As someone who’s reviewed over 10,000 resumes and hired more than 100 people in my career, I know firsthand how quickly CVs blur into one another. You flick through a stack, spending no more than 5 minutes on each – often searching not for what stands out, but for what ticks boxes. But here’s the truth: many of the best marketers I’ve hired would never have made it through the first round if I’d relied on resumes alone.
In an age of AI-generated applications and keyword-stuffed bullet points, scanning CVs is no longer the most effective first step in the hiring process. While CVs can still provide useful context as part of a broader, multi-method approach, they often fall short when used in isolation – especially in fields like marketing, where creativity, collaboration, and agility matter just as much as credentials. It’s time to rethink the role of the CV and lead with something more insightful: a skills-based approach.
The Legacy CV is Hurting Your Hiring
Relying purely on CVs creates two major problems in marketing recruitment: you miss out on diverse, high-potential talent, and you spend too much time filtering for the wrong things. You can use a resume to filter on degrees, job titles, and years of experience, but this can and often be limiting, particularly in marketing where non-linear career paths are more the norm than the exception.
Take our own experience: each of the 170+ people at TestGorilla – including the entire marketing function – was hired through skills-based assessments. We have a 92% offer acceptance rate, below average attribution and a glowing set of Glassdoor reviews.
What this means is simple: better matches, better retention, and a more engaged team. That’s not just HR fluff – it’s a business advantage.
The Problem With CV-Based Bias
Bias is another hidden cost of CV-based hiring. Even with names and photos removed, recruiters are still unconsciously drawn to familiar-sounding experiences or prestigious universities. That creates a self-reinforcing cycle that excludes capable, creative candidates who don’t fit a narrow mould.
Ninety per cent of employers say skills-based hiring has improved the diversity of their teams. Marketing thrives on this diversity, which brings fresh perspectives, cultural nuance, and original thinking. Why would we filter out people who could bring just that, simply because they didn’t study at the right school or have the right job title?
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Skills-Based Hiring Makes Marketing Teams More Future-Proof
In any marketing department, a skills-based approach doesn’t just improve hiring – it builds a more resilient, future-ready team.
At TestGorilla, our marketing team is made up of high-performing professionals who don’t all come from traditional marketing backgrounds. Our Social Media Specialist, for example, used to be a firefighter. Our Performance Marketing Team Lead was trained as a biotechnologist. They now help lead strategic initiatives, creative campaigns, and content efforts that drive real business impact
They’re successful not because of their past titles, but because they had the skills we were looking for – skills that were revealed through fair, data-driven assessments and holistic hiring practices.
Thirty-nine percent of workers’ current skills are predicted to be outdated by 2030, underscoring the urgency for adaptability. The pace of change is particularly pronounced in marketing: with the average tech stack including over 20 platforms, and in large enterprises that number can exceed 100. Once more, 61% of marketers have faced a technology or process change in the past year alone.
And so professional agility is crucial. In an era defined by economic uncertainty, AI disruption, and constantly shifting markets, marketing teams need to be able to pivot fast. Whether it’s responding to an algorithm change, navigating a PR crisis, or adapting to new campaign goals, a team built on verified skills – not static role definitions – is simply better equipped to handle change.
Skills-Based Hiring in Practice
Let’s break it down. Here’s how marketing leaders can stop relying solely on CVs today:
Define skills, not roles: Identify the core skills (e.g. copywriting, SEO analysis, stakeholder management) needed for your upcoming projects. Think about the skills you will need in the future – not just now.
Supplement CVs with skills tests: Use science-backed skills assessments to evaluate candidates objectively.
Structure interviews around skills: Focus interviews on capabilities, motivation, and cultural alignment, rather than job history.
Reframe internal mobility: Give team members the chance to explore new areas based on their skills, not just their titles.
And remember: you don’t have to do it all at once. Even starting with one test per role can make a measurable difference.
Marketing Teams of the Future
The marketing world doesn’t stand still. Neither should the way we hire. As leaders, we have a responsibility to build teams that reflect the dynamic, inclusive, and creative industry we want to be part of. That means looking beyond any single measure of potential. CVs still have a place, but on their own, they offer a narrow, backward-looking view.
Instead, imagine marketing teams built on a more holistic approach – combining CV screening with skills assessments, structured interviews, and real-world task evaluations. Here we reach hidden talent, improve team performance, and create workplaces that actually reflect what we value. It’s a smarter, fairer, and more effective way to find people who can grow with your company and drive impact from day one.
It’s time to stop hiring for what someone was and start hiring for what they can do – and how quickly they can adapt to what comes next.
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