My worst engineering hire came with a flawless resume. My best one had a 2-year employment gap.

Two years ago, I hired a senior dev from a top-tier tech company. Great credentials, spotless GitHub, aced every technical interview step. Six weeks in, it was a nightmare—he wouldn't push code without endless spec documents, refused to touch legacy code, and couldn't operate without direct management.

A few months later, I took a gamble on an applicant who had a 2-year gap on her CV (she took time off to care for a sick family member while running a tiny local freelance gig).

During the interview, instead of talking about frameworks, she talked about outcomes:

• How she handled clients when deadlines slipped.

• How she debugged broken sites at 2 AM without documentation.

• Why simple, maintainable code beats clever code every time.

She’s been with us for 18 months now and has practically rewritten our core engine. She doesn't wait for permission or perfect specs—she just solves problems.

Pedigree looks great on LinkedIn, but resourcefulness is what actually keeps early-stage products alive. What unconventional trait do you look for when hiring early team members?