Looks Good on Paper

Anita Chauhan
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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.

  1. It's Just Robots Hanging Out: What's Actually Happening in Hiring Right Now (S2E18)

    FEB 24

    It's Just Robots Hanging Out: What's Actually Happening in Hiring Right Now (S2E18)

    Description: Julia Arpag is the founder and CEO of Aligned Recruitment, where she helps high-growth tech companies build exceptional teams. With over a decade of global recruiting experience, she's known for her people-first approach and genuine advocacy for both clients and candidates. In this episode, Julia talks with host Anita Chauhan about the "culture fit" trap that leads to homogenous teams, why she bakes skills assessments into every single role she recruits for, and why she only works with clients whose values genuinely align with hers. She also shares a refreshingly human practice: when candidates make it past the first interview and get rejected, her team picks up the phone and calls them instead of sending an automated email. "It's a more human way to honor them as a human." Plus, Julia tells her favorite hiring story from her own household: how her husband pivoted from nonprofit to tech with zero industry experience on paper and landed his dream job anyway. Key moments: → The biggest hiring mistake: defaulting to "culture fit" and hiring people who look and act like you → Why skills assessments should be standard for every role, not just engineering → "It's just robots hanging out and then the humans are involved at some point" → Why Julia turns down clients whose values don't match hers → The case for calling candidates to deliver rejections → How Julia's husband broke into tech without the "right" resume Connect with Julia: LinkedIn and Aligned Recruitment About Looks Good on Paper: Looks Good on Paper is a podcast powered by Willo exploring what actually predicts success in hiring, and what just looks good on paper. Hosted by Anita Chauhan. 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

    14 min
  2. Better Hiring Without the Noise: Willo’s Jim Berrison on Why Hiring Feels Over-Engineered (and How to Fix it) (S2E17)

    FEB 18

    Better Hiring Without the Noise: Willo’s Jim Berrison on Why Hiring Feels Over-Engineered (and How to Fix it) (S2E17)

    Hiring isn’t broken — it’s over-engineered. In this episode, Jim Berrisford (VP of Partnerships at Willo) unpacks why poor communication, AI noise, and “more tech” are quietly making hiring more complex, not better. What you will learn: Why communication gaps derail the entire hiring journeyThe hidden risk of using technology before understanding processHow over-engineered recruitment hurts candidate experienceWhat removing CVs could realistically look like in modern hiringWhy human-centric AI (not decision-making AI) will win in the future of work ☘️ Guest Bio Jim Berrisford is Vice President of Partnerships at Willo and a leader in talent and HR technology, with experience spanning agency, in-house talent, and recruitment tech. He has spent years working at the intersection of recruitment, innovation, and workforce transformation, helping organizations rethink how they attract, assess, and support talent in an increasingly AI-driven hiring landscape. 📄 About Looks Good on Paper Looks Good on Paper is powered by Willo, a podcast that explores modern hiring, talent strategy, and the future of work — going far beyond resumes, buzzwords, and surface-level signals. 🕘 Chapters 00:00 — Intro & Jim’s background in recruitment and HR tech 02:20 — Biggest hiring mistake: lack of communication 03:30 — Why “new tech” isn’t the real fix 05:00 — AI noise vs assisted intelligence in hiring 06:30 — Hidden bias and ongoing self-checking in hiring 09:20 — What happens if we remove CVs from hiring? 12:50 — Over-engineering recruitment systems 14:30 — Human-centric AI and the future of hiring 16:40 — Final thoughts on tech, nuance, and the hiring journey 📌 Pinned CTA: Enjoying the episode? Follow, rate, and share Looks Good on Paper — it helps more talent leaders discover smarter, more human approaches to hiring. 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

    18 min
  3. They Belong In A Museum: Jeff Waldman on Why Most Resumes Say Nothing At All

