If you are struggling to fill entry-level roles, the problem likely isn't a lack of applicants; it is the quality of the 'fit'. You need people who see your vacancy as a starting line, not a waiting room. Spotting commitment in candidates requires moving past the CV and asking questions that reveal a person's appetite for growth and their ability to handle the reality of being a trainee.
Why traditional CVs fail the commitment test
A CV tells you what a 19-year-old has done, which, by definition, isn't much. It rarely tells you if they actually want to be a software developer, a quantity surveyor, or a digital marketer. When you rely solely on keyword-matching for experience that a young person cannot possibly have yet, you end up hiring the best 'paper' candidate rather than the most coachable one.
This leads to high attrition. If a candidate is just looking for "a job," they will leave as soon as a slightly better-paying "job" appears. To find the ones who will stay, you have to look for evidence of self-driven learning and a genuine interest in your specific industry.
Question 1: "What have you taught yourself in the last six months?"
This is the single most effective way of spotting commitment in candidates. In a world where free courses and YouTube tutorials are ubiquitous, a candidate with genuine hunger will have tried to learn the basics on their own time.
You aren't looking for a PhD. You are looking for the person who spent their weekends learning the fundamentals of Python, or the applicant who watched three hours of videos on how to use a CRM because they saw it mentioned in your job description.
What to look for in the answer:
- Specificity: Did they name a specific tool, language, or process?
- Resourcefulness: Did they find the information themselves?
- Persistence: Did they encounter a problem and try to solve it?
Question 2: "Can you show me a project you worked on outside of school or college?"
This is the cornerstone of portfolio-based hiring. A portfolio isn't just for graphic designers. A budding coder might have a GitHub repository; a future project manager might have organised a local charity event; a marketing trainee might have grown a small social media account for a hobby.
When you ask to see a project, you are looking for proof of work. It shows they can take a brief (even one they set themselves) and see it through to completion. It moves the conversation from "I am a hard worker" to "Here is something I built."
To implement this this week, add a "Portfolio or Project Link" field to your application form. Even a simple PDF describing a personal project is more valuable than a generic cover letter.
Question 3: "When you've hit a wall learning something new, how did you handle it?"
Training an entry-level employee is an investment of your time. The biggest risk is a candidate who gives up when the "new job" excitement wears off and the hard work of learning begins.
This question targets their resilience and their "trainability." You want to hear about a time they felt out of their depth and what steps they took to get back on track. A candidate who says, "I asked for help and then practiced the specific part I didn't understand," is a candidate who will thrive in a structured apprenticeship environment.
How to score these answers
To keep your hiring objective, use a simple three-point scorecard for these questions:
- Low: Vague answers, no evidence of self-study, seems motivated only by the salary.
- Medium: Can point to some self-learning but lacks a clear "why" or a finished project.
- High: Clearly demonstrates a "proactive" mindset with a tangible project or specific learning journey.
If you find a candidate who scores highly on hunger but lacks technical skill, hire them anyway. Skills can be taught; the drive to use them cannot. Large organisations already use this model for highly competitive roles, such as the IBM Z Apprenticeship at IBM UK, where the focus is on potential and the capacity to learn complex systems from scratch.
Shine’s portfolio-based candidate profiles and role screening help you bypass the noise of generic CVs and identify the applicants who have already started their journey in your industry. Once you have identified these high-potential individuals, get them into a task-based interview as quickly as possible to see their commitment in action.