{"id":2379,"date":"2026-06-27T15:08:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T15:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=2379"},"modified":"2026-06-27T15:08:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T15:08:04","slug":"dont-look-at-the-resume-elon-musk-admits-hes-fallen-prey-to-flashy-credentials-and-says-conversation-matters-most-when-hiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=2379","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Don\u2019t look at the r\u00e9sum\u00e9\u2019: Elon Musk admits he\u2019s \u2018fallen prey\u2019 to flashy credentials and says conversation matters most when hiring"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Musk is known for his micromanagement leadership style (which he has jokingly referred to as nanomanagement), and hiring is no different. In the early years of building SpaceX, he interviewed the first few thousand employees, before he no longer had enough time, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=2377\">Tit-for-tat attacks continue across the Persian Gulf despite U.S.-Iran ceasefire while a new flashpoint emerges<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Musk now relies on his staff to find the \u201cwow\u201d factor and asks for bullet points on \u201cevidence of exceptional ability,\u201d he told Stripe cofounder John Collison and tech podcaster Dwarkesh Patel during a joint episode of their podcasts.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cGenerally, what I tell people\u2014I tell myself, I guess, aspirationally\u2014is, don\u2019t look at the r\u00e9sum\u00e9,\u201d he said. \u201cJust believe your interaction. The r\u00e9sum\u00e9 may seem very impressive\u2026but if the conversation after 20 minutes is not \u2018Wow,\u2019 you should believe the conversation, not the paper.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That approach paid off, and Musk added that Tesla\u2019s senior leadership now has an average tenure of 10 to 12 years. But there was a time earlier, during a more rapid-growth phase, when executive positions changed more frequently.<\/p>\n<p>He recalled a period when companies like Apple were \u201ccarpet bombing\u201d Tesla\u2019s leaders and engineers with recruiting calls. In 2018, Apple hired 46 former Tesla employees for its now-shuttered electric car project and other roles, according to CNBC.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He said that at the time there was an idea that Tesla employees had \u201cpixie dust,\u201d or the quality to make a business successful because of their background with the company. Apple offered employees twice as much as Tesla was paying them, Musk said, explaining that poaching employees is easy in Silicon Valley because people typically don\u2019t have to relocate or change their lifestyles when they move between companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Musk, who has 200,000 employees across his five companies, admits to making some personnel mistakes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve fallen prey to the pixie dust thing as well, where it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, we\u2019ll hire someone from Google or Apple, and they\u2019ll be immediately successful,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But strong credentials and an impressive work history don\u2019t tell the whole story, he added. Musk also puts value in a candidate\u2019s talent, drive, and trustworthiness.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=2375\">Nobel laureate economist warns AI jobs apocalypse fears could become a self-fulfilling prophesy<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI think goodness of heart is important,\u201d he said. \u201cI underweighted that at one point. So, are they a good person? Trustworthy? Smart and talented and hardworking?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>More recently, Musk\u2019s companies have faced major executive losses as some employees left to build startups or take breaks, while others burned out or soured on his politics, strategic decisions, and recent layoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Tesla\u2019s chief information officer along with high-ranking members of the company\u2019s public affairs arm and U.S. battery and powertrain operations left the company in recent years, the <em>Financial Times<\/em> reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And Mike Liberatore, chief financial officer at Musk\u2019s xAI startup, left for OpenAI after three months, writing on LinkedIn, 102 days \u2014 7 days per week in the office; 120+ hours per week; Wild ride to say the least.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Employees told <em>FT<\/em> that Musk has put more pressure on xAI employees, which they believe stems from his competition and personal rivalry with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In August, Musk, an early investor in the company, filed an antitrust lawsuit against OpenAI and Apple for allegedly trying to limit AI competition.\u00a0OpenAI has accused Musk of harassment and attempting to slow the company\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n<p>Those who stuck it out with Musk have been generously rewarded. SpaceX\u2019s IPO on June 12 has made many Musk acolytes multimillionaires. The company\u2019s Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell\u2018s stake was reported to be worth more than $2 billion ahead of the debut. Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen became a billionaire overnight with a stake worth $1.4 billion on Friday.  Both of their wealth has only skyrocketed as SpaceX\u2019s valuation topped Amazon and Microsoft on just its third day of trading. <\/p>\n<p>Former employees are cashing in, too. Juan Hernandez, who works as a welder, got a $10,000 equity stake when he was hired full time, the<em> Wall Street Journa<\/em>l reported. Even after selling off some of his stake in 2020, his remaining shares are   now worth well over $1.1 million.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=2373\">Qualcomm\u2019s big AI gamble: Breaking Nvidia\u2019s chips stronghold<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>A version of this story was published on Fortune.com on February 9, 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>More on hiring:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>This digital marketplace CEO says he\u2019s made 650 millionaires.<\/li>\n<li>Citadel just hired 350 intern. Less than 1% of applications made the cut.<\/li>\n<li>Elon Musk bans r\u00e9sum\u00e9s and cover letters in hiring for his chip team\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said he prioritizes hiring candidates who have a \u201cwow\u201d factor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[193],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elon-musk"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Don\u2019t look at the r\u00e9sum\u00e9\u2019: Elon Musk admits he\u2019s \u2018fallen prey\u2019 to flashy credentials and says conversation matters most when hiring - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=2379\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Don\u2019t look at the r\u00e9sum\u00e9\u2019: Elon Musk admits he\u2019s \u2018fallen prey\u2019 to flashy credentials and says conversation matters most when hiring - 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