1. Broaden the Definition of “Qualified” The Problem: Too Narrow a Lens A heavy reliance on exact job titles, industry background, or years of experience can shrink your candidate pool. Many strong professional candidates have transferable skills that do not show up through keyword matching alone. What to Do Instead Use structured scorecards tied to role outcomes Assess communication, judgment, and systems aptitude Consider adjacent experience across service, admin, operations, and client-facing roles Train interviewers to spot skill proxies, not just familiar titles Professional Staffing Fix Eastridge recruiters help identify transferable experience and role-specific aptitude. A customer service candidate may bring de-escalation skills from hospitality; an accounting candidate may bring accuracy and deadline discipline from operations support.