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The Secret to Better Hiring: Why Moms Outshine Unicorn Candidates

  • August, 25 2025
  • 9 min read
By: The Mom Project
African American women looking at glass wall of post it notes

 

The Secret to Better Hiring? Forget the Unicorn. Find the MOM. 


Margins are tight, markets are shifting, workforces are transforming at record speed. 

It’s all heightening the pressure to find that one perfect “unicorn” candidate: someone who has all 30 skills listed in your job posting + fits your culture + plus brings 15 other capabilities into the role + has 20 certifications and advanced degrees + comes in under budget.

But the real tea? Unicorns don’t exist. Neither does that candidate. If they did, they’d be running your company, not vying for that position.   

Let’s face it, there’s a disconnect happening between what’s required “on paper” and what’s truly needed to shine in a role.

That’s why 45% of hiring managers are struggling to find qualified candidates. If you’re one of them, consider this: it might not be the candidates. It might be your definition of qualified.

Your job description and skill expectations set the stage for how the hiring journey unfolds; from the way resumes are vetted to how interviews are conducted to how many job seekers ultimately “swim” in your talent pool. 

It’s time to get real and rethink what an ideal candidate looks like. 

That’s what we do every day at The Mom Project—help clients uncover amazing hires they never would have found: not unicorns, but moms.

When You Stop Searching for the Perfect Match, the Real Magic Happens 

We’ve seen organizations dedicate days, weeks, sometimes months to crafting job postings with an exhaustive list of very specific skills and requirements.

Sometimes it’s due to lack of role clarity, AKA too many internal functions (HR, team leads, the C-suite) weighing in on job descriptions. Sometimes it’s fear of making a bad hire, leading to analysis paralysis and, ultimately, no hire at all. 

Whatever the reason, there’s a resounding connective thread: with top talent in short supply and budgets stretched to their breaking point, companies are under pressure to ensure new hires can hit the ground running and deliver prompt results. 

 Why “Laser Focus” is Working Against You

Rigid job requirements might seem like the answer. Here’s the catch. Having tunnel vision for one theoretical “perfect match” keeps you from recognizing talent that’s actually a great fit. Here’s why:

  • Time is not on your side. The longer a role stays open, the more it impacts your bottom line. Taking too much time to craft a requisition detailing dozens of “must-have capabilities” delays the job posting itself, prolongs the overall hiring process, and discourages great-fit talent from applying if they don’t 100% meet every strict requirement. Having too many rounds of interviews, or too many hoops for candidates to jump through, in the pursuit of getting it perfect leads to hiring paralysis.
  • “Good on paper” is misleading. The #1 complaint we hear from clients when they come to us? In interviews, candidates who were a 100% match in their resume aren’t even close to being a match in reality. Time and resources were wasted chasing the wrong talent, only to be back at square one. Remember, in the age of AI, anyone can claim skills to impress an ATS.
  • Work gaps ≠ skill gaps. There is a persistent bias in the work world that a work gap signals incompetency or lack of “drive.” We can say firsthand that the opposite is true. Candidates we’ve placed who have had gaps in their resumes (typically parents or caregivers) turn out to be the top-performing employees for the organization. If your definition of the perfect candidate includes an uninterrupted career path, you’re excluding the very talent that could transform your business and hampering your talent search.
  • Talent at rest tends to get restless. By requiring that every skill be met, you’re saying “there is no room to elevate your career here.” If someone can already do every facet of a role, they have little reason to pursue a lateral move. Or if they are hired, boredom could send them running for the hills (or a competitor), leaving you back at square one. Loosening the reins on must-have skills increases your talent pool and the possibility of finding an amazing fit that sticks.
  • Geography isn’t in your favor. The post-Covid remote work environment made extraordinary talent easier to find, given the countrywide net most employers could cast. If your organization is now fully in-office, or even hybrid, you already have 55% fewer applicants on average. Why limit it even further with highly restrictive job requirements?   

The Great Reset: Change Your Expectations, Change Your World

At a time when many roles are being combined, it can be tempting to take a “kitchen-sink” approach to hiring; creating pressure to find someone extraordinary instead of building strong teams with complementary strengths.
 
But the chances of finding one person with every skill from two, three, four combined titles—well, let’s say we wouldn’t take those odds to Vegas.
 
A great candidate isn’t one that checks every box. It’s the [person/superstar/mom] who has many of the skills you’re looking for, with added capabilities you didn’t know you needed. They have the drive to exceed expectations. And you’d be wowed by them at every turn.
 
“That candidate that looks like a perfect match? They likely created that resume using AI to align with the job posting. And when they make it to the interview, the wheels come off because the paper and the person behind the paper are very different. Hiring managers feel misled. What looked like a unicorn turned out to be a horse wearing a party hat. That’s why we push for clients to look past rigid resume restrictions to consider close (not perfect!) matches that leave room for upskilling and career growth—matches that end up being a better fit than the company could have imagined.” - Suzie Reed, Senior Manager of Talent Success

When You Stop Screening Out Great Hires, You Start Having Better Success

70% of job applications are never seen by a human.

If you’re like many companies, your tech stack is working against you. 

Your applicant tracking system (ATS) is using keyword matching tools to auto-reject the very people who could transform your business for the better. Especially if there’s a career gap on their resume.

