Episodes

  • Why You Should Hire Someone Who Failed Publicly

    Why You Should Hire Someone Who Failed Publicly
    Jul 1 2026
    In this episode of Hiring & Firing with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore why candidates who have experienced a public failure often make stronger hires than those with pristine resumes. They examine a 2025 study from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business showing that entrepreneurs who failed before age 35 and started a second venture performed 18% better on average than first-time founders. The hosts discuss the concept of 'failure literacy' — the ability to articulate what went wrong, own the mistake, and describe specific changes made — and why it predicts resilience, coachability, and problem-solving more reliably than a string of promotions. They also unpack how interviewers can probe failure stories without triggering defensiveness, using a framework called the 'postmortem question.' Whether you're hiring for a startup, a corporate team, or a non-profit, this episode will change how you evaluate a candidate's low points. #Hiring #Failure #Resilience #InterviewTechniques #Entrepreneurship #UniversityOfChicago #BoothSchool #StartupCulture #TalentAcquisition #Leadership #GrowthMindset #WorkforceDevelopment #BusinessStrategy #Podcast #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #HiringAndFiring #Recruitment Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    11 mins
  • Why Your Interview Should Include a Hands-On Work Sample

    Why Your Interview Should Include a Hands-On Work Sample
    Jul 1 2026
    Most interviews test how well someone sells themselves, not how well they do the job. This episode digs into the growing body of evidence that work-sample tests — a 30-minute task that mirrors actual job duties — predict on-the-job performance more than twice as accurately as traditional interviews. We look at a specific case: a mid-size B2B software company that introduced a coding exercise for its support engineers and saw time-to-competency drop from nine weeks to five, plus a 30 percent improvement in first-call resolution. Lucas and Luna debate whether work samples can work for non-technical roles like sales or management, and discuss common pushback: candidates who refuse, the risk of bias, and how to design a task that feels fair. If you've ever sat through an interview that felt like a performance rather than a real test of ability, this one's for you. #Hiring #Interviews #WorkSampleTest #TalentAcquisition #Recruitment #PerformancePrediction #SkillBasedHiring #EmploymentTesting #HiringBias #JobFit #CandidateExperience #HROptimization #BusinessPodcast #HiringAndFiring #FexingoBusiness #LucasAndLuna #WorkSample #Assessment Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    10 mins
  • How One Company Hires Exclusively by Referral Only

    How One Company Hires Exclusively by Referral Only
    Jun 30 2026
    Episode 84 of Hiring & Firing with Fexingo explores the radical referral-only hiring model at a mid-sized tech firm in Austin. Lucas breaks down how the company achieved a 60% lower turnover rate and 40% faster time-to-fill by requiring every candidate to come with an internal referral. Luna challenges the model on diversity risks, and Lucas shares surprising data about their demographic outcomes. The episode also covers the three-tiered referral bonus structure and the cultural shift required to make it work. A concrete case for any leader considering tightening their hiring funnel. #ReferralOnlyHiring #EmployeeReferrals #HiringStrategy #TalentAcquisition #TurnoverReduction #TimeToFill #RecruitmentMetrics #DiversityHiring #TechHiring #AustinTech #CompanyCulture #ReferralBonus #HRStrategy #Business #Podcast #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #HiringAndFiring Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    10 mins
  • Why Hiring for Resilience Beats Any Other Quality

    Why Hiring for Resilience Beats Any Other Quality
    Jun 30 2026
    Lucas opens with a story about a software company that hired a candidate with a perfect resume but who quit after three weeks because they couldn't handle a single critical code review. This leads to a discussion about the single best predictor of long-term employee success: resilience. Lucas shares data from a Google study on high-performing teams that found psychological safety was the top factor, and contrasts it with a study from the University of Pennsylvania that showed grit scores outperformed IQ in predicting retention at a call center. Luna challenges whether resilience can really be assessed in an interview, and Lucas walks through a specific question used by a hedge fund: 'Tell me about a time you failed and what you learned.' He cites a study showing that candidates who can describe the failure and the lesson with specific detail are 40% less likely to quit within six months. Luna points out that candidates can rehearse answers, and Lucas counters with a technique called 'laddering' — asking follow-up questions that probe for concrete details the candidate can't fake. The episode closes with Lucas suggesting that in a tight labor market, resilience might be the most undervalued trait. #Hiring #Resilience #PsychologySafety #Grit #InterviewTechnique #EmployeeRetention #GoogleStudy #UniversityOfPennsylvania #CallCenter #HedgeFund #BehavioralInterviewing #Laddering #Performance #CultureFit #TalentAcquisition #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 mins
  • Why You Should Interview the Person Who Almost Got the Job

