What CVs Hide: How Founders Hire For What Really Matters With CORE

Introduction: The unseen cost of reading the page, not the person

A CV is a snapshot. It lists dates, duties, and claims that look neat on paper. What it does not show is how a person behaves when plans break, how fast they learn in new terrain, or how they treat people when pressure rises. Founders and owners feel the cost of that gap. A poor hire drains time, pulls energy from the team, and slows delivery. The risk sits in the hidden traits that make work easier or harder every single week.

Most selection systems try to solve this with more screening. More keywords. More brand names. More tests that are easy to score and hard to trust. There is a better way. Read past the page and focus on evidence of Character, Ownership, Resilience, and Empathy. That is CORE. It is simple, practical, and it maps to what drives performance in real work.

This article gives you a clear method to put CORE into your hiring within days. It also shows why certain steps work, and where common shortcuts mislead. The aim is not to build a heavy process. The aim is to help you see the person who will add value in your context, not the one who only looks right on paper.

Why CVs hide value

A CV compresses a career into headings and bullet points. It rewards the ability to write well about oneself. It hides how work gets done. It hides how a person responds to hard trade offs. It hides how they treat clients and peers when things go wrong. This is not a moral fault of the CV. It is a format limit. The risk grows when we let format dictate fit.

Bias is another challenge. Research has shown that subtle details on a CV, such as a name, a photo, or formatting choices, can influence decisions in ways unrelated to ability. Studies in multiple markets have found that identical applications can receive different responses based on these surface cues. The lesson is clear: small signals can distort judgement long before a person’s actual competence is tested.

Photos add another layer. Some regions discourage photos to reduce bias. Others treat a headshot as normal. Studies show photos can shape callback rates for reasons unrelated to work, including attractiveness effects. That is more risk that sits far from the work itself.

Finally, interviews that have no structure often feel insightful but predict little. The data is clear. Unstructured interviews are weak predictors of job performance. Structured interviews and work sample tests are stronger and fairer. We will use that here because CORE is not a slogan. It is a set of traits you can observe and score with simple tools.

The CORE framework

CORE stands for Character, Ownership, Resilience, Empathy. It is a simple filter for traits that matter across roles. It is also a cue to build a fair process. You do not need a big team or heavy software. You need clear questions, short tasks, and a habit of scoring the same way every time.

• Character: values that guide choices when no one is watching

• Ownership: the bias to take responsibility and move work forward

• Resilience: the capacity to recover fast and keep standards under strain

• Empathy: the ability to read people and context, then act with care and clarity

These four traits show up in the research under different labels. Conscientiousness and integrity tests link to Character. Proactive personality maps to Ownership. Resilience sits inside psychological capital and relates to performance and well-being. Empathy sits inside effective leadership behaviours and improves team outcomes. We will keep the labels plain and the tools light.

What the evidence says, in short

• Work samples and structured interviews predict better. A century of data shows that giving people job-like tasks and assessing responses with set rubrics beats gut feel. Combining general problem solving with a work sample, or with an integrity measure, yields strong prediction of performance.

• Structured beats unstructured. When you ask every candidate the same questions, score them on the same scale, and anchor judgements to behaviour, accuracy improves and bias drops. Public bodies and large firms moved this way years ago for that reason.

• Situational judgement tests help for interpersonal work. Short scenario questions, with plausible options and a scoring key, add value, especially for teamwork and leadership.

• Resumes carry bias. Names and photos shift callbacks in ways unrelated to skill. Policies that reduce surface cues help, but the real gain comes from adding structured, job-relevant tests early.

Keep these points in mind as you put CORE in place.

How to measure CORE without heavy tools

This section gives you plug-and-play steps. Use them as a quick build. You can ship a first version this week.

Step 1: Define the work that proves value

List three pieces of real work the person will do in the first 60 days. Keep it concrete. For a customer manager, that might be: turn three vague client emails into a clear weekly plan, resolve a billing error without losing goodwill, write a two-paragraph note that calms a tense stakeholder. These items will anchor your tests and your interview.

