Let’s face it, hiring in food & beverage or CPG manufacturing isn’t getting easier.
You’ve got production schedules to meet, quality standards to uphold, and roles that need filling yesterday. But when you’re sorting through stacks of resumes that all blur together, how do you spot the people who’ll actually make a difference?
What we’ve found in our years of recruitment experience, is that the best candidates don’t always look perfect on paper. In fact, some of your strongest future hires might be the ones you’d skip over in the first 10 seconds.
That’s a risk, especially in a market like Chicago, where demand is high, skilled talent is stretched thin, and hiring mistakes are expensive. This region remains one of the largest FMCG and manufacturing hubs in the U.S., yet labor availability is tight, especially for skilled technical and production roles.
We’ve worked with operations leaders, QA heads, and plant managers who previously didn’t get through the first screening round – not because they lacked ability, but because their resumes weren’t built for keyword filters or rigid specs.
What to Look for Instead
Instead of polish, look for progression. Instead of perfection, look for impact. The strongest resumes we see from candidates aren’t flashy. They’re:
Know What You’re Competing With
The Chicago metro remains one of the most active hubs for manufacturing and logistics in the U.S. – and that includes big-name competitors fishing in the same talent pool you are.
This all means that filtering candidates out too early, may cost you the very people who can hit the ground running.
A Simple Shift = Stronger Hires
Here’s what you can try in your next round of hiring:
Success isn’t always about someone – or a resume – that looks the part, it’s about who will show up and deliver for your business from day one.