Here’s why: technology aligns with the job parameters you set. 

If it’s trained to screen out resumes that don’t fall within a 90-100% match, it will. If it’s directed to overlook candidates with work gaps, those people remain invisible. If it’s set up to only accept unicorns, real talent (mom talent) never stands a chance.

“I can’t count the number of times I’ve asked why a unicorn job description exists, and have been told it’s because an employee who “grew up” in the role out of college has left. So, the company is trying to backfill all of the skills that are now missing, and can’t find anyone. They forget that the original employee didn’t have every skill for the role when they started. They built them over time. So, realistically, why would you expect a new hire today to be any different?” -Lisey Barela, VP of Revenue 

Hire for What Matters with a Human-First Approach 

Even in this age of automation, it’s important for people to remain the driving force behind hiring decisions.
 
At The Mom Project, we use technology as a supporting tool, not the main attraction. 
 
For us, hiring absolutely begins and ends with a live person—a recruiter who can read between the lines, and understands why a candidate’s career gap might be an employer’s best competitive advantage!
 
We meet each candidate. Speak to each candidate. Dig into the unexplored space between the bullets in their resume and the life experience they bring. We consider learning ability and career trajectory. We peel back the layers to uncover the person behind the paper.  
 
At the same time, we speak to every hiring manager to get a better sense of the emotional intelligence, soft skills, and transferrable skills behind the requirements—the real attributes that separate the good candidates from the rockstar performers. 
 
It’s how we connect the dots. Part matchmaker, part intuitive seer, we use what we learn to uncover which candidates will excel in a particular role, despite what any algorithm says.
 
Sure, we use technology to cast a candidate net. And help us with the vetting process. But it’s because we read every cover letter ourselves, and talk to the people behind the paper (on the client and candidate side), that 78%+ of talent on site at a client that their contract extended. 
 
It’s also because most of our candidates are moms. And moms, well, they work like a mother.
Find Standout Talent by Embracing the MOM Factor 

The fastest way to find exceptional talent that exceeds your expectations? Find the mom.

Moms are the very workers you want in your corner, because when moms take a career break (whether to raise kids or for another reason) their evolution and skills development does not stop. 
 
The same skills they harnessed for business success they’ve continued to hone during that gap. Especially the skills most crucial to adaptability, leadership, and initiative. (We bet those sound like skills you’d want a candidate to already have.)
 
Moms come equipped with arguably the highest emotional quotient (EQ) you can find. That innate ability to understand and manage emotions in themselves (and others) already puts them ahead. It also gives you an edge on your competition. But that’s just the start. 
 
These additional skills are the game changers that truly make moms a force to be reckoned with, in and outside of work:
  • Unleashed potential: Find a mom that matches just 50% of your must-haves, and you’ll have a team member who not only masters the other 50%, but also adopts new skills beyond the role and drives added value for your organization.
  • Multitasking: If ever there was an ideal person to “simultaneously juggle multiple projects and deliverables in a fast-paced environment while maintaining attention to detail and delivering exceptional results,” a mom is it.
  • Self-direction: Moms are the original entrepreneurs. They are scrappy, they are determined, and they always understand the assignment. Give them a one-sentence directive, and they’ll give you back something more amazing than you ever could have imagined.
  • Prioritization: When unplanned emergencies arise, understanding priorities and how to reset without losing ground are two skills you can’t teach…but can make or break success. It’s a good thing moms have them both.
  • Delegation: Moms understand how to lead, when to take charge, and when to delegate responsibility to others. Task management is the unsung hero of seamless operations and strategic execution—and one of the hardest skills to screen when hiring. Here’s a hint: If you’re interviewing a mom, rest assured they bring it. Every single time.
  • Fast learning: Introduce a new process, app, technology, or structure to your team, and 10 times out of 10 the mom will be the one to learn it first.
  • Intuition: The mom is the one who can see twenty steps into the future and visualize how actions today will impact downstream outcomes. Moms are the closest to a crystal ball you’ll ever come, and they are your secret to finding success where others falter.
  • Conflict resolution: If you look up “stays calm under pressure” in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of a mom (or you should!). Moms are mediators, practical problem solvers, and used to pivoting on a dime. They bring calm, professional authority to every situation, building bridges where others burn them.
  • Determination: No one will work harder for you than a mom. They have something to prove, and they will go the extra mile (or ten). Work ethic, resilience, and achievement are baked into their DNA. When it comes to quality, there’s perfect, then there’s “mom perfect.” Moms never settle for lesse

When it Comes to Hiring, Succeed Like a Mother

Yes, unicorns are unique — even magical! But it’s time to let go, because unicorns aren’t real. 
Candidates that would make an exceptional fit and exceed your expectations? Now, those are real. They’re moms…and moms get s#*t done.

At a time when months, or even days, can make the difference between gaining traction or losing competitive advantage, you cannot afford to screen out your best chance at success.

So turn hiring mythology on its head by redefining what it truly means to be qualified. There are so many parents, moms, caregivers ready and willing to dazzle, delight, and deliver in ways you can’t begin to imagine—ways that shine brighter than any unicorn ever could.

Need help revamping your recruiting process to attract [better, faster, mom-powered] talent? You know we’re here for it! Let’s start a conversation to reveal what you’ve been missing.

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