03 Aug Stop Hiring Résumés. Start Hiring for Outcomes.
I’ve always liked the concept behind Topgrading.
For those who may not be familiar with it, Topgrading is a hiring methodology built around one deceptively simple idea:
Stop winging it when you hire people.
That sounds obvious enough, yet I think many civil engineering firms still approach hiring in a reactive way.
A Project Manager resigns.
A Senior Engineer gives notice.
A Survey Manager retires.
Backlog continues to grow.
Suddenly, everyone is scrambling to “find a good person.”
The problem is…
“A good person” is not a hiring strategy.
Most Hiring Starts Too Late
After nearly 30 years recruiting civil engineers and land surveyors, I’ve noticed something that happens over and over again.
Hiring usually begins after the problem already exists.
Projects are behind schedule.
Existing staff are overwhelmed.
Principals are spending too much time in production.
Clients are waiting longer for responses.
Then the conversation becomes:
“Who do we know that might be available?”
Instead, I believe firms should first ask a much more important question:
What problem are we actually trying to solve?
Those are two very different conversations.
Define Success Before You Define the Candidate
One of the biggest principles behind Topgrading is defining success before you ever begin interviewing.
Not just creating another generic job description that says:
- 5–10 years of experience
- PE preferred
- Civil 3D experience
- Strong communication skills
- Ability to manage multiple projects
There’s nothing wrong with those qualifications.
They’re simply incomplete.
None of them explain what success actually looks like.
For a civil engineering firm, success may mean someone who can:
- Successfully manage $2 million in annual land development work without projects bleeding margin
- Mentor younger engineers who need stronger technical guidance
- Improve communication with clients throughout active projects
- Reduce rework by strengthening the QA/QC process
- Free up a principal who is buried in day-to-day production
Now we’re talking about outcomes.
And outcomes are far easier to hire for than vague qualifications.
The Best Résumé Doesn’t Always Win
One of the biggest mistakes I see firms make is assuming the strongest résumé automatically produces the strongest employee.
Not necessarily.
Likewise…
The engineer with the longest project list isn’t always the best fit.
The smoothest interviewer isn’t always the best hire.
The person who has worked at the biggest firm isn’t automatically the person who will create the greatest impact.
The best hire is the person whose:
- Experience
- Motivation
- Technical strengths
- Leadership style
- Personality
- Career goals
…all align with the specific seat you’re trying to fill.
That distinction matters.
Because hiring is really an exercise in matching people with problems that they are uniquely equipped to solve.
Great Interviews Dig Much Deeper
Another concept I appreciate about Topgrading is the emphasis on understanding someone’s career chronologically.
Instead of jumping randomly between behavioral interview questions, it encourages employers to understand each stage of a candidate’s career.
Questions such as:
- What were you originally hired to do?
- What accomplishments are you most proud of?
- Where did you struggle?
- What changed while you were there?
- Why did you leave?
- Who did you report to?
- What would that supervisor likely say about your performance?
Those conversations often reveal much more than asking someone to tell you about a time they had conflict on a project team.
Patterns begin to emerge.
Growth becomes visible.
Motivations become clearer.
Strengths—and limitations—become easier to understand.
A Better Interview Protects Both Sides
Candidates sometimes assume a detailed interview process only benefits the employer.
I don’t see it that way.
A thorough interview should protect the candidate just as much.
Imagine a technically outstanding civil engineer who genuinely enjoys design work.
If the firm actually needs someone who wants to spend half their week developing clients, that’s probably not going to end well.
Likewise…
A Project Manager may be exceptional with clients but walks into an organization where there are no experienced designers supporting them.
Now they’re buried doing production work instead of managing projects.
Neither side wins.
The engineer eventually becomes frustrated.
The employer wonders why the hire didn’t work out.
In reality, the issue wasn’t talent.
It was alignment.
Hiring Is Really About Alignment
One sentence from Topgrading has always stuck with me.
The goal isn’t simply to hire talented people.
It’s to hire the right talented people.
That difference is enormous.
Great hiring happens when the needs of the company intersect with the strengths, motivations, and aspirations of the individual.
That’s alignment.
And alignment usually produces:
- Better performance
- Higher retention
- Stronger culture
- Better client service
- Happier employees
Before You Interview Anyone…
If you’re preparing to hire, I’d encourage you to slow down long enough to answer a few important questions.
Ask yourself:
- What problem are we trying to solve?
- What does success actually look like 12 to 18 months from now?
- Which qualifications are truly essential?
- Which ones are simply “nice to have?”
- What type of personality will thrive within our organization?
- What does this person absolutely need to bring on Day One?
Those answers become your hiring strategy.
Without them, it’s very easy to hire based on urgency, personality, or simply hoping everything works out.
Hope Is Not a Hiring Strategy
The firms I’ve seen make the best long-term hires usually aren’t the firms that move the fastest.
They’re the firms that spend a little more time understanding exactly what success looks like before they ever review the first résumé.
Once they know the seat they’re trying to fill, evaluating candidates becomes much easier.
Because they’re no longer looking for “a good person.”
They’re looking for the right person.
And after nearly three decades recruiting civil engineers, I’ve become convinced those are two very different things.
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