I’ve interviewed hundreds of people over many years but there’s five minutes in every hiring conversation that’s almost always awkward: the moment you’re invited to name your number. For a lot of brilliant humans - especially introverts and many women - this is where confidence gets wobbly, words get stuck, and perfectly good leverage quietly walks out the door.

For years, the fastest way to lift your pay seemed simple: switch jobs and collect a BIG bump. That playbook is far less reliable today.

The future of hiring isn’t ‘AI alone’ or ‘humans alone’. It’s the right blend that surfaces real capability and authentic fit – and resumes are all noise.

A new year needs a more effective way of hiring, but how does hiring without using a resume as the single source of truth work IRL?