What actually happens when you take the CV out of hiring? Eight leaders sat down with Looks Good on Paper over the course of Season 2 and didn't hold back.

The conversation covered AI-generated applications flooding pipelines, the bias baked into screening processes most companies refuse to audit, and the formats — video, work samples, structured conversations — that are actually surfacing better candidates. No one agreed on everything. But a clear through-line emerged.

This is the Season 2 supercut: the sharpest moments, the most honest takes, and the argument that kept coming up no matter who we were talking to — that the document we've built hiring around for 50 years is no longer fit for purpose, and the companies figuring out what replaces it are already pulling ahead.

What you'll learn:

→  What eight senior hiring leaders actually think about CVs in 2026

→  Which screening alternatives are producing better hires in practice

→  The through-line argument that connects every Season 2 conversation 

YOUR HOSTS
Anita Chauhan — Fractional CMO, co-host

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/anitachauhan/

Chapters

00:00 – The question that changes everything: What if CVs disappeared?

00:26 – Are CVs becoming “vanilla applications”?

00:43 – The biggest source of bias?

01:08 – Cover letters: loved, hated, or ignored

01:18 – CVs as protection vs. limitation

01:38 – What makes a candidate stand out

01:55 – Beyond experience: solving ambiguous problems

02:30 – Giving candidates choice & the rise of AI-guided screening

03:14 – The video tension: engagement vs. burden

03:40 – “If CVs were eliminated, I’d be thrilled.”

04:14 – Employers must evolve too

04:34 – What CVs miss—and why layering context matters

05:00 – Closing: Why progressive hiring teams are shifting now

LISTEN & FOLLOW

Spotify          →  https://open.spotify.com/show/0dbfz6y0tMq3crViHQD66H

Apple Podcasts   →  https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1625835562

All episodes     →  https://looksgoodonpaper.buzzsprout.com

WATCH ON YOUTUBE - https://youtu.be/JwHVk9QCtII

POWERED BY WILLO

Hire humans, not resumes  →  https://www.willo.video/looks-good-on-paper

CONNECT WITH US

LinkedIn  →  https://www.linkedin.com/company/10170893

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rewriting the rules of hiring, one episode at a time.

The CV persists in hiring not because it works, but because it provides a defensible paper trail. Eight hiring leaders across Season 2 of Looks Good on Paper identified the same core problem: resumes measure credentials and presentation skill, not the capability to do the job. The formats replacing them — structured video, work samples, skills assessments — share one thing in common: they ask candidates to demonstrate something rather than describe it.

Show Resources

• Willo: willo.video - The most cost-effective way to screen candidates at scale. Interview candidates anywhere & at any time
• CV Free Toolkit: cvfree.me/join - Break up with the CV and get everything you need to modernize your hiring approach with skills-based assessments
• Anita Chauhan: linkedin.com/in/anitachauhan - Connect with the host