Step 2: Build one work sample task

Give a short, job-like task that a solid performer can do in 30 to 60 minutes. Share context and constraints. Provide a scoring rubric with three or four criteria. Score independently, then discuss and agree. This is the strongest early filter you have.

Step 3: Run one structured interview

Ask the same five to seven questions for all candidates who pass the work sample. Use behaviour and situation prompts. Score each answer against a clear rubric. Record brief evidence for each score. This will double accuracy compared with an unstructured chat.

Step 4: Add a short situational judgement check

Use two or three scenarios tied to your context. Offer four responses ranging from poor to strong. Ask the candidate to pick and explain. Score with a simple key. This adds insight on judgement under social and time pressure.

Step 5: Reference check for Character and Ownership

Ask two ex-managers three questions each. Did they finish what they started. How did they handle a miss. Would you hire them again. Score answers against your rubric. Keep the calls short and focused.

Scoring CORE in practice

Below are plain tools you can paste into your hiring playbook. Each block includes sample prompts, what to look for, and a simple scoring guide.

Character

What to test
Do they act with honesty, care, and a sense of duty when trade offs hurt. Conscientiousness and integrity sit here and have long been tied to better performance across roles.

Prompts
Tell me about a time you found an error that no one else had seen. What did you do next.
Describe a moment when telling the truth cost you in the short term. How did you handle it.

Look for
Owning consequences without blame, speaking up early, choosing the harder right over the easier wrong.

Score
1 weak, vague story with blame or spin
2 partial ownership, limited impact
3 clear ownership, firm action, learning shared

Ownership

What to test
Do they spot gaps and move work forward without waiting. This links to proactive personality and taking charge behaviours that lift outcomes.

Prompts
Tell me about a time you took on work outside your job to fix a risk.
Describe a process you changed. What was the result.

Look for
Initiative tied to results, not noise. Evidence of planning, stakeholder buy in, and follow through.

Score
1 ideas with no action
2 action with weak result or poor alignment
3 action with measured result and clear learning

Resilience

What to test
Do they recover fast and keep quality when pressure rises. Resilience sits inside psychological capital, which links to performance, engagement, and lower burnout, and it can be developed.

Prompts
Share a time you missed a target. What did you change next.
Describe a period with high workload and scarce support. How did you cope.

Look for
Stable mood under strain, practical coping strategies, learning loop, honest read of limits.

Score
1 denial or blame
2 coping with little change in method
3 adaptive response with improved outcome

Empathy

What to test
Can they read people and context, then act with clarity and care. Empathic leadership behaviours link to stronger engagement and better collaboration.

Prompts
Tell me about a time you had to deliver hard news. What did you do before, during, and after.
Describe a conflict you helped resolve. How did both sides feel at the end.

Look for
Active listening, perspective taking, fair process, specific actions that show care for people and outcomes.

Score
1 vague, placating stories
2 some listening with weak outcome
3 clear steps that balance people and results

Two composite stories

The safe miss
A founder hires a senior account lead with a strong CV from a brand name. The interview is warm. There is no work sample, and the questions vary across candidates. Three months later, deadlines slip because the new lead waits for perfect briefs and avoids conflict with a key client. The team picks up the slack. A structured work task and a scenario on handling vague inputs would have exposed this risk in hours, not months.

The quiet win
A small manufacturer needs an ops supervisor. One candidate has lighter experience but scores high on Character and Ownership, nails a simple task on triaging late orders, and shows empathy in a conflict scenario. Six months later, on-time delivery improves and staff turnover drops. The CV did not predict it. The behaviour did. This is the point of CORE.

Bias, photos, and cultural norms

Practices differ across regions. Some markets discourage photos on CVs to reduce bias. Others treat a headshot as normal. The research is clear that photos can shift callbacks for reasons that have nothing to do with skill. If your market expects photos, you can still protect fairness by moving weight to structured tasks and interviews, and by using rubrics that anchor judgement to behaviour.

Name effects matter as well. Studies show that identical CVs can receive different callback rates based on perceived race signalled by the name. The fix is not to ignore context. The fix is to build steps that force equal evaluation on relevant work. Use the same tasks and questions. Score the same way. Review score patterns for drift.

