Scotiabank@2x

How durable skills transformed recruiting

182% ROI in just 7 months: A Scotiabank Case Study

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Overview: a bold vision

Scotiabank is one of Canada’s largest multinational financial institutions, employing more than 88,000 people and serving millions of customers across the globe. As a bank with $1.4 trillion in assets, Scotiabank has always been recognized for its scale and strength. But when it came to recruiting the next generation of talent, leaders realized the traditional methods no longer aligned with the future they envisioned.

The bank set out to transform campus recruiting into something fairer, more human, and more predictive.

The daring idea? Removing resumes altogether.

An overhead shot of a college campus showing the paths and greenery of the quad.

The challenge: rethink what matters in hiring

Resumes have been the backbone of recruiting for decades, but they are riddled with problems. They tell only part of a candidate’s story and often introduce bias based on names, schools, or previous experience. For students just entering the workforce, resumes rarely showcase true potential.

Callout Quote

“We needed an approach that addressed questions that are critical to our vision. How do we always have a humanistic approach, knowing that our volumes are high and it’s not possible to talk to every applicant? How do we identify the best candidates to focus on in a scalable and trustable manner?”

- James Spearing, Scotiabank’s VP of Global Talent Acquisition

Scotiabank faced a clear challenge:

  • Build an employer brand that lived up to its people-first values.
  • Create a hiring process that could reliably uncover talent potential without bias.
  • Design a scalable solution that supported thousands of student applicants every year.

This was not just a process problem. It was a cultural opportunity to redefine how a leading bank saw and valued people.

The turning point: partnering with Plum

In 2020, amid the pandemic, Scotiabank made a daring move. It eliminated resumes from its campus recruiting process and introduced Plum, a behavioral science-based talent assessment platform.

Instead of screening stacks of resumes, every candidate completed Plum’s assessment, which measured problem-solving ability, adaptability, social intelligence, and other durable behavioral skills that predict success. Students received their own Plum Profile, a personalized report that highlighted their unique strengths and career drivers. Recruiters received match scores, which showed how well each candidate aligned to various roles.

Callout Quote

“The first entry point of bias is in the screening process. There’s a ton of potential opportunities for biases linked to resumes… And if we remove all of that, what’s really left in a resume for early career talent?”

-Jena Cammisoli, Director and Global Head of Campus Recruitment

This shift wasn’t just about efficiency. It was about building a more human, transparent experience. Candidates not only felt seen, but they also discovered opportunities they hadn’t considered, guided by behavioral insights rather than past credentials.

A new journey: a relationship-based model

Scotiabank reimagined campus recruiting as a journey of discovery for candidates. The Plum assessment became the entry point into a relationship-based hiring model. Students first created their profiles, then engaged with Scotiabank through a series of touchpoints:

  • Business Overview Events where they learned about different banking areas.
  • Line-Specific Sessions to explore career paths with recruiters.
  • Hackathons and Coffee Chats that built real connections.

By the time students reached the interview stage, they already knew where their strengths aligned and had built meaningful relationships with Scotiabank recruiters.

Callout Quote

“This model helps us reinforce some of the things we strongly advocate as an organization: the promise of reducing bias, increased diversity of our talent pipeline, and a really strong message to our candidates — that we care about them, not their resume.”

- Mehak Shoeb, Campus Recruitment Team Manager

Results: immediate and measurable

Key Outcomes:

  • 182% ROI on Scotiabank’s $100,000 pilot investment
  • $280,000 in annual savings on recruiting costs
  • 50% increase in women hired through campus recruiting
  • 60% increase in visible minority hires
  • Retention doubled, climbing from 26% pre-launch to 46% post-launch

Beyond the numbers, candidate feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Students valued the shift away from resumes, appreciating a process that recognized them for their behavioral strengths and potential.

Two women college students taking a selfie.

Conclusion: a blueprint for the future of hiring

Scotiabank’s journey to remove resumes and embrace behavioral assessments with Plum is more than a case study. It is proof that hiring can be transformed into a fairer, more human, and more predictive process.

The bank achieved measurable business returns, improved diversity, and built a stronger employer brand — all by daring to ask what really matters in hiring.

Scotiabank’s journey shows that the future of recruiting belongs to organizations that look beyond the resume and unlock the power of behavioral science.

FAQ

Plum provided science-backed behavioral assessments that measured durable soft skills such as adaptability, innovation, and communication. Candidates received a Plum Profile showcasing their driving and draining Talents, while recruiters saw Match Scores that indicated how well a candidate aligned with different roles.

See how durable skills can change your recruiting strategy

Scotiabank wanted to create a fairer, more inclusive hiring model. Resumes often filter out candidates based on factors like school names, prior experience, or even location. By removing resumes, Scotiabank focused on what really matters: behavioral skills, potential, and long-term fit.

The resumeless hiring approach significantly increased diversity in campus recruiting. Women hires grew by 50%, and visible minority hires increased by 60%, expanding Scotiabank’s ability to build a more representative workforce.

Yes. The retention rate of campus hires nearly doubled, increasing from 26% before the resumeless process to 46% after implementing Plum.

Scotiabank achieved a 182% ROI on its initial $100,000 investment in Plum, with a payback period of just six months. The bank also saved $280,000 annually in recruiting costs.

Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Candidates appreciated the opportunity to be evaluated on their potential and soft skills, not just a resume. The process also gave them personalized career insights they could use beyond the application.

Yes. While Scotiabank’s initial focus was on campus recruiting, Plum’s behavioral insights can also support onboarding, employee development, internal mobility, and leadership identification.

The case shows that moving beyond resumes can increase diversity, improve retention, and strengthen employer brand, all while delivering measurable ROI. Any organization looking to modernize hiring can benefit from incorporating behavioral assessments into their process.