If I had to name one thing that’s holding tech companies back, it wouldn’t be a lack of funding, or tools, or even talent. It’s the obsession with perfection. The resume that ticks every box. The candidate who looks “just right” on paper. The safe choice.
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But some of the best people I’ve hired were never the perfect fit.

I’ve spent over a decade leading talent acquisition at global companies like Andela and Netflix, hiring hundreds of engineers, creatives, product managers, and senior leaders across Africa, the UK, and EMEA. I’ve seen the impact that world-class talent can have on revenue, innovation, inclusion, and growth. But I’ve also seen how often brilliant people get overlooked simply because they don’t fit into a neat, traditional profile.

And it’s costing us more than we realise.

The hidden gems you’re missing

At Andela, our mission was to identify and connect Africa’s top engineering talent with companies around the world. But these weren’t engineers with Ivy League degrees or fancy job titles. Some had never even left their home countries. Some had gaps in their CVs. Others were self-taught, working out of cyber cafés, hustling to learn JavaScript on mobile data.

But when given the right structure and support, many of them outperformed global peers. They solved complex problems, scaled systems across borders, and brought a hunger and originality that elevated entire teams.

These developers weren’t “perfect fits.” They were better.

I remember hiring the first female engineer in Egypt for Andela. She didn’t come through the usual channels. She hadn’t worked in a global tech company before. But her grit, discipline, and sharp thinking made her a standout leader within months.

In Ghana, the same story repeated itself. A young woman walked into a hiring event unsure if she even belonged there. Six months later, she was working on international projects with clients who trusted her implicitly.

We didn’t find her. We created space for her.

Why the best talent isn’t always loud

In 2020, as the pandemic hit and tech companies scrambled to adapt, we had to rebuild global hiring from scratch at Andela. Suddenly we were hiring across Latin America and Europe with a tiny team and high expectations.

That’s when I truly saw the power of hiring for potential, not polish.

The people who stepped up weren’t always the ones with the loudest voices or the longest resumes. They were the ones who were agile. Resourceful. Committed. Curious. People who didn’t need constant direction because they had clarity of purpose. People who saw ambiguity as an invitation to create.

At Netflix, I carried that same lens into our hiring strategies. When we launched a new engineering hub in Poland, the goal wasn’t just to hire fast. It was to hire right. We looked for problem-solvers. Storytellers. Builders. Not just coders.

And the result? We scaled a team that wasn’t just strong on paper, but strong in culture, creativity, and resilience.

What tech hiring gets wrong

Most companies treat recruitment as a checklist.

University? Check.
Company pedigree? Check.
No gaps? Check.
Buzzwords? Check.

And yet, these same companies then struggle with diversity, with culture fit, with innovation, with retention.

Here’s the truth. If you only hire what you already understand, you’ll only build what you’ve already seen.
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The best companies I’ve worked with are those willing to be surprised. Willing to trust a candidate’s story over their formatting. Willing to mentor someone who shows potential, even if they don’t check every box. These are the employees who are likely to have a truly diverse perspective. The ones who are likely to display high levels of flexibility and adaptability.

Inclusion isn’t a numbers game. It’s a mindset.

Redefining value in tech teams

When people ask me what makes a great hire, I rarely talk about hard skills.

I talk about adaptability.
I talk about empathy.
I talk about the ability to learn quickly and teach others.
I talk about values, not just in a brochure, but in real-time, high-pressure, company-defining moments.

You can teach someone to use a tool. You can’t teach hunger. You can’t teach ownership. You can’t teach that moment when someone sees a broken process and quietly builds something better.

So if we’re building tech for the future, why are we still hiring like it’s the past?

The cost of ignoring the overlooked

Every time a hiring manager dismisses a candidate because “they haven’t worked at the right companies” or “they’re not confident enough,” I think of all the people I’ve seen rise when someone took a chance on them. Including myself.

I think of the developer who started off painfully shy but built a product that scaled across 12 countries.
I think of the engineer who didn’t pass her first interview but was invited to try again, and is now leading her own team.
I think of the talent in Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Uganda, Poland, and London, all of whom needed just one open door to prove what they were capable of.

How many people like that are you walking past because you’re only looking for perfection?
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What leaders need to change now

If we want to future-proof our companies, we need to reimagine our hiring playbook.

Start by listening differently with true curiosity.. Ask better questions. Look for stories, not just statistics. Build hiring panels that include multiple perspectives. Don’t just make your processes diverse, make your expectations human.

And when you find someone with fire in their eyes and gaps in their CV, don’t dismiss them. Be aware of unconscious bias, provide the right structure, support, and an enabling environment and culture. Then watch what they build.

To every overlooked builder

If you’ve ever been told you weren’t ready, weren’t qualified, weren’t experienced enough, don’t shrink.

You are the reason some of us stepped into talent in the first place. Because we’ve seen what happens when someone believes in the underdog. We’ve seen how a single shot can become a story that inspires a continent.

We see you and you matter greatly. You don’t have to be a perfect fit. You just need one chance.

And if I’m ever in the room, I’ll fight to make sure you get it.
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