Unearthing Potential, Beyond The Resume

Joanne Lockwood is joined by Sara Dalsfelt, Chief Marketing Officer at Adway, to unpack why traditional CV-led recruitment can be a poor proxy for readiness, transferable skills, and future potential. Sara argues that over-reliance on resumes and cover letters bakes bias into hiring and encourages employers to exclude early, rather than designing processes that actively include.

The conversation explores how talent attraction can be rethought as a distribution and candidate-experience challenge, using social media to reach passive candidates with sequenced, authentic storytelling. Sara shares practical ideas for opening the funnel to broader and more diverse talent pools, then using early, automated assessments and screening questions to identify relevance without defaulting to credential filters.

They also discuss what a modern, mobile-first application journey can look like: capturing interest quickly, reducing friction, avoiding unnecessary steps like account creation and CV uploads, and following up in a way that respects candidates’ time. Alongside the tech and marketing strategy, Joanne and Sara stress the importance of organisational authenticity and retentiona great recruitment experience only works if the employee experience matches what is being promised.

One-sentence summary

Sara Dalsfelt believes talent is too precious to be reduced to a piece of paper — because behind every CV sits a human story that deserves a fair chance.

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Synopsis

Sara Dalsfelt speaks with the conviction of someone who has felt the sharp edge of exclusion. She once had a year-long gap in her CV due to trauma — a blank space that traditional hiring processes would quietly reject. “These traditional hiring methods would never hire me,” she admits. And yet today she leads the marketing of a company she helped build. That tension — between who she is and what a CV would suggest — shapes everything she stands for. She describes her superpower as daring to be herself and walking the talk. You hear that in the way she challenges the status quo, not with theory, but with frustration at how much potential is filtered out before it even gets a chance to breathe.

What she is trying to change isn’t just recruitment strategy. It’s the quiet, everyday exclusion that happens when employers cling to outdated tools. “If you’re not consciously including, you are most likely unconsciously excluding,” she says — and she means it personally. For Sara, hiring should feel like trust, like possibility, like being seen for readiness rather than past polish. She wants to build processes that meet people where they are — on their phones, in the small windows of courage when they consider change — and treat them like valued human beings, not disposable applicants. Because once a candidate feels dismissed, the trust is gone — sometimes for good.

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10 Small, digestible concepts for easy learning

1. A CV is a snapshot, not a soul.

It captures history, not potential — and often misses the most important chapters.

2. Gaps don’t measure greatness.

A break in employment may hide resilience, recovery and growth.

3. If you don’t design for inclusion, you design for exclusion.

Neutral systems tend to favour the already privileged.

4. You’re not in a war for talent — you’re in a war for attention.

People can’t apply for jobs they never meaningfully encounter.

5. Candidates are customers of your culture.

If you treat them poorly, they won’t come back — and neither will their trust.

6. Ease signals respect.

A simple, mobile-friendly application says, “Your time matters.”

7. Potential lives beyond credentials.

Transferable skills and readiness often outweigh perfect career timelines.

8. The first moment shapes the outcome.

“90% of hiring success is determined in the first 10% of the journey.”

9. Bias hides in convenience.

The easiest filter is often the least fair.

10. Authenticity beats polish.

Real people sharing real experiences build belonging more than corporate slogans.

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The “why” in the story

What they believe is true about people

Sara believes people are more capable than their paperwork suggests. She believes potential cannot be summarised in bullet points.

What they cannot unsee

She cannot unsee how quickly recruiters discard someone based on a gap, a name, an unconventional path — sometimes within seconds.

What they are no longer willing to tolerate

She refuses to accept hiring systems built primarily to “weed out” rather than welcome in.

What they are trying to build instead

She is building systems that open the funnel wide, assess fairly, and make the candidate feel valued from the first click.

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Narrative structure

1. The trigger

A year-long gap in her CV after trauma — and the realisation that a traditional process would never see beyond it.

2. The tension

Organisations talk about inclusion, yet cling to filters that quietly reproduce sameness. Recruiters are under pressure, budgets are tight, and the old way feels “easier”.

3. The insight

Everything meaningful about a person — resilience, adaptability, hunger, empathy — lives beyond the resume. And technology can either magnify bias or reduce it.

4. The pivot

Instead of criticising the system from the outside, she built tools to change it. She advocates for early, automated assessments, storytelling that reaches passive candidates, and frictionless applications that respect people’s time.

5. The destination

A future where applying for a role feels like being invited in — not measured against yesterday, but considered for tomorrow.

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Five key takeaways and learning points

1. Don’t mistake familiarity for fairness.

Just because CVs are traditional doesn’t mean they serve everyone equally.

2. The candidate experience is a moral signal.

How you treat applicants reveals what you value about people.

3. Inclusion must be engineered, not implied.

Good intentions don’t fix biased processes — design does.

4. Trust, once broken, rarely returns.

A poor hiring experience can permanently close the door to great talent.

5. Potential is forward-looking.

Hiring should be about what someone can become, not just what they have been.

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Ten distinct ideas explained

1. The silent bias of the CV

Names, dates and institutions trigger assumptions. Even six seconds of scanning can steer decisions before capability is considered.

2. The “weeding out” mentality

Many systems are built to reduce workload, not increase fairness — filtering too early and too crudely.

3. The passive window of courage

People are not constantly job-hunting. They have brief windows of openness. Miss it, and the opportunity disappears.

4. Friction equals disrespect

Long forms, repeated uploads and clunky platforms signal that an organisation values convenience over people’s time.

5. Parallels with consumer trust

Companies invest millions in smooth shopping journeys — yet tolerate broken hiring journeys. That contradiction matters.

6. Authenticity as proof

Real employees sharing why they stay builds credibility that no slogan can replicate.

7. Inclusion starts at the top of the funnel

If you only recruit from narrow networks, you limit who can ever belong.

8. Assessment before assumption

Skills testing early in the process can widen participation and reduce subjective filtering.

9. Representation requires intention

Starting points aren’t equal. Fairness sometimes means actively correcting imbalance.

10. Belonging extends beyond hire

Attraction without retention is a leaking bucket — culture must match the promise.

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How people should change as a result

1. Think

• Stop asking, “Does this person match the profile?” and start asking, “What could they grow into?”
• Recognise that convenience in hiring often hides injustice.
• See candidates as whole people, not documentation.
• Understand that neutrality is not the same as fairness.

2. Feel

• Move from defensiveness to curiosity about bias.
• Shift from fear of change to responsibility for fairness.
• Replace scepticism about new methods with openness to improvement.
• Feel the weight of what it costs someone to be dismissed invisibly.

3. Act

• Audit your application process for unnecessary friction. Remove at least one step.
• Introduce early, skills-based assessments where appropriate.
• Review how long it takes to acknowledge applicants — and shorten it.
• Showcase real employee stories that reflect your lived culture.
• Challenge at least one assumption about “what a good candidate looks like”.
• Measure where candidates drop out — and ask why.
• Ensure any inclusion statement is backed by a visible, practical change.

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One thing to remember

Behind every resume is a life you cannot summarise — hire for the human, not the paper.