Before the hire · Role capability profile
The hiring line
What the résumé shows — and every process already screens for
Experience
Where they’ve worked, how long, at what scale.
Skills
What they can demonstrably do today.
What actually decides whether the role works
Personality
How they tend to show up. Sometimes measured — and often mistaken for capability.
Capability
How they process complexity, decide under pressure, read people, and adapt when the plan breaks. Rarely defined. Almost never measured before the offer.
01
Define the role, not the person
What does this seat genuinely demand, day to day, under pressure?
02
Separate non-negotiable from teachable
Some capabilities can be built on the job. Some have to arrive with the person.
03
Look at where the seat has failed
Previous misses in the same role are the most useful data you have.
04
Assess against the profile
Measure candidates against what the role requires — not against one another.
When the profile exists first, interviews stop being a test of how well someone presents and start being a check against something specific. Panels agree more often, because they’re finally measuring the same thing.
Worth asking first: what did the last person who didn’t work out have on paper — and what turned out to be missing?
Role Capability Profile
Understand what the seat asks before the hiring process begins.