Why 'Great on Paper' so often fails in reality
In Product and UX hiring, few things are more frustrating than a candidate who looks exceptional on paper but underwhelms in role. The CV is polished, the portfolio is slick, the interview answers sound right, yet six months in, impact is limited and momentum stalls.
This disconnect isn’t accidental. Product and UX roles reward judgment, decision-making and the ability to operate in ambiguity. These are precisely the qualities that are hardest to represent on a CV. As a result, many hiring processes optimise for presentation rather than capability.
The 3 biggest problems with CVs in Product & UX recruitment
1. Inflated titles and vague ownership
“Senior”, “Lead” or even “Head of” can mean entirely different things depending on company size, maturity and structure. CVs often state “end-to-end ownership” without clarifying what that actually involved, such as the scope, constraints, decision rights or accountability for outcomes.
2. Tool-centric storytelling
Frameworks, tools and methodologies dominate many CVs. While familiarity matters, listing Jira or Figma tells you very little about how someone thinks. Product and UX work at more senior levels should be less about the tools used and more about the decisions made with them.
3. Outcome-free achievements
Activities are frequently presented as impact. Features launched, redesigns delivered, roadmaps owned, but with little clarity on what changed as a result, or how much influence the individual truly had.
What to look for instead: Signals that actually predict success
The strongest Head of Product / Product Directors and UX professionals show consistent patterns in how they approach problems, not just isolated successes.
Look for candidates who:
- Explain why decisions were made, not just what was done
- Can articulate trade-offs and constraints clearly
- Show evidence of learning, iteration and course correction
- Are comfortable operating without perfect information
These signals point to judgment – the single most important predictor of long-term success in Product and UX roles.
Interview questions that reveal the truth
Some interview questions are easy to rehearse. Others are much harder to fake.
Effective prompts include:
- “What didn’t you ship, and why?”
- “Tell me about a decision you later reversed.”
- “Where did stakeholder pressure influence the outcome?”
- “What would you do differently with hindsight?”
These questions shift the conversation away from polished narratives and towards real-world decision-making. They also reveal how candidates reflect on their work, handle uncertainty and take accountability.
How to assess UX & UI talent beyond the portfolio
Portfolios are valuable, but they often over-index on visual output and underplay problem-solving. Beautiful work can disguise shallow thinking, just as understated visuals can mask excellent UX judgment.
To assess UX and UI talent properly:
- Probe the constraints behind the work – time, data, stakeholders, technology
- Ask how success was measured and validated
- Explore collaboration with Product, Engineering and Marketing
Better prompts include:
- “What assumptions were you testing here?”
- “How did you know this was the right solution?”
- “What would you change if you revisited this project today?”
The interview signals that matter most
Certain behaviours consistently separate high performers from strong talkers.
Positive signals
- Structured, logical thinking
- Ability to explain complex ideas simply
- Awareness of commercial, user and technical impact
Red flags
- Over-claiming individual credit
- Vague or borrowed metrics
- Hero-style narratives that minimise team contribution
Clarity and honesty tend to correlate far more strongly with performance than confidence alone.
How specialist recruiters reduce hiring risk
Specialist Product and UX recruiters spend every day calibrating candidates across different companies, stages and expectations. This makes it easier to spot inflated CVs, translate experience into real capability, and challenge weak signals before they reach interview.
The value isn’t just access to candidates, it’s context. Understanding what “good” looks like across the market, and how it changes by role and organisation.
Conclusion: Hire for thinking, not formatting
CVs are a useful starting point, but they’re a poor proxy for judgment. In Product and UX hiring, the most reliable indicator of success is how someone thinks when the answer isn’t obvious.
By shifting focus away from formatting and towards decision-making, hiring managers dramatically improve their chances of making strong, long-term hires and avoiding costly mistakes.
If you’re looking to grow your Product or UX team, visit our I need to hire page to tell us about your vacancy. Or, if you’re searching for your next senior role, browse our live jobs to see current opportunities.
