How to Weed Out Unqualified Applicants for Executive Roles

Most of the work in hiring an executive is deciding who not to interview. (If you are the candidate, see our post on common executive resume mistakes for the other side of this screen.) A single opening can bring in dozens of resumes, and a senior interview costs hours of your own time and other people's. The goal is to catch the mismatch early, politely, and on evidence.

Contractors report that candidate quality is the main obstacle. In AGC and NCCER's 2026 workforce survey, half of respondents said available candidates lack the skills, certificates or licenses they need. In the 2025 survey, 41% of firms said candidates lacked required credentials such as a license, work permit or clean background check, and 48% said new hires fail to show up or quit soon after starting (AGC and NCCER, 2025). Those problems can be screened for. Here is how.

1. Write the posting to filter

A vague posting draws everybody. A specific one draws fewer applicants, and more of them are right.

State the requirements as requirements:

• Years and type of experience. "Ten or more years running vertical construction projects over $50 million" screens better than "extensive experience."
• Credentials that are mandatory. Name the license, the state, and any certification. If the role needs a PE, say so. If it needs OSHA 30 or a specific delivery-method background, say that too. The 2025 survey found 41% of firms struggling with candidates who lack required credentials, so put them in the first paragraph.
• Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves. Two short lists, labeled. People self-select out of the first list and apply anyway to the second.
• Tools and systems. Name the estimating, scheduling, and project management software the person will use daily.
• Location and travel. Say where the job is, whether relocation is supported, and what percentage of the time the person will be on the road or at job sites.
• Pay. Put in the range. If your company has staff in Colorado, state law requires postings to include a pay range, a general description of benefits and other compensation, an application deadline, and how to apply. Check the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment guidance and your counsel for how it applies to your roles, including remote ones. Even outside Colorado, a range saves everyone time. People whose expectations are far off will not apply.
• Conditions. Hours, field versus office split, and on-call expectations. Surprises here cost you candidates late in the process.

A posting that reads like a real job gets applications from people who want that job.

2. Read resumes for specific red flags

You are not looking for a perfect document. You are looking for signs that the person's record does not match their claims. Check these:

Titles with no scale. A "Senior Project Manager" with no project sizes, team sizes, or contract types could be anyone. A candidate who has run large work usually says so, with figures.

Claims without results. Lists of strengths such as "excellent leader" and "strong in cost control" with nothing behind them are a warning. Look for bullets with outcomes: dollars, schedule, safety, retention.

Unexplained gaps or frequent short stints. Gaps happen for many reasons, including layoffs, illness, family care, and project cycles that end. In construction, a person can leave a job when a project finishes, so short stints can be normal for a project-based career. The issue is a pattern with no explanation. Mark them and ask on the first call.

Mismatched dates or titles. Compare the resume to LinkedIn. Small differences are normal. Large ones are not.

A generic document. If nothing in the resume touches your project type or your market, the person is probably sending it everywhere. That is allowed, but it signals low interest.

Errors in a document about attention to detail. One typo means little. Several, in a resume for a role that requires careful reading of contracts and specs, are a poor sign.

Missing credentials. If a license is required and does not appear, ask once, plainly. Verify it with the state board before an interview if it is a hard requirement.

3. Screen by phone before you meet

A twenty-minute call removes many candidates cheaply. Use the same short list for every candidate so you can compare:

1. Walk me through your last two roles and why you moved.
2. What is the largest project you have been accountable for? What was your part?
3. Which of our listed requirements is your weakest, and how have you handled it before?
4. What compensation range are you targeting, and what would make you move?
5. When could you start, and is there anything that limits relocation or travel?

Listen for direct answers. A candidate who answers a question you did not ask, or avoids the one you did, is giving you data. Write down what they said, in their words, right after the call.

A 2017 CareerBuilder survey of 2,257 hiring managers and HR professionals found that 45% of employers who made a bad hire said the person lacked abilities they claimed to have when hired (HR Dive, 2017). Test claims early.

4. Build interview questions from the job

Generic questions get rehearsed answers. Ask about the work.

For a construction manager, for example, you might ask:

• Describe a project where the schedule slipped by more than a month. What caused it, what did you change, and what was the result?
• How do you build and defend a GMP? What did you do when the owner changed scope halfway through?
• Tell me about a safety incident on one of your jobs. What was your role, and what changed afterward?
• How do you decide when to hold a subcontractor to the contract and when to work something out?

For managers, BLS notes that construction experience matters, especially for those without a bachelor's degree, so ask what the person did on the job, not only where they worked. Follow every answer with "what was your specific part?" Candidates who led the work can say so in detail. Candidates who were on the team usually cannot.

Then ask culture questions that are tied to the actual environment: how they handle conflict with an owner, how they work with a boss who is hands-on or hands-off, what kind of company they have done best in. You are screening for how they will fit and stay, not for charm.

5. Watch the process, not just the answers

How a candidate behaves during hiring predicts some of how they will behave on the job. Note:

• Whether they reply to emails promptly and send documents on time.
• Whether they arrive on time and prepared.
• Whether they have read about your company and ask questions that show it.
• Whether their stories stay consistent from the phone screen to the final round.
• Whether they treat everyone they meet well.

Write these down alongside the technical notes. They tend to be obvious in hindsight and easy to overlook in the moment.

6. Do the reference checks

Do not skip them because the role is urgent. A rushed hire is where most of the damage comes from. What a bad executive hire costs is worth reading before you skip a step.

• Ask for supervisors, not friends. If the candidate's list is all peers or family, ask for a former boss.
• Call at least two people who supervised the candidate directly, ideally from the two most recent roles.
• Ask specific questions: What were they responsible for? How did they handle pressure? Would you rehire them? What would they need from a manager to do their best work?
• Compare what the reference says to what the candidate told you. A mismatch on scope, dates, or reason for leaving is worth a follow-up.
• Verify licenses and degrees directly with the issuing board or institution.

A reference who is slow to say anything positive is also telling you something. Take notes on tone as well as content.

7. Give yourself a fixed process

Decide the sequence before the first resume comes in: posting, resume screen, phone screen, first interview, second interview with the team, references, offer. Write the criteria you will use at each step. Use the same criteria for every candidate. This keeps a persuasive interview from overriding what the record shows, and it keeps you consistent if you ever need to explain a decision.

If the volume is more than you can handle, or the role is confidential, a search firm can run the first three steps and hand you a short list. The S.R. Clarke Group has done this for construction and infrastructure employers since 1979. Our post on choosing a search firm covers what to ask before you hire one. See how it works on our employers page, or contact us about a current search.