Resumes are important, but they don't reveal who a person really is. If employers want to know
This is the philosophy that helps Jim Rowley, CEO of gym franchise Crunch Fitness, make
"The first thing [when hiring at] any level is not the resume, it's the DNA," he says. "The truth is not always what it seems. You can have outstanding resumes with exceptional academic performance from great schools and everything else. That is not a strong indication for me. Past experience, even in a related field, is not necessarily a qualifier. I'm interested in the person's ideology — how they think and what they think about."
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From how someone was raised to what position they played on a team to whether they got into the college of their choice, Rowley is looking for the mindset and qualities that will make them a good fit for his workplace's culture and business goals. From their answers, he can derive things such as they are a team player, a leader, determined, loyal, self disciplined — or not.
"The beauty of asking someone about themselves is that they will tell you everything," he says. "I try to really understand why this person is seeking this job. Do they have the qualifications? Are they going to meld well with my team? Are they going to meld well with my culture? Are they going to look for opportunities to cut corners, or are they the type of person who is breaking down barriers and so forth? And conversation beyond the resume is a strong indicator of that."
After identifying whether or not a candidate has the characteristics to achieve things on a broad scale, Rowley goes back to their resume and professional experience to build on what he's learned. He looks for things like leadership strategy, strong execution of projects and tasks, examples of innovation, and anything else that would make them a good fit.
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When it comes to senior executive roles, Rowley invests even more time. A lot more. Many of these roles involve dealing with both customers and employees, so from sharing meals to traveling with candidates to watching them engage with teams and customers, he uses every opportunity to see how someone will likely perform.
"When I hired our president, I spent 40 hours with him," Rowley says. "Breakfast, lunch, dinner, in the car [going] from site to site to site — just more of an evaluation of what he is like when he gets in front of people. [I did] the same thing with my chief operating officer, because you can see a display of interaction, or you can see an authentic interaction if you're keen."
Rowley notes that people who learn about his process are often surprised, commenting on the amount of time and effort he spends. In his experience, especially when it comes to leadership, it's well worth it.
"Yes, it's very expensive to recruit, hire, train and develop, but it's more expensive to hire the wrong person, and somebody could really screw up your business," he says. "I take it very personally. When I make that selection, it's not like they were hired by Crunch, they were hired by [me]."
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Observing that many people are hired to simply fill a void in the company, with the mentality that they can be taught the skills they'll need to be successful, Rowley finds greater success when he flips this approach around.
"I look for what this person is going to teach us [and] what they are going to bring to this opportunity," he says. "Because you can't have so much hubris that you think you're going to teach them everything. Is this person going to be a good motivator? Are they going to be inspirational? Are the team members going to be excited by this person?"
By investing on the front end of an employee's journey with Crunch, Rowley sets the tone for an involved, supportive, communicative relationship for the duration of their experience. As much as he expects from his employees, he applies those expectations and more to his own performance. Extending a job offer is the beginning of his commitment as well, he says.
"The accountability shifts when they accept the job," he explains. "There's a personal responsibility now for me to ensure that I've built a company that has the cultural alignment, that creates the job opportunities, the income opportunities, the opportunity to grow from a responsibility standpoint. It shifts back to me."