Small team versus scaling

Small team, first ten hires
Keep it light. One work sample. One structured interview. Two references. Store rubrics in a simple sheet. You can get to a decision in a week. This is enough to see CORE without stalling the business.

Scaling to dozens of hires
Add a short online SJT for early screening. Train interviewers on the same question bank and scoring. Calibrate quarterly using a few past hires and their on-the-job outcomes. You will gain speed without losing accuracy.

Practical toolkit you can deploy this week

1. Job-like task template

• Context: one paragraph

• Inputs: the minimum files or data needed

• Output: one page or one short artefact

• Rubric: three criteria scored 1 to 3, with one line anchors per point

2. Interview question bank

• Five prompts mapped to CORE

• Behaviour and situation questions only

• One scoring sheet per candidate, with space for evidence

• Ten minute debrief between interviewers to align

3. Mini SJT

• Two scenarios from your last year of real issues

• Four answer options from poor to strong

• One key with brief rationales

4. Reference script

• Three questions, three minutes each

• Score 1 to 3, ask for one concrete example per score

5. Quality check

• Blind review of two random candidates per month

• Look for consistent scoring and bias patterns

• Adjust questions or rubrics where needed

These steps reflect the best of what research says works. Work samples and structured interviews are strong predictors. SJTs add value for interpersonal judgement. Uniform scoring reduces bias and improves consistency.

What founders tend to over-index on

Brand names and school names feel like shortcuts. Years in seat can look safe. A smooth interview can charm. These cues are easy to read and often wrong. Meta-analyses tie consistent behaviours and job-like tasks more closely to performance than unstructured chats. Focus on what the person will actually do, not what the page suggests they could do.

The hospitality and retail lens

If you have worked in hospitality or retail, you have seen how exposure can bias judgement. Spend all day with premium products and you forget how most buyers choose. The same thing happens in hiring. If you sit with your own standards for too long, you start to believe only one profile can do the job. CORE forces you back to essentials. Can this person act with Character. Will they take Ownership. Do they show Resilience. Can they work with Empathy. The rest supports these four.

A shy person can have strong Character. A smooth talker can lack it. You will not learn this from a CV. You will learn it from tasks, structured questions, and scored evidence.

The future of CVs

CVs will stay. They are easy to store, easy to send, and hard to replace. The change is not to remove the CV. The change is to move your weight to what predicts real work and to reduce the sway of surface cues. That is what the strongest hiring systems already do. They start with job-like tasks, they use structured questions that tie to outcomes, and they train people to score evidence, not impressions.

The CORE checklist

Use this as a page you can print and keep near your desk.

Character

• One prompt about honesty under pressure

• One prompt about quality when unseen

• Reference check with a direct manager

• Score on a 1 to 3 scale with anchors

Ownership

• Work sample with incomplete inputs

• Prompt about fixing a broken process

• Evidence of planning and follow through

• Score on a 1 to 3 scale with anchors

Resilience

• Scenario about setbacks and recovery

• Prompt about workload spikes

• Look for adaptive change, not martyrdom

• Score on a 1 to 3 scale with anchors

Empathy

• Scenario about conflict and care

• Prompt about delivering tough news

• Look for listening, perspective taking, and action

• Score on a 1 to 3 scale with anchors

Frequently asked points

Can we do this without adding time
Yes. A 45 minute work sample filters more accurately than two extra interviews. One structured interview can replace three unstructured chats.

What if the market expects a photo on the CV
Keep the photo if you must for local norms. Shift weight to tasks and structured scoring. Make sure your decision is anchored to behaviour, not the image.

What about technical roles
Still use CORE. Add a technical work sample with a clear rubric. Add pair-work to test empathy and ownership in real time. Many firms already do this because it works.

Closing: Hire for what endures

Skills shift. Tools change. Markets move fast. The traits that help people learn, own outcomes, recover from knocks, and care for others hold steady. That is why CORE works. It is not another buzzword set. It is a simple way to see what the CV hides and to act with more fairness and more accuracy.

If you try one thing this week, write one job-like task and one structured interview for your next role. Score them with a clear rubric. You will feel the difference in the quality of the decision.

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