My Most Controversial LinkedIn Post

Not interested in hearing from Lean Leverage or Go Carpathian?

Hiring remotely can come with a hidden tax if you’re not careful.

You post the role. You get 50 to 100 applicants. You skim through, book the calls, block off a week of your calendar. 

By Wednesday you realize half of them never read the job description. 

By Friday you've torched a week and you're back at square one, debating whether to repost or just hire your nephew.

A year ago, I posted my fix for this on LinkedIn, and the comments split right down the middle.

The rule was simple. 

Don't get on a call with a candidate until they've recorded a short video explaining why they're the best fit. 

I claimed it would filter out 95% of the unserious candidates. Most applicants wouldn't bother. The ones who did would be your shortlist.

Half the comments loved it. The other half came after me. They said it was too much to ask in a tough job market. And, I get it, job hunting is hard, but my goal with this isn’t to make candidates work harder; it’s to make the whole process a lot fairer. 

A year later, I still stand by every word, and I’m going to tell you why. 

Before anyone gets on a call, every applicant records a short video answering five to seven specific prompts. That turns vetting into three steps. 

You only see the finalists.

The magic isn't the video. It's who doesn't submit one.

A big chunk of applicants won't even bother. They wanted to “easy apply” without bothering to read the requirements. That's exactly the filter you want. 

The people who do submit have read the JD, done their research, and decided they want this specific role.

Skip "tell us about yourself." Force them to show fit:

That last one tells you more than people expect. The best candidates use it to show personality. The worst skip it entirely.

Score each on a 1 to 5 scale:

Sales rep from South Africa, asking $1,500 a month. Her intro vid is one of the best I've reviewed this year. Short, confident, sharp on her feet, clearly prepared. The makings of a great SDR.

Check it out:

If you can spot what makes hers work in the first 30 seconds, you already know how to run this filter.

Spray-and-pray applicants give vague, generic answers. They talk about themselves in the abstract. They don't ask questions. They sound like they're reading off a script.

Real candidates do the opposite. They reference your JD. They tell specific stories with specific numbers. They ask sharp questions. You can feel the difference in the first 30 seconds.

Once they're on a call, the conversation is different. You're not re-explaining the role. You're talking to someone who already wants it.

I posted this approach on LinkedIn a year ago, and as I mentioned before, it split the room. Half loved it. Half said it was too much to ask candidates in a tough job market.

I get it. But a 3-minute video isn't a tax on the candidate, it's a runway. In one shot, you're getting three things a resume can't give you:

The candidates who treat it as a chance to stand out are exactly who you want. The ones who skip it were never going to be your hire anyway.

If you want a copy of the candidate-facing SOP we share at Go Carpathian, just reply to this email, and I'll send it over.

Or if you’d like us to take care of this for you (we go through 100s of these videos a week so we know what we’re doing).

Book a FREE call with our recruitment specialists here and we’ll introduce you to other incredible candidates like Samantha. 

Candidates who actually read the instructions ;) 

Until next time,
Nathan