When Experience Isn’t Enough: What We Miss When Hiring Smart People

When Smart Hires Still Go Sideways

I spoke about something I’ve learned the hard way:
I’ve hired smart people and still ended up with the wrong fit. Not because they lacked experience or couldn’t do the job — but because we didn’t click where it mattered: in how we think, make decisions, handle pressure, or solve problems.

What Helped Me Fix It

Eventually, I found a way to spot that earlier.
NLP metaprograms helped me stop relying on resumes, smooth interviews, or gut feeling alone.

Instead of guessing how someone works, we started asking better questions — the kind that reveal how they actually approach things: This was the strongest talk of the event. Petar explained how, in every company, people either act like players or victims. Great leaders don’t force change, they guide people through it.

• How do you prepare for a vacation?
• When you’re buying something important, what matters most?

These sound random, but they tell you everything about how someone processes info, makes choices, and shows up in a team.

What I Covered in 5 Minutes

DisruptHR has one rule: 5 minutes. 20 slides. 15 seconds per slide.

Here’s what I got into:

• Why experience isn’t enough
• What people don’t say in interviews (and what that means)
• How to spot deep alignment before someone’s on payroll
• What’s worked for us at SmartClick — and what hasn’t

The Room Felt Real

The event wasn’t just packed — it had energy. Speakers who said what they actually think.
A crowd full of people who’ve hired, fired, led teams, and tried to make sense of it all. And if you’ve ever hired someone and thought, “How did we get this so wrong?” then this talk was probably for you.

Final Thoughts

If you were at the event  or if this struck a chord, let’s keep the conversation going. DMs are open.
Always up for comparing notes on what’s working (and what still doesn’t) when building teams that actually work well together.