What Works When It Comes to Getting Hired: Emotional Intelligence and Smarter Hiring Decisions
Episode 29
If resumes were enough, hiring would be easy - so what actually makes the difference?
What actually makes someone stand out in today’s hiring process—and why do so many qualified candidates still get overlooked? In Episode #29 of The People Success Circle, we explore what works when it comes to getting hired and why emotional intelligence plays a bigger role than many people realize. Whether you’re an HR professional, business leader, or someone navigating your next career move, this episode breaks down what hiring managers are truly paying attention to beyond resumes and credentials.
Tune in for practical insights, real-world examples, and clear takeaways you can apply immediately—either in your hiring strategy or your job search.
In this episode of The People Success Circle, I explore what works when it comes to getting hired—unpacking how emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and people skills influence hiring decisions and shape stronger, more successful teams.
What works when it comes to getting hired—and why resumes alone rarely tell the full story
How emotional intelligence in hiring shapes stronger teams and better long-term outcomes
The connection between hiring decisions and emotional intelligence, especially in leadership roles
What employers look for when hiring beyond skills, experience, and credentials
Why soft skills in the hiring process are often the deciding factor between two strong candidates
Practical hiring best practices for HR professionals who want to make more confident, people-centered decisions
🎧 Tune in or keep reading to walk away with practical insights you can apply immediately—for yourself or the people you lead.
🔗 Helpful Links
🌐 Mindy’s website for business consulting: https://www.limerockcareerco.com
🎧 Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts
Episode 29: Watch or Listen
Key Takeaways From Episode 29
What Works When It Comes to Getting Hired Goes Beyond the Resume
One of the biggest themes I return to in this episode is that what works when it comes to getting hired isn’t just technical skill or experience. Those matter—but they’re often the baseline. What separates candidates is how they show up, communicate, and connect. As leaders, we need to look beyond credentials and ask: Can this person work well with others, adapt, and contribute to the culture we’re building?
Emotional Intelligence Plays a Critical Role in Hiring Decisions
I talk openly about emotional intelligence in hiring and why it’s become non-negotiable in today’s workplace. Self-awareness, emotional regulation, empathy, and communication all show up during interviews—often without candidates realizing it. These traits strongly influence hiring decisions and emotional intelligence is often what determines long-term success, not just short-term performance.
What Employers Are Really Looking for When Hiring
Many employers say they want skills—but what they’re actually evaluating is trust, judgment, and mindset. In this episode, I unpack what employers look for when hiring, including how candidates respond to pressure, feedback, and uncertainty. For business owners and HR leaders, being clear on these priorities helps create more aligned, confident hiring decisions.
Soft Skills Are the Differentiator in the Hiring Process
I emphasize why soft skills in the hiring process matter more than ever. Collaboration, accountability, curiosity, and emotional maturity are often the deciding factors between two equally qualified candidates. These skills impact team dynamics, leadership potential, and retention—making them essential to evaluate intentionally, not intuitively.
Hiring Best Practices Start With Self-Awareness as a Leader
Strong hiring best practices for HR professionals begin with understanding our own biases, assumptions, and emotional triggers. I encourage leaders to slow down the decision-making process, ask better questions, and create space for reflection. When we do that, we make hiring decisions that are not only smarter—but more human.
🎧 Want the full story, examples, and action steps?
Listen to the full episode of The People Success Circle for more insights on building a thriving culture that drives results.
Read the full transcript
Mindy East:
Hi and welcome back to this week’s episode of The People Success Circle podcast. I’m Mindy East, your host, and I’m really excited about the topic we’re talking about today. The title of this episode is What Works When It Comes to Getting Hired?
To be honest, this is usually peak hiring season. I’m recording this in September, and fall is one of the two biggest times of year when we see people getting hired faster and when companies dedicate more time to recruitment. Those two seasons are really September through mid-November, and then mid-January through early May.
If someone is trying to hire or get hired over the summer months or during the holidays in November and December, it’s usually crickets. There are a lot of reasons for that—employees are on vacation, job seekers are on vacation, and it’s just a quieter time. So right now, we are in peak hiring season.
You might be saying, “Mindy, why are we worried about hiring during peak hiring season? Shouldn’t this be going really well?” Unfortunately, hiring is slower—even though it’s peak season—and I want to talk about why that’s happening.
You’ve likely seen it in the news. Unemployment is higher than expected, and job growth is lower than expected. When headlines like that come out, people get scared and think there are no jobs available. You’re also seeing big companies in the headlines saying they’re laying off, slowing hiring, or implementing hiring freezes.
I do believe unemployment is increasing slowly, and I do believe fewer new jobs are being created. But what you have to remember is that there are still thousands of companies actively hiring, and there are still industries doing really well.
Before you listen to this episode with the mindset that the reason you’re not getting hired is because there are no jobs, I want you to pause and be open to the idea that maybe there are jobs—and perhaps your job-search strategies just aren’t working anymore.
One of the services my company provides is career consulting for both early- and mid-career professionals. I can tell you our phone is ringing constantly. People are having a really hard time getting hired.
