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 retention—a great recruitment experience only works if the employee experience matches what is being promised.