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Hiring TipsMay 21, 20253 min read

The Scope Creep Is Real: Why You're Still Hiring After 9 Interviews

Vetta Team

Author

🧠 It Starts With a Simple Job Post…

You define the problem.
You draft a role.
You post the listing.

Then you start interviewing.

And that's when it happens.

"Oh, this candidate mentioned product analytics. Do we want that too?"
"She's great at onboarding—maybe we need more of that."
"We should probably find someone who's built a full reporting suite, just in case."

Before you know it, you're not hiring for the role you posted.
You're hiring for something new. Something… bigger.
Something fuzzier.

You're chasing the ghost of an ever-expanding unicorn.


🚨 This Is Scope Creep. And It's Killing Your Hiring Process.

Scope creep isn't just a project management problem.
It's one of the biggest hidden reasons hiring stalls out.

It leads to:

  • Endless interviews
  • Shifting expectations
  • Internal misalignment
  • Candidates dropping out mid-process
  • Confused onboarding when you finally hire someone who never got a clear brief

And worst of all?

It creates a false narrative that "no one's a perfect fit."


🪞 Every Interview Teaches You Something. That's Good—Until It's Not.

You're supposed to learn from interviews.
You're not supposed to rewrite the job after every candidate.

If you find yourself "reopening the search" after seeing a few new skills you liked…
You're not refining your expectations. You're moving the goalposts.

And candidates? They feel it.

They sense the shifting tone.
The new questions.
The different priorities from each round.

That's when the good ones start walking.


✅ How to Unshitify Scope Creep

  1. Define the problem—not just the person
    Don't build your job post around traits. Build it around what this role is meant to solve.
  2. Lock the "must-haves" before you post
    Not "nice to have if they show up." Define your non-negotiables early and stick to them.
  3. Document what you're learning—don't react to it live
    Use insights from interviews to inform future roles, not the current one.
  4. Let AI hold the line
    Vetta's outcome-based matching keeps the focus on solving a defined problem—not chasing buzzwords or candidate charisma.

💡 Final Thought: You're Not Hiring a Wishlist

You're hiring a person to solve a specific problem.

If your job description keeps expanding, you're not refining—you're drifting.

Unshitify your process by anchoring it in outcomes, not hypotheticals.

Ready to stay focused on what matters?

See how we help teams stay focused →

#UnshitifyHiring #ScopeCreep #HiringFail #HRTech #OutcomeBasedHiring #Vetta #HiringStrategy

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