough to work well with others.
A strong CV may get someone into the interview room.
But what happens in that room often tells you whether they are ready for the journey ahead.
So, the next time you interview someone, look beyond what they know today. Ask yourself what they are capable of becoming tomorrow.
That is where I believe the real talent often hides.
