What hiring managers really look for when interviewing candidates

You’ve probably had a friend tell you this about their job interview with a hiring manager, or had this thought yourself after an interview: “I really don’t know what they want.”

Some variations include: “I don’t think they know what they want” and “I wish I knew what they want.”

Of course, the answer varies. But if you had to sum up what managers look for during job interviews, a good explanation might be the following: They want someone they could envision working at the organization — someone who has succeeded in a situation similar to the one their company is experiencing now.

Here's a closer look at exactly what managers value most during interviews, and how recruiters can better identify those qualities from the start when sourcing candidates.

They’ve succeeded in a similar context

The manager isn’t necessarily looking for specific skills, though those remain important. Nor are they always seeking experience performing exactly the same role currently open. Instead, managers often prioritize finding a candidate who has thrived in similar organizational circumstances or challenges.

This might involve, for example:

• The size of an organization previously worked in, such as a Fortune 500.
• The developmental stage of the organization, like navigating a very fast-growing startup or stabilizing a company during tough financial times.
• Specific business contexts, such as working during mergers, acquisitions, or in unionized environments.

Hiring managers are keenly interested in adaptability, clear communication, and critical thinking. They often assess whether a candidate can quickly acclimate to their team and contribute effectively from day one. Fast Company’s survey similarly emphasizes adaptability, noting that 91% of hiring managers prioritize adaptability and resilience above traditional qualifications like college degrees or specific job titles.

These nuanced qualities — adaptability, resilience, critical thinking — are often missing from keyword searches on LinkedIn or within applicant tracking systems (ATS) and candidate relationship management systems (CRM). Not everyone explicitly writes on their resume, "successfully managed a company through a difficult merger," even though that experience could make them an ideal candidate.

Moreover, recruiters and hiring managers don’t always intuitively know the right questions to ask to uncover these essential insights about candidates.

Unlocking a deeper level of candidate insight

What’s listed on a resume or LinkedIn profile, even when detailed, is only a small snapshot of a person’s full career potential. Most talent decisions unfortunately focus on limited dimensions, often overvaluing job titles, previous employers, or educational institutions.

Findem’s 3D data approaches evaluation differently, layering contextual insights from a candidate's previous experiences with company data over time. The company's Talent Data Cloud continuously gathers data from 100,000 extensive and diverse sources, including:

• Profiles & Contact Data: Sources like LinkedIn, GitHub, Stack Overflow, ResearchGate, and personal websites.
• Census Data: Information from the U.S. Census Bureau to contextualize candidate demographics.
• Company Data: Information from over 400 million company funding announcements, IPO details, business models of 8 million-plus companies, and aggregated company and product categories.
• Verified Skills: Publicly available records from over 300 million patents, publications, open datasets, machine learning projects, and 200 million-plus open-source contributions.
• ATS Data: Candidate profile information pulled from your existing ATS, such as Greenhouse, SmartRecruiters, Jobvite, Lever, and Workday.

By synthesizing this expansive dataset, Findem reveals deeper insights about candidates: Has the candidate successfully navigated challenges similar to ours? Are they equipped to handle the specific obstacles we're facing?

What's the impact on recruiters?

Let’s be honest — recruiters sometimes struggle to deeply understand the nuances of the industries they're hiring for, especially if they haven't personally worked in those fields. Findem bridges this gap, elevating the role of recruiters and helping them align with hiring managers from the start. Recruiters can quickly identify candidates who are strong matches by providing not only context-rich candidate profiles but also tailored interview questions and personalized pitches.

Imagine two scenarios:

• Recruiter A posted a job last night and woke up to 900 applications. Despite limited industry experience, they quickly pinpoint the best candidates using Findem’s AI-powered contextual insights.
• Recruiter B also posted a job and received the same number of applications. Even though they know the industry well, they must manually sift through each resume to find the right fit.

Clearly, Recruiter A saves considerable time and gains greater confidence in their candidate shortlist. Furthermore, this targeted approach often results in higher candidate response rates since Recruiter A prioritizes engaging warm, pre-qualified candidates.

Start sourcing candidates that managers truly want to interview

Managers reviewing resumes and profiles invariably wonder, “Could this person succeed here? Can I picture them thriving in our environment based on past experiences?” According to Forbes, beyond technical qualifications, hiring managers are specifically looking for resilience, leadership potential, strong interpersonal skills, and a proven ability to overcome obstacles.

Traditional platforms often fail to surface these nuanced yet critical candidate traits, presenting instead a sea of resumes filled with generic buzzwords like “passionate,” “hard-working,” and “team player.” Fortunately, Findem’s Talent Data Cloud leverages advanced AI to offer a multi-dimensional view of each candidate, capturing the real, contextual success factors and attributes hiring managers genuinely care about.

Ready to see how Findem can transform your hiring process? Request a demo with our team and discover the difference.