One person recently said to me, “Mindy, I’m done. I can’t do this job search anymore. I feel like I’ve tried everything. I’m defeated, depressed, angry, and I feel like I have to give up.”
My response was, first, tell me what you’ve been doing to get hired. And second, would you be open to some new strategies that are proven to work? After talking it through, he admitted he was relying on methods that simply don’t work anymore.
So let’s talk honestly about job-search strategies that are no longer effective.
The most common way people search for jobs is through online applications. Unfortunately, the statistics tell us that fewer than 2% of people who apply online actually get hired. About 4% get interviews, and only 2% get jobs.
If most of your job-search time is spent applying online—and there’s a 98% failure rate—you really need to ask yourself whether you’re using the right strategies.
Applying online is easy. There’s even an “easy apply” button. People think, “I need a resume, I need to apply online, and that’s how I’ll get hired.” So they wake up every day, scroll job boards, hit apply, and hope someone notices them.
The truth is, you’re a needle in a haystack. Recruiters receive hundreds or even thousands of applications. Getting noticed online is harder than ever—and AI isn’t helping. While AI can be useful for job seekers, when employers use AI to screen resumes before a human ever sees them, it often decreases your chances of getting an interview.
If your job search relies heavily on applying online, you’re likely to be frustrated and unemployed longer than necessary.
The second thing I want you to know is that the hidden job market is real. Seventy to eighty percent of open positions are never posted online. If you rely only on job postings, you’re seeing just 20–30% of available jobs.
People often ask, “Why wouldn’t a company post a job if it’s open?” There are many reasons. They may not have a recruiting budget. The role may be confidential. They may want to promote internally first. They may not have formal HR processes. Or they know they need someone but haven’t prioritized posting the role yet.
I’ve seen this happen many times. A company might say, “We could really use a quality assurance manager,” but they haven’t formalized the opening. If the right resume lands on their desk, they suddenly decide to start interviewing.
If you rely only on posted jobs, you’re missing most opportunities.
The third thing you need to know is how hard it is to get noticed in a hyper-connected world. Recruiters and hiring managers receive an average of 121 emails a day—plus messages on LinkedIn, Slack, Teams, texts, and social media. Everyone is overwhelmed.
That’s not going away, even if the job market improves. The way to get noticed is through networking and relationship building. In fact, 85% of jobs are filled through networking.
Networking is the most powerful tool for getting hired.
Companies love hires that come through networking because those hires tend to be higher quality, get results faster, and stay longer. Referral programs are incredibly effective.
As a recruiter, if someone reached out to me directly, I always looked at their resume. But if they only applied online, I may never have seen it—because recruiters simply can’t review thousands of resumes.
Job seekers cannot rely on volume. Applying to 100 jobs doesn’t work.
You need to strengthen your online profile, leverage your network, use referrals, be visible, and apply strategically.
One client applied to 116 jobs on LinkedIn and didn’t get a single interview. After refocusing on networking—starting with alumni from his university—he had a conversation scheduled within 30 minutes.
Networking works.
Here are five tips to become a better networker.
First, build your online presence, especially on LinkedIn. Networking today is both in-person and virtual. Recruiters rely heavily on LinkedIn—87% use it daily.
Update your profile, post insights, upload your resume, and request recommendations. The more complete and active your profile is, the better your chances of being noticed.
Second, schedule informational interviews. Short conversations with people in your industry can build relationships and lead to warm referrals. Prepare thoughtful questions and follow up.
Third, use referrals and your network. Internal referral programs dramatically increase your chances of interviews and offers. Even if you don’t know someone at a company, LinkedIn makes it possible to connect.
I had a client get hired at Peloton because he built relationships before applying. When he applied, people already knew him.
Tap into alumni networks, professors, past coworkers, neighbors—there are so many people willing to help.
Fourth, don’t underestimate in-person networking. It’s more popular than ever. This could be job fairs, alumni events, professional association meetings, volunteer events, or industry happy hours.
You don’t need to ask for a job. Just share who you are and what you’re looking for. Relationships come first.
The last tip is consistency and value. Networking is a marathon, not a sprint. Some of the people who’ve hired or promoted me reached out years after we first connected.
Focus on adding value, staying engaged, congratulating others on wins, and sharing resources. When your network goes dry, your job search does too.
Over the last four years, I’ve helped more than 200 people land jobs—and very few found them through online applications.
If 2% of jobs come from online applications and 85% come from networking, your time should reflect that.
Cold applications yield low results. Networking wins.
Here are your action steps for this week:
Audit and update your LinkedIn profile.
Schedule five conversations.
Ask for at least one referral.
Attend one in-person networking event.
Set weekly goals with most of your time devoted to networking.
We are in a challenging job market—but that doesn’t mean you can’t get hired. Your next opportunity will likely come through people, not job postings.
If you want help with networking, LinkedIn, or in-person events, check the show notes for Networking School.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a five-star review and share it with someone who’s job searching.
Until next time, I hope you have a great week, and I’ll see you in the next episode.
