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The End of Resume-Based Hiring: How AI Can Help Us Value What Really Matters
Charlene Li
April 21, 2025
I'm calling BS on applicant tracking systems.
Every Applicant Tracking System (ATS) works essentially the same way: they parse resumes for keywords, education credentials, and specific phrases matching job descriptions. That means they miss the soft skills. The intangibles. The things that determine success.
And yet, it's become the default method because it’s easy—it filters, scans, and compares candidates side by side.
But it’s looking for the wrong stuff.
The Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills Dilemma
When I work with organizations struggling to evolve, I often discover a fundamental problem: they're measuring the wrong things when selecting talent.
The Marines provide a perfect example. For decades, they determined promotions primarily based on physical performance metrics. The reasoning seemed sound: shouldn't the most physically capable individuals lead others into battle?
But what they uncovered was troubling. By focusing almost exclusively on physical prowess, they were elevating excellent individual performers into leadership positions without properly assessing their ability to lead others. The result? A leadership crisis stemming directly from optimizing for the wrong metrics.
Eventually, they realized they'd be better off promoting people with strong soft skills like resilience, grit, and empathy—even if they weren't the top physical performers. In leadership positions, these qualities matter more than the ability to do one more pull-up.
The same principle applies to nearly every hiring scenario: we often test for and filter based on the easily measurable skills rather than the ones that drive success.
The Culture Fit Problem
Here's another problematic aspect of traditional hiring: when we rely on resumes and conventional interviews, we often unconsciously select for "culture fit" rather than "culture add."
Look at the data on women in tech. Despite significant efforts from 2014 to 2022, the numbers have remained virtually unchanged. Even more concerning, the percentage of women in tech management positions declined during this period.
Why such persistent stagnation? It's not due to any capability gap. The real issue is that organizations have been optimizing for culture fit, seeking women who can adapt to existing environments, rather than culture add, which would require transforming those environments to be more inclusive.
This distinction matters tremendously. When you look for culture fit, you inevitably create homogeneity and stagnation. But when you prioritize culture add, you welcome diverse perspectives that drive innovation and build stronger, more adaptable organizations.
The lesson is clear: if we want different outcomes, we need to measure and value different things—not just who can fit into our existing systems, but who can help us build better ones.
A Strengths-Based Approach
At Altimeter Group, the previous company I founded, we took a radically different approach to hiring and team development: StrengthsFinder, a talent-assessment tool that identifies natural abilities.
Instead of fixating on weaknesses and asking people to improve what they were naturally not good at, we focused on amplifying strengths. We'd prominently display our top five strengths on name tags, in email signatures, and team profiles.
This experience transformed how we assembled teams. During one hiring interview, a candidate told me, "I would love to work with you, but you should know my strength is being a Deliberator."
I knew exactly what he meant. He explained, "Since you're an Activator, you'll need to give me space to think through problems and then return with solutions." I readily agreed because his deliberative approach would perfectly balance my quick-action tendencies.
These complementary strengths create the dynamic teams that can truly drive transformation. When we recognize and value different working styles, we build resilient organizations capable of navigating change.
This strengths-based approach meant we weren't just scanning resumes for keywords when hiring. We were looking for the unique combination of talents each person could bring, many of which never appear on paper.
The Path Forward
As we think about moving beyond resume-based hiring, we must consider what drives success in our organizations. Is it the ability to cram keywords onto a resume, or is it the unique strengths and perspectives each person brings to the table?
Fortunately, AI tools are emerging that can help us move beyond the limitations of traditional resume screening. There's a company called Harver that uses neuroscience-based automated assessments for hiring. Another company, Gloat.com, has developed talent marketplaces that consider entire employee profiles across an organization.
These tools make it possible to look at what I call "person skills" or "life skills" that become extremely important for team success but are invisible on conventional resumes.
When done right, AI-based assessment tools can lead to a more diverse and inclusive workforce—not by ignoring qualifications, but by recognizing a broader spectrum of what "qualified" means.
Talent is equally distributed, but opportunities are not. When we rely on flawed hiring systems prioritizing keywords over capabilities, we perpetuate inequality while depriving our organizations of the diverse perspectives and complementary strengths driving innovation.
It's time for a hiring revolution that values who people are, not just what their resumes say. Because the success of your organization doesn't depend on how many keywords your employees can cram onto a page—it depends on the unique strengths, perspectives, and capabilities they bring to work every day.
If this information was helpful, there’s plenty more!
“Using AI as a Leader: A Practical Guide for Executives” on Thursday, April 24 at 11am PT/2pm ET. In this hour-long session, I’ll share the CliffsNotes version of what you actually need to know about leveraging AI as a leader.
This webinar cuts through the noise and equips you with:
👉A foundational understanding of predictive, generative, and agentic AI
👉A framework to connect AI initiatives to your business strategy
👉Key questions every leader should ask to focus their AI efforts
👉The confidence to lead AI conversations across your organization
Whether you’re just getting started or looking to sharpen your direction, you’ll walk away with practical frameworks and a clear roadmap for making AI work for your business.
📌 Sign up for updates and early access to my upcoming book, co-authored with Katia Walsh, which is all about creating a winning AI strategy.
📌 Take my latest LinkedIn Courses!
→ “The Manager's Guide to Integrating and Managing AI Agents." In this brand-new course, I offer practical approaches for effectively managing both AI agents and human employees as a unified team. Ready to lead with confidence? Get the course here.
→ "Transforming Business with AI Agents: Autonomous Efficiency and Decision-Making." I provide a comprehensive introduction to autonomous AI agents, explaining how they differ from other AI products, boost productivity, and enhance decision-making while addressing key ethical considerations. Explore the course here.
→ You can also review the slides and recordings of two of my all-time favorites, “Unlocking The Power of Generative AI,” and “Developing a Winning Generative AI Strategy for Competitive Advantage.”
Your Turn
What's the most effective hiring process you've experienced that looked beyond the resume? Have you seen strengths-based approaches work in practice?
My Upcoming Appearances
May 6: PlanSource Eclipse, Keynote, Orlando, FL
May 16: Private Executive Retreat, Portland, OR
Jun 10: Betterworks Webinar, Virtual
Aug 29: Indy SHRM, Indianapolis, IN
Charlene Li
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