If you're still sending out resumes and crossing your fingers, we need to talk. That system isn't just broken — it's flatlining.
Only 2% of resumes actually land interviews, which means 98% of us are essentially shouting into the void, hoping an AI scanner likes our keyword density. Not to mention the speed and quantity of applications exploding recruiters' inboxes.
I'm talking to you, fellow leaders and hiring managers who are tired of this charade. You know there's got to be a better way to connect real humans with real opportunities. More importantly, you know that people-first leadership beats profit-driven politics every single time.
Why I'd Rather Garden Than Write Another "Perfect" Resume
I could spend weeks crafting the perfect resume, stuffing it with ATS-optimized keywords like some kind of corporate word salad. But even if I'm the perfect candidate on paper, I'll just get buried under layers of bureaucratic nonsense before anyone actually gets to know who I am.
And honestly? I've got neighbors who need help.
So instead of playing that rigged game, I did what any rational person would do — I built something better. Over the past year, armed with my MacBook Air and an unhealthy amount of questionable reality TV (don't judge), I developed an end-to-end hiring solution that flips the script entirely.
The Career Chatbot That Actually Talks Back
You can see it live at coreyscherrer.com/career-bot/. This isn't some theoretical concept I'm pitching — it's a working chatbot that lets hiring managers ask real questions and get real answers before anyone wastes time on formal interviews.
The whole system runs on Postgres databases with a custom backend I built from scratch. What you see is just the tip of the iceberg, but here's what matters: it works. Companies using this approach are cutting time-to-hire while finding candidates who actually fit their culture, not just their perfectly tailored job description.
What I Learned Building My Own Stage
My overly active mind needed an outlet — somewhere to transform half-formed ideas into repeatable, automated solutions. So I built my own blogging platform. You're reading the result right now. It has only exploded from here.
This whole experience taught me something crucial about leadership: when the system doesn't work for your people, you build a better system. That's what I do. I find the brilliant nerds (and I mean that lovingly, because I'm one of them), ask the same question ten times until I truly understand, then remove every roadblock I can so they can do what they do best.
The Leadership Philosophy That Changes Everything
Here's what I've learned after years of trial and error: great teams need leaders who protect them and their success fiercely.
At REI, I experienced firsthand the long-lasting, sustainable results of putting people over profit. When you guide and empower over demand. When you build with authority, compassion, and curiosity instead of demanding respect and leading with fear.
My job isn't to know how to write code or run research, or define the entire roadmap single-handedly. It's to empower people who geek out in their fields and help them take ideas beyond anything I could have imagined on my own.
I want my teams to excel and enjoy what they do, because they're spending a third of their lives doing it. They're here, doing work now, taking time away from family and passions, over a million other opportunities. The least we can do is make it worth their while.
Beyond the Office: How I Really Get My Exercise
I don't go to the gym — my workout is the outdoors, usually involving making the world around me a little more beautiful. You'll find me hiking up the city park to pull ivy off trees, not because anyone asked, but because it needs doing.
After big windstorms, my neighbor (a single mom and nurse raising her 17-year-old son and 19-year-old nephew) comes home to find her sidewalk already cleared. My other neighbor, retired, who moved here from the Philippines 20+ years ago — tried to pay me for helping with her lawn after her husband died. I told her if she wanted to give me something, make me food. Those lumpia are incredible.
This is how I think about everything: what's worth investing time in to save future time and frustration? Sometimes it's building automated systems. Sometimes it's just being a decent human.
What Forward-Thinking Companies Actually Do
If you're still relying on resume screening, you're missing the best candidates. Here's what the smart companies are doing instead:
1. Deploy Interactive Conversations: Let candidates showcase their thinking process, not their keyword optimization skills.
2. Ask Questions That Matter: Instead of "Tell me about yourself," try "Walk me through how you'd solve this specific problem we're facing."
3. Test Real Skills in Real Time: My chatbot demonstrates actual problem-solving capabilities — something no resume can do.
The companies already doing this? They're finding people who don't just fill roles — they transform them.
The Bottom Line (And Your Next Move)
I found my stride later in life in product management. It's my jam — so much so that when I tell people it's fun, some ask if I'm crazy. But here's the thing: when you're working with brilliant people toward something meaningful, under leadership that measures success by team growth rather than quarterly profits, work becomes something different entirely.
I'm looking for mission-driven organizations led by forward-thinking leaders who understand that their success is measured by their team's success. Leaders who eat last. Leaders who handle bad fits swiftly and ethically, and who lead through candor and curious conversations.
So here's my question: Are you ready to hire based on real capability instead of resume theater? Because I've got the tools, the experience, the empathy, and the daily commitment to getting better at this leadership thing.
Check out the career bot at coreyscherrer.com/career-bot/ and see what happens when you can actually have a conversation before the conversation.
What do you say — want to solve some real problems and have some fun together?