Stop measuring time to fill. Measure quality of hire.
Three ideas to put into practice
Why quality of hire matters more than time to fill, and how to define a strong hire with your business.
How to use AI and interview transcripts to audit the questions your interviewers ask.
The hidden cost of leaning too hard on referrals and pedigree.
00:00 Intro and welcome 01:17 From Google and Meta to Gong 02:43 Don’t be scared of AI, get energized 03:09 The hiring mistake: speed over quality of hire 07:41 The hidden bias in referrals and pedigree 11:46 What happens if you remove CVs 14:37 Training better interviewers and candidate prep 15:34 Energy management before an interview 16:45 Wildcard: what people misunderstand about Robert 20:10 Closing thoughts
Full transcript
Quality of hire, AI in recruiting, and hiring beyond the CV, with Gong’s Robert Liedtka.
Most talent teams still report on how fast they hired, and almost none can say how good the hires turned out to be. Robert Liedtka, Senior Director of Talent Operations and AI Strategy at Gong, has spent his career on both the delivery and operations sides of talent acquisition, at Google, Meta and MongoDB, and he is blunt about it: shaving 10% off time to fill is worthless if the person leaves in a year.
Anita and Robert get into how AI can finally close that loop. Interview transcripts mean teams can go back and see what interviewers actually asked, and pair that with a definition of a strong hire built with the business. They also cover why referrals and pedigree create blind spots, what happens when candidates run their CV through an LLM and every application matches at 100%, and why Robert will hire the person who presents the least risk, which means closing the gap between what you can do and what you can say in the room.
There is also a very practical tip from Robert’s Google days on managing nervous energy before an interview, and a wildcard answer on what people misunderstand about him as a leader.
What you’ll learn
→ Why quality of hire beats time to fill
→ How to use interview transcripts and AI to improve your questions
→ How referrals and pedigree narrow your talent pool
→ Why CVs matter less as AI makes every application look perfect
→ A 30 second reset to calm interview nerves
Looks Good on Paper is hosted by Anita Chauhan and powered by Willo. Season 4 is about people being more than a CV, and everything the document leaves out, on both sides of the hiring table.
GUEST
Robert Liedtka: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liedtka/
Gong: https://www.gong.io
YOUR HOST
Anita Chauhan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anitachauhan/
LISTEN AND FOLLOW
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@looksgoodonpaperpodcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/looks-good-on-paper/id1625835562
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0dbfz6y0tMq3crViHQD66H
All episodes: looksgoodonpaper.willo.video
POWERED BY WILLO
https://www.willo.video/looks-good-on-paper
CONNECT WITH US
Willo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10170893/
Enjoyed it? Share it with someone who hires, and follow the show so you catch every episode.
Quality of hire is how well a person performs and stays after they are hired. In this Looks Good on Paper episode, Gong’s Robert Liedtka explains why it is a better measure than time to fill and how AI and interview transcripts can improve it.
Episode Summary field: Gong’s Robert Liedtka on why quality of hire beats time to fill, how AI and interview transcripts can sharpen hiring, and why the CV is losing its grip.
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
Robert Liedtka
Robert Liedtka is Senior Director of Talent Operations and AI Strategy at Gong. Across a 20 year career in talent acquisition, including Google, Meta and MongoDB, he has worked on both the delivery side and the operations side of the function.
Robert’s point is that a CV can’t close the gap between what someone can do and what they can show in the room. That is the whole idea behind Willo.
Candidates answer your questions on video in their own time, and your team assesses what they say.
Resources
Follow on LinkedIn
Join the conversation on hiring, hear fresh perspectives and share your own.
Connect with Anita
Got a question or a different take? Drop Anita a message and keep talking.
Read our research
Discover what candidates and employers are thinking through our Hiring Trends Reports and latest findings.
Willo blog
Find practical advice and new ideas to try with your hiring team.
Explore HireMap
See where people are hiring around the world and discover opportunities beyond your own postcode.
Product roadmap
Explore what's coming next at Willo and how we're helping teams hire better.
