Hiring Sales Talent? Here's Why You Should Look Beyond the CV

In the world of early-career recruitment, it’s tempting to let CVs do the heavy lifting. After all, they’re quick to skim and easy to filter, but when it comes to identifying standout sales talent, CVs can be misleading. At Furza, we’ve spent years connecting businesses with top early-career salespeople, and one thing is clear: the best candidates aren’t always the ones with the perfect CV and polished credentials. 

So, how do you find those high-potential individuals who will thrive in sales? Here’s how we navigate the challenge and how you can too.

Why CVs Don't Tell the Whole Story

Around since the 1950s, CVs still dominate the early stages of most hiring processes. They might feel like the logical and familiar place to start, but the world of work is changing, and so are candidate expectations. In fact, young jobseekers are starting to see CVs as more of a barrier than a gateway. According to research by software company Arctic Shores:

• 43% of young people believe CVs are an outdated recruitment model.
• 50% said their experience on a CV wasn’t enough to land them a job.
• 38% would prefer to take a personality assessment instead.

When it comes to identifying early-career sales talent, the limitations of CVs become even more pronounced. Sales isn't a vocational subject, most people don't study it at University, so the traits that lead to success often don't show up on paper. And for many entry-level roles, candidates simply haven’t had the chance to gain traditional experience yet. That doesn’t mean they’re lacking potential.

Relying too heavily on what’s written in black and white can result in missed opportunities:

• Academic achievements don’t always translate to real-world performance.
• Part-time roles might overshadow valuable soft skills like communication or resilience.
• Some high-potential candidates haven’t had a chance to prove themselves — yet.

If your hiring filters are based purely on job titles, degree classifications, or University names, you could be overlooking the very qualities that make someone an exceptional salesperson.

What really matters in early-career sales talent

At Furza, we’re not just looking for experience, we’re looking for sales DNA. That unique combination of traits that signals someone has the potential to thrive in a fast-paced, target-driven environment. And here’s the thing: it’s rarely obvious on a CV.

Instead, it often reveals itself in how a person thinks, behaves and reacts to pressure. The best early-career salespeople don’t necessarily have industry experience, but they do have the core attributes that set them apart once they’re given the chance.

Here are the key traits we prioritise when assessing early-career sales candidates:

• Coachability: Sales is one of the most feedback-rich environments out there. Being able to take guidance on board, adapt quickly and apply that learning in real time is essential. We look for candidates who are open to constructive criticism and show clear signs of self-awareness and improvement.
• Resilience: Rejection is part of the job, especially in outbound sales. What matters is how someone bounces back. We pay close attention to moments in a candidate’s story where they’ve faced setbacks and how they’ve responded.
• Strong communication: Clear, confident communication is a cornerstone of successful selling. It’s not just about speaking well, it’s about listening actively and asking the right questions.
• Curiosity: Great salespeople are naturally curious. They want to understand problems, ask the right questions, and uncover what makes people tick. During our assessment process, we look for genuine engagement, thoughtful questions and a hunger to learn.
• Energy and Drive: Attitude often beats aptitude. We love candidates who bring enthusiasm, urgency, and a sense of purpose, even when they’re nervous or outside their comfort zone. It’s this internal drive that powers long-term performance.
• Growth Mindset: A willingness to learn, evolve and embrace challenges is non-negotiable. We’re not looking for perfection — we’re looking for progress. Candidates who show an eagerness to improve and grow within a role often become top performers.

These traits often emerge through experiences outside of traditional work or education. We see them in candidates who’ve:

• Captained a sports team or taken on leadership roles
• Launched a side hustle or personal project
• Volunteered or supported their community
• Tackled a tough interview exercise with enthusiasm and reflection

Going beyond the CV: How we identify talent at Furza

At Furza, we don’t rely on CVs to tell us who has potential. Instead, we’ve built a rigorous, people-first process that’s designed to surface true sales talent, even when it’s not obvious on paper.

We don’t CV screen. Every candidate we put forward has been selected by our in-house team of specialist recruiters through a proven three-stage process. This approach allows us to identify not just capability, but motivation, mindset and cultural fit, the things that truly determine long-term success in sales. Here’s how we do it:

1. Initial screening call

This is where we start to uncover a candidate’s motivations and interest in a sales career. We explore their communication style, goals and how well they understand what a career in sales really involves.

2. Competency-based interview

We dive deeper into a candidate’s strengths, behaviours, and potential using structured, behavioural interview techniques. This helps us assess traits like resilience, coachability, and problem-solving, the foundations of high performance in sales.

3. Assessment centres

In our assessment sessions, candidates take part in group tasks, role-plays and coaching activities. Furza’s assessment centres provide a 360-degree view of candidates beyond the confines of a well-crafted CV and the structured environment of an interview room, they create an immersive experience that mirrors the challenges and dynamics of real-world sales scenarios. These sessions allow us to observe how they operate in a team, respond to feedback, and handle the types of challenges they’d face in a real sales environment.

We also incorporate tools such as: 

• Structured Interviews: With questions designed to go beyond surface-level answers and reveal how candidates think and react under pressure.
• Video Screening: Short, focused video submissions help us assess tone, confidence and natural communication, all essential traits for client-facing roles.
• Live Coaching and Feedback: We look for how candidates respond in the moment: do they adapt? Do they apply feedback? This is where true potential becomes clear.

Our model has been carefully developed to ensure every candidate we recommend has already shown signs of the sales DNA we know our clients are looking for. By removing the limitations of CV screening and focusing on real human potential, we help businesses hire people who are ready to hit the ground running, even if their experience doesn’t say so yet.

Need help hiring sales talent?

At Furza, we specialise in recruiting, training and developing salespeople. Our rigorous and comprehensive assessment and training process is managed and supported by our in-house team of experts, working in partnership with you to understand what it takes to deliver successful sales professionals within your space, and support you with an end-to-end solution to forge a right-fit salespeople for your organisation.

Contact our team today to discuss a tailored sales recruitment and training programme.