A resume can tell you where a candidate has been, but not where they can go.

Any two applicants might have nearly identical career histories on paper, but one will step up with initiative, solve problems you didn’t even see coming, and grow into a leadership role. The other might check every box but fail to keep the ship afloat if you’re gone for an extended period. If you’re a business owner, you don’t just want someone who has done the work before, you want the person who can also do it better tomorrow.

That’s why at Wise Scout, we don’t stop at resumes. Our hiring process is built to measure potential: qualities like initiative, attention to detail, adaptability, and problem-solving that don’t just show up so easily in bullet points.

Over the years, we’ve refined a system that combines transparency, assessments, automations, and short video submissions. Together, these steps allow us to identify the candidates who can actually thrive in your company. 

Let’s walk you through what that looks like.

It all starts with a great job post

Candidates are only as good as the job description that attracted them in the first place. While a vague job post casts a wide net, it usually catches a lot of the wrong fish. On the other hand, a thoughtful, well-structured job post sets the tone for everything that comes next.

We’ve seen this firsthand: when a business owner is frustrated about a bad hire, the problem can be traced back to that very first link in the chain. The job post was unclear, generic, or missing critical details. Candidates applied without knowing what success really looked like in the role, and in the end, everyone wasted time.

That’s why we write job posts with the added purpose of being the first filter for potential. A resume can’t tell you whether someone has read the job post carefully, but our job posts are designed to make that the very first test. They include:

• A hook: Why this role matters and what makes it meaningful.

• Culture fit: Who will thrive and who won’t. We’re upfront that if someone wants a mindless, repetitive job, this isn’t the place.

• Traits vs. skills: We separate personality traits (organized, self-directed, feedback-driven) from technical skills (e.g., QuickBooks, Excel, Shopify). This helps candidates self-assess.

• Transparency: Salary ranges, benefits, long-term growth paths. No guesswork.

• Application instructions: Specific steps that require attention to detail, like sending a message with a custom subject line to weed out people who just skim or apply blindly.

The power of assessments and real data

Once the right people click on the job post, the next step is to go deeper than work history. Here, we use assessments to measure how candidates actually think and work.

We start by identifying the traits that matter most for the role. For example, if we’re hiring a bookkeeper, the list might include:

• High general intelligence

• Intermediate computer and internet literacy

• Experience with bookkeeping tools

• Proficiency with spreadsheets

From there, we pair these traits with assessments. Depending on the role, we use a combination of one general aptitude test, a skills test, a language proficiency test, and a custom role-specific test.

Testing levels the playing field. A resume might show five years of accounting experience, but it doesn’t prove whether someone can solve a new problem quickly. Another candidate might lack big-name companies on their CV but score in the 90th percentile on cognitive ability. That’s the kind of hidden potential that resumes alone miss, and where assessments shine.

Machine-like efficiency, human judgment

We regularly manage hundreds of applicants without drowning in data through automations. The assessment platforms we use automatically score candidates, generate reports, and sort results into a central dashboard. With the right setup, we can see at a glance who’s doing well and who’s falling short.

But here’s a very important detail: we don’t let the software make the decision for us—automations are just the engine. We still apply human judgment by setting cutoff scores based on the traits that matter most. For some roles, that’s cognitive aptitude. For others, it might be mastery of software. After a few cutoffs, we reduce the pool to the top 15–20 candidates or those who scored in the 85th percentile or higher.

Then we add our own experience questionnaire, scored in-house, to gauge how closely their background aligns with our tools and processes. This gives us a holistic view with standardized test performance plus relevant experience.

By the time we finish this stage, we’ve narrowed hundreds of applicants to a carefully selected shortlist of around 10 people. All of them could likely do the job, but we’re looking for more than competence. Here’s where we go beyond both resumes and test scores.

Spotting initiative and personality through video

Once we have our shortlist, we ask candidates for a short, 3–10 minute video submission. At first, we were hesitant to add this step (would it be too much to ask?) But we quickly learned that serious candidates welcome the opportunity. The video gives them a chance to introduce themselves on their own terms. And for us, it’s the closest thing to meeting them before an interview.

A video reveals qualities no resume can capture:

• How they communicate ideas

• How they present themselves without a script

• Whether they’ve prepared thoughtfully

• Even details like their working environment and setup

Plus it’s efficient. Instead of scheduling 10 preliminary interviews across time zones, we review the videos on our own schedule. Everyone answers the same set of questions, so we can compare responses side by side.

We sometimes find that someone who wasn’t the top scorer on paper shines in the video. They articulate clearly, show genuine enthusiasm, demonstrate creative thinking, etc. Those are the candidates who are likely to rise to the top as finalists.

The final interview confirms the fit

By the time we get to the live interview, we already know the candidate is technically capable. We’ve seen their test scores, their background, and how they communicate on video. That means the live interview can focus on what really matters:

• How they think about challenges.

• How they respond to feedback.

• How they see themselves growing in the role.

• Whether they align with your company’s values.

Instead of being one of the filters, the interview becomes the final confirmation. It’s no longer about “Can they do the job?” but “Do we want to work with this person every day?”

Why this matters for business owners

Hiring is one of the most expensive mistakes you can make. A bad hire doesn’t just cost salary, it also costs time, training, morale, and sometimes even clients. And bad hires often happen when companies rely too heavily on resumes. While these documents show history, they don’t show potential.

Our process fixes that by:

1. Attracting the right people from the start with transparent, thoughtful job posts.

2. Measuring real skills and traits through assessments, not just self-reported experience.

3. Filtering efficiently but fairly using automations plus human judgment.

4. Spotting initiative and personality through video submissions before the interview.

5. Confirming cultural and long-term fit in a focused final interview.

This way, you don’t just end up with someone who has the right keywords on their CV. You end up with someone who can adapt, contribute meaningfully to your business, and grow alongside it.

Beyond paper: a new way to hire

Resumes still have their place. They’re a useful snapshot of someone’s background. However, if you want to build a strong team with people who are stars in their role, take initiative, solve problems, and grow with you, you need to go further.

At Wise Scout, our hiring pipeline combines structured job posts, smart assessments, efficient automations, and personality-driven video submissions. With this information, we project forward without too much reliance on an individual’s employment history. 

As a result, business owners fill roles with people who help drive their companies forward.

If you’re curious about the exact steps behind this system, we’ve broken it down in detail in Our Step-by-Step Process for Hiring Offshore Rockstars.