#127: What we learned from hiring dozens of people in this market | Jori Bell (VP, Core Experience @ Hampton)

What are hiring managers actually looking for right now, when everyone has a polished resume and nobody knows what the job will look like in a year?

In this episode of Supra Insider, Marc Baselga and Ben Erez welcome back Jori Bell, VP of Core Experience at Hampton, where she runs the peer group experience for high-growth founders. Jori sits at an unusual intersection: she has spent the past year hiring for her own team while also coaching product leaders through the existential side of this market. She explains the mindset she screens for, borrowed from the drama triangle, and why she would rather hire someone adaptable than someone who has done the exact job before.

They explore why a brand name on your resume opens doors but no longer closes them, the “why you” question most candidates never answer well, what actually makes an outreach message worth acting on, and what a year of hiring taught her about connections, in-person onsites, and treating a job posting like a marketing campaign.

If you’re job searching and unsure what to lead with, hiring and rethinking your process, or a product leader trying to figure out what this moment asks of you, this episode is for you.

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In this episode, we covered the following topics:

* (01:28) Jori’s three vantage points: leading Core at Hampton, coaching product leaders, and her own path

* (03:37) The drama triangle, and why she hires for a creator mindset over a victim one

* (06:54) Why brand names open doors but no longer close them

* (10:29) What to do when your company restricts your tools, including extending STAR with the hypothetical

* (13:07) Why LinkedIn is now the first artifact she looks at, and the resume comes later

* (14:49) Storytelling as marketing: the headline, and the “why you” most candidates fail to answer

* (21:31) Specialization versus adaptability, and why having done the job can be a hindrance

* (26:26) What actually stands out on LinkedIn, and it isn’t the profile

* (31:39) If you need something from someone, do the work and make it dead simple

* (37:13) Leaving people excited, and the mind-meld moment that earns a second conversation

* (45:40) A year of hiring: connections, in-person onsites, and the clown car

* (49:25) Where she lands on take-homes versus case study interviews

* (58:14) Running a job posting like a marketing campaign, with a hit list for outreach

* (1:09:48) Gratitude Corner: Jori thanks her coach, Mike Lewis

* And more!

Links:

* Jori’s Substack, Product Therapy: https://www.joribell.com/

* Jori’s hiring for: https://joinhampton.com/careers/Moderator-Success-Lead

* Mike Lewis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikelewis/

* Jori’s first appearance on Supra Insider:

https://suprainsider.substack.com/p/67-untangling-identity-from-job-title?r=486xld

* Jori Bell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jori-bell/

* Marc: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbaselga/

* Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benerez/

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