    Why You Should Interview the Person Who Almost Got the Job
    Jun 29 2026
    Most companies hire one candidate and ghost the rest. But a growing body of research shows that second-place finalists — people who came within a single interview of an offer — represent one of the highest-quality talent pools available. In this episode, Lucas and Luna examine a 2025 study from the Society for Human Resource Management that tracked 1,200 finalists across 40 companies. The study found that second-place candidates hired for subsequent roles within the same firm had a 92% one-year retention rate — higher than first-choice hires — and outperformed their peers on performance reviews by an average of 16%. We drill into the data, explore why near-miss candidates bring higher motivation and lower risk of entitlement, and look at how companies like Progressive Insurance and Men's Wearhouse institutionalized 'second-look' hiring pipelines that reduced time-to-fill by 30%. The episode also covers the psychological principle known as the scarcity effect — how being rejected once can actually increase a candidate's desire to join. Practical advice: keep a 'silver medal' tier in your applicant tracking system and send personalized closure emails that invite reapplication for future roles. #SecondChanceHiring #SilverMedalCandidates #TalentAcquisition #RecruitmentStrategy #CandidateExperience #HiringBias #Retention #PerformanceManagement #HRResearch #SHRM #ProgressiveInsurance #MensWearhouse #ScarcityEffect #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #HiringAndFiring #WorkforcePlanning Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 mins
  • How One Question Identifies Culture Add in an Interview

    How One Question Identifies Culture Add in an Interview
    Jun 29 2026
    In this episode of Hiring & Firing with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore why 'culture fit' is a flawed hiring lens and how a single question can reframe the search toward 'culture add.' They walk through the 2025 study from Harvard Business School and the University of Chicago that analyzed 50,000 interview transcripts. The question — 'What’s a project you started that didn’t exist before you got there?' — is not about past roles but about proactive contribution. The hosts break down why the question uncovers three key traits: initiative, ownership, and adaptability. They also discuss how companies like Pixar and Bridgewater have used similar framing to build more innovative teams. By shifting from assimilation to addition, hiring managers can avoid groupthink and boost retention by an estimated 28 percent according to the study. A practical, evidence-based episode for anyone who hires. #CultureAdd #CultureFit #Hiring #InterviewQuestions #HiringAndFiring #Business #Podcast #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #TalentAcquisition #Recruitment #HR #HarvardStudy #UniversityOfChicago #Pixar #Bridgewater #Innovation #Retention Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 mins
  • The One Question That Reveals a Candidate Coachability

    The One Question That Reveals a Candidate Coachability
    Jun 28 2026
    In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the single interview question that can predict how responsive a candidate will be to feedback and growth. Drawing on a 2025 study from the Journal of Applied Psychology that tracked 1,200 hires over 18 months, they discuss why 'Tell me about a time you changed your mind about something important at work' is more revealing than traditional behavioral questions. Lucas shares examples from a Fortune 500 tech firm that cut early attrition by 40 percent using this approach, and Luna pushes back on whether candidates can game the answer. The hosts also examine the counterintuitive finding that candidates who offer a specific, low-stakes change of mind often outperform those who cite dramatic, high-stakes shifts. No ads, just actionable insights. #HiringAndFiring #Recruitment #InterviewQuestions #Coachability #CandidateAssessment #FeedbackCulture #BehavioralInterviewing #GrowthMindset #HiringStrategy #TalentAcquisition #EmployeeRetention #PerformancePrediction #JournalOfAppliedPsychology #Fortune500 #TechHiring #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    9 mins
  • The Silent Exit How Ghosting Candidates Destroys Your Brand

    The Silent Exit How Ghosting Candidates Destroys Your Brand
    Jun 28 2026
    In this episode of Hiring & Firing, Lucas and Luna dive into the growing problem of candidate ghosting — where companies simply stop responding to applicants after interviews. They discuss the psychological impact on candidates, the hidden costs to employer brand, and the surprising data showing that ghosted candidates are 40% less likely to buy from your company. Using examples from a large tech firm that tracked its ghosting rate and a startup that turned rejection into a competitive advantage, they offer practical strategies to maintain respect and reputation even when saying no. Specific advice includes: setting clear timelines, using automated but personalized rejection emails, and why a two-sentence 'we went another direction' is better than silence. A must-listen for any hiring manager or recruiter who wants to protect their company's long-term talent pipeline. #CandidateGhosting #EmployerBrand #Recruitment #Hiring #TalentAcquisition #JobSearch #InterviewProcess #CandidateExperience #HR #Recruiting #Ghosting #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #HiringAndFiring #WorkforceDecisions #Performance #RecruitmentStrategy Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 mins