When Good Candidates Don’t Get Hired (and Why That Happens)

In our first short episode Matt and James dive into something every hiring manager and recruiter has faced: Candidates who seem like a great fit — strong CV, good early interviews — but don’t make it through. Or, just as often, the ones that slip through the cracks but might have been the right hire.Drawing on Matt’s years of experience leading engineering teams, we talk through:Why hiring starts with understanding the real problem you’re solvingHow the cost of a “wrong hire” compares to the risk of missing the right personWhat makes hiring for deep tech roles fundamentally different from product-focused startupsWhy values alignment can matter more than technical brillianceWhat engineers should look for when evaluating whether a startup is worth joiningIf you're scaling a team or navigating your next move as an engineer, this episode offers a grounded look at where things go right — and wrong — in the hiring process.🔎 Full episodes & show notes at whatnext.dev