Answer extracted from the How I Invest with David Weisburd podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How can triangulation improve hiring decisions and reduce bias?
Resumes and interviews contain both implicit and explicit biases, but triangulation—using standardized personality tests, third-party metrics, multiple reference checks, and input from several team members—gives you independent, overlapping perspectives that reveal whether a candidate truly fits the role and your organization.
Most hiring decisions rest on just two pillars: what a resume claims and what a candidate performs in an interview. Both are vulnerable to bias—both the interviewer's unconscious assumptions and the candidate's ability to present themselves favorably in a high-pressure setting. Neither tells you who the person actually is day-to-day.
This is where triangulation enters. Rather than taking any single signal at face value, you layer multiple independent assessments on top of each other. As Michael from American Securities explains, the firm started using quick personality testing early in their screening process to establish what kind of person the candidate actually is, then compare that objective result against the resume narrative and the interview impression.
The power of triangulation lies in the contradictions and confirmations it surfaces. If a candidate claims leadership experience on their resume, presents confidently in an interview, and a personality assessment confirms natural leadership traits, you have confidence. If those three signals diverge, you've uncovered a red flag worth investigating before making an expensive hire.
Third-party testing metrics add an external layer of credibility. They're not beholden to either the candidate or your internal team; they measure the same dimensions consistently across all candidates. Reference checks multiply this effect. Rather than calling one or two referees the candidate provides, top institutional investors routinely conduct dozens of references—going well beyond the curated list—to hear from people who've actually worked alongside or managed the person in question.
Multiple team members adding their own assessment is the final layer. A single interviewer's judgment can be swayed by likability or a shared background; when five people independently meet a candidate and report their impressions, individual bias averages out. You're no longer betting on one person's gut read.
Triangulation: The practice of cross-validating a hiring decision using at least three independent assessment methods (resume, interview, personality testing, reference checks, or team input) rather than relying on any single signal. The goal is to reduce the weight of personal bias and increase the likelihood that the hire reflects the candidate's actual capabilities and cultural fit.
"Money is the ultimate commodity, so all private equity firms are in a commodity business, but we're really in the people business."
Michael — Founder and CEO of American Securities Capital Partners. Michael founded American Securities in 1994 with a $71.4 million first-time fund, which has grown to $23 billion in assets under management today. He began his career at Goldman Sachs in 1983 in the mergers and acquisitions department, working in a 33-person M&A group and maintaining friendships and professional partnerships with colleagues that have lasted over 30 years. For decades, he has specialized in investing in U.S. industrial and service-related industrial businesses, staying disciplined within his investment sweet spot.
Personality testing early in the screening process also saves time. A quick assessment that immediately disqualifies poor culture fits or reveals misaligned motivations means you're not wasting interview rounds on candidates who were never going to work out. You can invest your limited executive attention on serious contenders—people who pass the triangulation test across multiple dimensions.
The math is simple: bias lives in single data points. It thrives when one person's impression, one moment in an interview, or one carefully written resume line becomes the final word. Triangulation drowns out individual noise by adding signal from independent sources, making it harder for a single person's unconscious preferences—or a candidate's single day of performance—to dominate the decision.
See also
What criteria should be most important when evaluating a job opportunity?
The two most important things in job selection are whether you like the work and whether you like the people you'll be working with. All the hype around compensation and prestige often masks the reality that you spend most of your waking hours doing the job and alongside those people.
What is the relationship between personal friendship and business partnership success?
A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship because the friendship is battle-tested from the start, forged through real collaboration and shared challenges rather than social comfort.
How has the private equity market evolved since the 1980s in terms of deal structure and valuation philosophy?
In the early 1980s when private equity was emerging, public company M&A focused on whether acquisitions were accretive to earnings per share, while early private equity pioneers looked at cash flow and long-term asset value instead.
Key takeaways
- Resumes and interviews alone contain unavoidable biases—both interviewer assumptions and candidate performance anxiety in a single moment.
- Standardized personality tests provide an objective, third-party view of a candidate's actual traits independent of resume claims or interview charm.
- Multiple reference checks (two dozen or more at institutional level) expose patterns of actual behavior across different contexts and relationships.
- Input from several team members ensures individual bias averages out and no single person's gut feeling dominates the hiring decision.