Personal courtesy over professional experience

(SeaPRwire) –   While many job-seekers assume that an elite education or 500 background is the key to getting hired, the way they interact with staff upon arrival might be more influential than their resume.

Steven Bartlett, the creator and host of The Diary of a CEO podcast, chose to hire a candidate with an almost empty CV for that exact reason.

“I recruited someone whose resume was only two lines long. She had no prior experience,” Bartlett shared in a LinkedIn post earlier this year. “A major reason I offered her the role was that she thanked the security guard by name when entering the building.”

She continued to impress throughout the recruitment process with small gestures of modesty, and it was those displays of character, rather than her background, that won her the job.

“When she encountered something she didn’t know during the interview, she admitted it but explained how she would find the answer,” Bartlett noted. “Following the interview, she taught herself the necessary information and emailed the solution to me within a few hours.”

The founder’s decision to hire the inexperienced candidate quickly proved successful; Bartlett noted that after six months, she has become one of his most valuable employees. “Fifteen years of recruiting has shown me that finding the right character and cultural fit is SIGNIFICANTLY more difficult than finding specific skills, experience, or education.”

Bartlett’s approach to hiring is encouraging for entry-level Gen Z workers who are starting their professional journeys without extensive resumes.

What are the hiring strategies of other prominent CEOs?

While the traditional standard has been to favor candidates with the most impressive degrees and credentials, many leaders are now moving away from that norm to seek out individuals with strong work ethics, integrity, and interpersonal skills.

David Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, does not prioritize candidates with the highest IQs. Instead, he looks for those who are “smart enough” to work at the $267 billion institution, focusing more on “human elements” such as resilience, determination, and the ability to connect with others. Solomon also emphasized that experience is a “hugely underrated” factor and a major differentiator for the company. While a degree from Harvard is impressive, it isn’t enough on its own to succeed at the banking giant.

“You need to be intelligent, but the most brilliant person in the world won’t succeed at Goldman Sachs without a complete set of other attributes,” Solomon explained on Sequoia Capital’s Long Strange Trip podcast last year. “Experience is something that cannot be taught.”

Danny Meyer, the founder of the international chain Shake Shack, shares a similar view. To maintain the company’s 510 locations, he prioritizes a high “hospitality quotient” (HQ) over IQ. He looks for six specific positive traits in potential employees: integrity, optimism, intellectual curiosity, work ethic, empathy, and self-awareness.

“I don’t really care what your IQ is,” Meyer told ’s Jason Del Rey at the Qualtrics X4 Summit last year. “IQ represents a person’s capacity for learning, whereas HQ represents how much joy someone finds in making others happy.”

Even Warren Buffett, the former CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has refined his recruitment philosophy over time. After leading the $1 trillion company for over fifty years, Buffett has seen many individuals without prestigious degrees achieve great success. When discussing his successor last year, the legendary investor made it clear that he would not be prioritizing educational backgrounds.

“I never check where a candidate went to school. Never!” Buffett stated in his 2025 letter to shareholders. “While some great managers attended famous universities, many others, like Pete, have succeeded after attending less prestigious schools or not finishing their education at all.”

A version of this article was originally published on .com on January 8, 2026.