    FEB 11

    They Belong In A Museum: Jeff Waldman on Why Most Resumes Say Nothing At All

    Resumes are totally out of date — and AI has only made the problem worse. In this episode, Jeff Waldman (ScaleHR) explains why most hiring signals fail, and what to look for instead if you actually want better hires. This week's episode, we're talking about: Why job titles, brand names, and polished CVs don’t predict performanceHow AI-generated resumes are increasing bias and bad hiring decisionsThe hidden bias around “clean” careers, gaps, and job hoppingWhat to use instead of resumes as a first hiring signalHow to assess how candidates think, not just where they’ve been⚖️ Jeff Waldman (ScaleHR) Jeff Waldman is the founder of ScaleHR, host of the Unmuted podcast, and a longtime builder of HR communities around the world. With over two decades at the intersection of HR, technology, leadership, and inclusion, Jeff has advised growing companies, hired thousands of people, and led grassroots HR events across North America and beyond. His work focuses on practical, human-first hiring in an AI-driven world. 📄 About Looks Good on Paper / Willo Looks Good on Paper is Willo’s podcast exploring how hiring actually works — and where traditional systems fall apart. ⏱️ Episode Chapters 00:17 – Introduction to Jeff Waldman & ScaleHR 01:31 – Building global HR communities 03:06 – The biggest hiring mistake companies keep making 06:38 – Why resumes are outdated artifacts 07:48 – AI resumes and “it belongs in a museum” 08:50 – Hidden bias: gaps, job hopping, and “clean” careers 12:42 – AI, bias, and the importance of prompting 14:01 – What hiring looks like without CVs 16:01 – Accessibility, flexibility, and candidate choice 18:20 – Better hiring signals for 2026 20:09 – Final reflections and wrap-up ⭐ Enjoying the show? Follow Looks Good on Paper, leave a rating, and share this episode with a hiring leader who’s still relying on resumes — it helps more than you think. 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

    21 min
  4. Adapting to the Realities of Startups (S2E15)

    FEB 4

    Adapting to the Realities of Startups (S2E15)

    Startup hiring improves fast when you stop hiring for titles and start hiring for the work that actually needs to get done. In this episode, Sarah Sheikh (Chief of Staff at Loop Financial) shares how she loves a generalist for her task-forward hiring plan, and why we shouldn’t be dazzled by big company names.  This episode’s all about finding the right fit. Here’s a quick breakdown of what we’re chatting about this week on Looks Good on Paper: Why job titles can be limiting, and how to hire for the tasks at hand insteadHiring habits companies can rethink to drive better outcomes – for everyoneThe hidden bias behind polished resumes and big-brand credentialsWhat a no-CV hiring process could look likeHow AI is changing applications, screening, and sourcing🏦 About Our Guest Sarah Sheikh is Chief of Staff at Loop Financial, a cross-border banking platform for Canadian businesses. Working closely with the CEO, Sarah supports scaling operations and execution, team growth, and complex product or system migrations in a fast-moving fintech environment—bringing hard-won lessons from seeing a startup lifecycle end-to-end. 📄 About Looks Good on Paper Looks Good on Paper is powered by Willo, the platform that's on a mission to restore trust in hiring at scale through candidate verification, employer proof, and actionable hiring insights. Chapters   00:48 From Moves Financial to Loop: seeing the full startup cycle 01:54 The truth about early-stage work (and why it’s “trial by fire”) 02:57 What Loop Financial does + what a Chief of Staff actually owns 05:19 Biggest hiring mistake: planning by titles vs tasks 06:24 Quarterly “task audit”: automate, cut, or rebalance work 07:16 The case for hiring generalists (and letting people specialize) 09:43 Hidden bias: “ex-[big company]” and what it really signals 10:55 Why Sarah asks tough interview questions (and why it saves pain) 13:59 “Get rid of CVs”: what she’d do instead 14:51 Why LinkedIn often beats a resume for understanding candidates 16:53 The Catch-22: hundreds of applicants and limited time 17:45 AI in hiring: “death by tool” vs what’s actually useful 18:12 AI application fails (and why obvious copy/paste gets rejected) 19:20 AI for applicants + the sourcing tool Sarah wishes still existed 20:47 Practical sourcing: target companies + find proven generalists 21:35 Wrap-up 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

    22 min
  5. Fair, Equitable Hiring Needs a Retention Strategy (S2E14)

    JAN 28

    Fair, Equitable Hiring Needs a Retention Strategy (S2E14)

