Looks Good on Paper
Looks Good on Paper flips hiring on its head. Hosted by Andrew Wood and Anita Chauhan, we dive into why CVs and "perfect fits" are overrated. Through fun, insightful conversations with industry experts, we explore how skills, potential, and real experience should be the focus of hiring... not what looks good on paper.
Quick, candid, and packed with actionable insights, we’re here to rewrite the rules of hiring, one episode at a time.
Looks Good on Paper
The Skills-Based Economy Arrived Five Years Ago
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The skills-based economy arrived five years ago. Hiring still hasn't caught up. Most companies understand the concept of hiring for skills over job titles, but they hit a wall when it comes to translating that into an actual hiring process. The result: job postings still screen for titles, years of experience, and credentials that don't predict whether someone can do the work.
Susan Sutherland has spent her career at the intersection of brand and growth, with a particular edge in employer brand. At Intact, one of Canada's largest insurers, she led enterprise employer brand strategy end to end. Now she works with startups. And her perspective is sharp: she's a marketer who fell into employer branding, meaning she sees the hiring process the way a customer would see a broken sales funnel.
In this episode, Susan makes the case for portfolios over resumes, explains why years of experience cuts both ways as a filter, and calls out the internal mobility policies that quietly drive top talent out the door.
What you'll learn:
→ Why the skills-based hiring mindset stalls at the point of actual screening
→ How years of experience bias works against candidates in both directions
→ Why internal mobility policies with time-in-role minimums lose top talent
→ The case for portfolios as the replacement for resume bullet points
GUEST
Susan Sutherland — Employer Brand & Growth Marketing Strategist
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-sutherland/
YOUR HOST
Anita Chauhan — Fractional CMO & Host, Looks Good on Paper
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/anitachauhan/
LISTEN & FOLLOW
Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/looks-good-on-paper/id1625835562
All episodes → https://looksgoodonpaper.buzzsprout.com/
WATCH ON YOUTUBE
https://youtu.be/ZU78NbLXQe0
POWERED BY WILLO
Hire humans, not resumes → https://www.willo.video/looks-good-on-paper
CONNECT WITH US
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/waboratories/
If this episode changed how you think about hiring, share it with one person who needs to hear it. And subscribe — we're rewriting the rules of hiring, one episode at a time.
The skills-based economy arrived five years ago, but most hiring processes haven't caught up. Companies understand the concept of hiring for skills over job titles, but default to screening for credentials, years of experience, and pattern-matched career paths.
Years of experience bias cuts both ways: overqualified candidates get screened out for being "too senior," while candidates with fewer years but faster learning environments get dismissed for lacking tenure. Portfolios that show real work are emerging as a stronger signal than resume bullet points in an era where AI can generate a flawless CV in seconds.
Show Resources
- Willo: willo.video - The most cost-effective way to screen candidates at scale. Interview candidates anywhere & at any time
- CV Free Toolkit: cvfree.me/join - Break up with the CV and get everything you need to modernize your hiring approach with skills-based assessments
- Anita Chauhan: linkedin.com/in/anitachauhan - Connect with the host
