This is a Bonus episode recorded live at the Develop:Brighton event in July 2025. In this episode, Leon Killin, Strategic People Consultant at BalancePatch, discusses the practicalities of hiring in today's games industry landscape. 

Leon explains why successful hiring isn't just about matching skills on paper, it's also about finding what's missing from your current team and cultivating diversity of thought and perspective. From tackling unconscious bias to reimagining interview processes, he shares practical strategies for creating more inclusive hiring practices that benefit everyone.

Leon emphasizes that successful hiring doesn’t end with recruitment, but that equal care should be put into onboarding. He says that integration into a team shouldn't be a one-day event, but an ongoing journey of building belonging and legacy within your organisation.

The WorkWise for Screen podcast is supported by the BFI, awarding National Lottery Funding.

This Episode Covers:

• Why hiring isn't just about replicating what you already have
• Building diverse interview panels that create better outcomes
• Making reasonable adjustments to get the best out of candidates
• The role of AI in recruitment - friend or foe?
• Why onboarding is a long process, not a day-one event

The importance of finding the right candidates by considering both skills and diversity, mitigating biases in recruitment processes and recruiting to find the skills you don’t already have. (00:00 - 06:12)

How to use AI in the recruitment process and to create an interview process which allows candidates to put their best foot forward. (06:12 - 08:47)

The importance of the onboarding process and how it doesn’t end after the first week, conclusions with Keith and Tacita. (08:47 - end)

"I firmly believe it's not just about what's on paper and what the skill set is, but really adding what you currently lack to also sort of build into a different team and not just going, oh, we need this, this, this, and this. And it doesn't matter who it is, it should fully matter who you're bringing on board." - Leon Killin (02:30-02:45)

"Bias exists everywhere. When you look at demographics, particularly within the games industry... we are an overwhelmingly white industry. We are overwhelmingly cis and hetero male, and because of that we tend to not necessarily maliciously but we do bake in a certain brand of bias where we say, ah, this person looks like me and sounds like me." - Leon Killin (03:30-04:00)

"Rather than wait for people to say, oh, I'm neurodiverse or I've got a disability and I need my questions in advance, just give them in advance. Let your interviewees come to the interview with their best, rather than having to panic and sweat about what if I forget about this or that." - Leon Killin (06:30-06:45)

"Part of the process is someone out there has taken the time to apply for this job. I at least owe them my human eyes, is my opinion to like read it. Because I think one of the issues with AI is it is not a human. It filters through purely on the text and it can miss something because it's not looking for that special something." - Leon Killin (07:30-08:00)

WorkWise for Screen: 

https://www.workwiseforscreen.org.uk/en

Keith Arrowsmith: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/keitharrowsmith/

Tacita Small: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tacitasmall/

BFI: 

https://www.bfi.org.uk/

National Lottery: 

https://www.national-lottery.co.uk/

Leon Killin: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leon-killin/