    Hiring more women in tech isn’t enough if companies can’t retain them. In this episode, Gillian Emerson, Head of Talent & Partnerships at Toast, breaks down what actually drives equity, flexibility, and long-term retention in modern hiring. Just a few things that we cover in this week's episode: Why diverse pipelines fail without retention-first systemsHow flexibility and choice impact women staying in techWhat happens when company names and credentials are removed from candidate reviewsHow return-to-office mandates affect hiring and retentionWhere AI helps hiring—and where it quietly creates new risks🍞 About This Week's Guest Gillian Emerson is the Head of Talent & Partnerships at Toast, where she helps tech companies hire and retain more women by redesigning recruiting systems from the ground up. As one of Toast’s first employees, Gillian helped build its recruiting function while also growing a membership community that supports women in tech across North America.  📄 About Looks Good on Paper / Willo Every week Looks Good on Paper explores how trends in hiring, talent, and work are going beyond what shows up on a résumé. Episode Chapters 00:00 – Welcome & Gillian’s journey to Toast 01:40 – Building Toast’s recruiting function from scratch 03:50 – Why women leave tech—and why retention matters 04:50 – The biggest hiring mistake companies keep making 06:40 – Flexibility, choice, and return-to-office policies 09:00 – Rethinking how candidates are evaluated 11:00 – Why pedigree and big names can mislead hiring 13:30 – Hiring beyond resumes and “shiny” credentials 16:00 – How Toast experiments with different hiring approaches 17:30 – AI in hiring and its unintended consequences 19:00 – Hiring and recruiting trends for 2026 ⭐ Enjoying the show? Follow Looks Good on Paper, leave us a rating, and share this episode with someone rethinking how hiring really works. 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

    20 min
  6. Why Hiring More People Is the Wrong Fix (And What High-Growth Companies Do Instead) (S2E12)

    JAN 14

    Why Hiring More People Is the Wrong Fix (And What High-Growth Companies Do Instead) (S2E12)

    Headcount is not a growth strategy. But in high-pressure, high-growth environments, adding people feels like the most immediate lever — and it gets pulled too early, too often, and without enough clarity about what problem it's actually solving. The companies that scale well don't just hire more. They hire differently. They have a clearer picture of what they're optimising for before they open a role, and they treat team design as a strategic question rather than a reactive one. Mike Bettley, Senior Director of Talent at StackAdapt — one of Canada's most recognised high-growth adtech companies — has built and scaled hiring functions that have to perform under real pressure. In this episode of Looks Good on Paper, he breaks down what separates companies that scale cleanly from companies that bloat and stall, how to know when adding headcount will help versus when it will make things worse, and what a mature workforce planning process looks like before you're already in crisis mode. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN The signals that tell you it's time to hire versus time to optimiseHow high-growth companies think about team design before opening a roleThe headcount planning practices that prevent over-hiring cycles Guest: Mike Bettley — Senior Director of Talent, StackAdapt LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelbettley/ Hosts: Anita Chauhan High-growth companies that scale well treat headcount as a last resort, not a first response. Before opening a role, they ask what outcome the hire is meant to produce and whether that outcome can be achieved by redesigning how existing capacity is deployed. Companies that skip this question tend to over-hire, bloat their org, and face painful corrections 12 to 18 months later. ─── FOLLOW & CONNECT ─── If this changed how you think about hiring, follow the show — we're one episode per week. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SO5y6HAasME Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0dbfz6y0tMq3crViHQD66H Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1625835562 Try Willo — video interviewing for skills-based hiring: https://www.willo.video/looks-good-on-paper LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10170893 RELATED TOPICS Talent acquisition strategy, workforce planning, scaling teams, skills-based hiring, high-growth startups, future of work, HR strategy 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

    23 min
  7. The Real Reason CVs Are Failing: 8 Leaders Talk Volume, Bias, and What Comes Next (S2 Cut)

    12/18/2025

    The Real Reason CVs Are Failing: 8 Leaders Talk Volume, Bias, and What Comes Next (S2 Cut)

    What happens when you remove CVs from the hiring process? In our season 2 supercut, our leaders debate bias, volume, video, AI, and what truly helps candidates stand out. What You’ll Learn in This Episode Why CVs feel both essential and outdated for modern hiring teamsHow video, portfolios, and short‑form content change candidate evaluationWhere AI‑guided screening is improving fairness and scalabilityWhat candidates really worry about when asked for extra materials (like Looms)The growing expectation that employers must modernize, too—not just candidates🎬 Our Season 2 Supercut This episode brings together a range of hiring leaders—from high‑volume talent teams reviewing 35,000+ monthly applications to people‑first organizations like Clio, Float, Remote and PurposeMed—each sharing real‑world experience on what breaks and what improves when you move beyond the traditional CV. Their perspectives highlight the evolving landscape of candidate experience, modern screening tools, and the push for more equitable, human‑centred hiring practices. 🎧 About the Show Looks Good on Paper is a Willo-powered podcast where talent leaders and founders share real hiring insights to help teams build fairer, more thoughtful hiring processes. 👉 https://www.willo.video/  📺 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/-pQoGAfacxI 💬 Follow us on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/willovideo/  ⏱ Episode Chapters 00:02 — What if CVs disappeared tomorrow? 00:26 — Vanilla resumes & missed opportunities 00:43 — Bias, LinkedIn profiles & recruiter friction 01:08 — The cover‑letter love/hate divide 01:18 — CVs as structure vs. limitation 01:38 — What makes a candidate stand out today 01:55 — Beyond experience: solving ambiguity + panel comfort 02:30 — Candidate choice & PurposeMed’s AI‑guided screening 02:53 — Using AI to improve equity and conversation quality 03:14 — Looms, burden, and candidate trust 03:40 — A world without CVs: video as the new first impression 04:14 — Employers must evolve if candidates are expected to 04:34 — What CVs miss & layering deeper context 05:00 — Closing thoughts: modern hiring, modern tools 📌 We’ve got plenty more hot takes, so if you enjoyed this episode, follow/subscribe and leave a quick rating or review. Are you a talent leader and want to be on the show? Let us know! 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

    6 min
  8. Plan Earlier, Hire Smarter - Emergency Hires Can Really Sabotage Great Decisions (S2E11)

    12/10/2025

    Plan Earlier, Hire Smarter - Emergency Hires Can Really Sabotage Great Decisions (S2E11)

    Hiring rarely fails because teams don't care-it fails because decisions get rushed. In this episode, Tia Fomenoff (VP of People at PurposeMed) breaks down why reactive hiring, charisma bias, and burnout quietly undermine great teams-and how people leaders can plan ahead instead. In this episode we’ll talk about Why waiting too long to hire turns roles into "emergencies"How reactive hiring leads to burnout and poor decision-makingThe hidden bias toward charismatic candidates-and how it shows up in interviewsWhy introverted candidates often outperform louder onesHow PurposeMed is thinking about AI, automation, and human-first hiring for 2026👤 Guest Bio Tia Fomenoff is the VP of People at PurposeMed, where she's helping build an accessible, compassionate healthcare system for underserved communities through brands like Freddy, Freida, and Fourier. With a non-traditional path spanning nonprofit work, digital marketing, and scaling teams at Unbounce, Buffer, and Thinkific each from 20 employees over 500, Tia brings a people-first, practical approach to hiring, culture, and growth. 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiafomenoff/  🎧 About the Show Looks Good on Paper is a Willo-powered podcast where talent leaders and founders share real hiring insights to help teams build fairer, more thoughtful hiring processes. 👉 https://www.willo.video/  📺 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/-pQoGAfacxI 💬 Follow us on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/willovideo/  ⏱ Episode Chapters 00:00 - Welcome & intro to Tia Fomenoff 00:47 - From nonprofit work to tech & people leadership 02:48 - Why Tia joined PurposeMed 03:41 - The biggest hiring mistake: waiting too long 05:25 - Reactive hiring, burnout, and exhausted leaders 06:09 - Planning proactively with hiring managers 07:47 - Hidden bias: charisma vs substance 09:56 - How introverted candidates get overlooked 10:50 - Can you remove CVs from hiring? 11:25 - Application questions, cover letters, and effort 13:10 - Offering candidates choice in interviews 14:45 - Hiring trends for 2026: AI with intention 16:40 - Long-term sourcing and building pipelines early 17:10 - Wrap-up and what's next 📌 We’ve got plenty more hot takes, so if you enjoyed this episode, follow/subscribe and leave a quick rating or review. Are you a talent leader and want to be on the show? Let us know! 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

    18 min
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About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Anita Chauhan
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    71
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Looks Good on Paper
  • Show Website
    Looks Good on Paper