If you don’t like the outcome of a process that includes you, what’s your reaction?
It must be broken.
Welcome to Recruiting.
For people to stop saying “recruiting is broken,” will take a shift in both reality and perception – which means fixing actual flaws and how we talk about the work. It’s not just recruiting; we’ve been having the same conversation about performance reviews, customer service, meetings, politics, taxes, education, healthcare, civility, etc.
Recruiting in itself isn’t very complex – it’s the people involved who muck things up to the point when an “urgent to fill position” involves an initial screen, 2 1-hour interviews with the 2 co-founders, a 6 hour case study, a 1 hour case study report to founders, 8 reference checks, and 8 1-hour interviews with every member of the C-suite (h/t to Leigh Elena Henderson and her eye-opening post https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK-zS_HRhXc/).
If you’re adding it up, it’s ~22 hours and 6 weeks minimum for an “urgent to fill position.”
The only things broken are the souls of the people who suffer through processes like this, the employees who go so long without a full team compliment, and the reputations of the companies committing these unspeakable acts of hiring inhumanity.
“We don’t need people – we’ll just use AI.”
Then there are those who believe that Generative and Agentic AI will fix recruiting. Here’s the TL;DR is…
Generative AI will optimize; Agentic AI will automate. But only human leadership will transform.
If we don’t fix the human foundation of the problem (strategy, knowledge, learning, innovation), AI sure as heck won’t make it any better.
Here are a few areas of reality and how perception can help fix our PR problem…
🟠 Reality: Fix the Candidate Experience (for real this time)
Jobseekers want clarity, respect, and closure. Long-winded applications, ghosting, and generic rejections are dehumanizing. Many experience job search as a black hole exercise where effort yields silence. They want to feel like their time matters.
C-Suite Executives are often unaware of how painful the candidate journey is unless it impacts brand reputation, executive referrals, or [gasp] revenue. They want to attract top talent but don’t realize how broken application portals and bad interview experiences are costing them quality hires.
TA Pros think sending an automated rejection or linking to a scheduling tool while over-relying on the ATS and default processes, is enough. Fixing candidate experience requires true empathy and operational rigor, not just sentiment surveys.
- Write job descriptions that don’t read like ransom notes. We hire people to solve problems yet we don’t include these in job descriptions. Every line needs to pass the “So what?” test.
- Create application experiences that don’t feel like CAPTCHA tests from hell.
- Give real responses – yes, real human responses to applicants – why they’re not moving forward.
- An interview process that isn’t soul-draining or six rounds too long. See above. People get married after dating for far less time.
Perception flips when people feel respected and informed rather than ghosted and gaslit.
🟠Reality: Rebrand Recruiters as Strategic Professionals
Jobseekers see recruiters as gatekeepers, some helpful, many not. Until recruiters act like strategic advisors (and not keyword matchers), candidates will continue to bypass them whenever possible.
C-Suite Executives want talent partners who understand the business, not just “fillers of roles.” They will invest in TA when recruiters provide insight into workforce planning, competitive intelligence, and pipeline risk.
TA Pros still define success by “reqs filled” or “submissions sent.” Being strategic means learning business acumen, asking better questions, and aligning recruiting activity to company objectives. You can’t elevate if you’re order-taking. See anything John Vlastelica has written about Talent Advisors.
- Recruiters need to be seen (and act) as Talent Advisors, not requisition jockeys. Create a succession plan for a neophyte to develop talent advisor skills and inculcate into the organization the reality that the TA team is knowledgeable, innovation, forward thinking, and trusted.
- When recruiters can challenge unrealistic hiring timelines, influence role design, and speak business language, the “broken” narrative erodes.
Perception flips when we elevate ourselves and our craft, not just fill the req.
🟠 Reality: Prove Value with Data
Jobseekers want transparency – how long the process will take, what stage they’re in, and how decisions are made (read this as real assessment rubrics rather than the typical subjective “feelings” approach). They interpret silence or delays as incompetence or indifference – or both.
C-Suite Executives care about metrics tied to growth, revenue, retention, and innovation. They don’t care how many interviews you scheduled; they care whether TA is solving workforce problems that impact business performance.
TA Pros are too often stuck in vanity metrics. Cost-per-Hire, Time-to-Fill and number of applicants are only part of the story. Shift to predictive insight and consider the metrics I’ve outlined here. If you can’t tie your numbers to outcomes, your value won’t be seen.
- Real metrics that show how talent drives business outcomes—not just vanity KPIs. Consider tracking new metrics that focus on excellence as presented here.
- Dashboards that connect these new metrics to revenue, innovation, and customer experience.
Perception flips when we stop reporting activity and start reporting impact.
🟠 Reality: Leverage AI Thoughtfully (Not Lazily)
Jobseekers are already skeptical. Badly written outreach, robotic interview questions, robotic interviewers, and ghosting via chatbots reinforce the belief that AI dehumanizes hiring. They want tech that helps, not replaces, meaningful human interaction.
C-Suite Executives are excited by automation and efficiency. But they fear risk in the forms of bias, compliance issues, and damage to brand reputation. They need assurance that AI won’t cost them top talent or create legal liability.
TA Pros are now using AI as a shortcut, not a tool for better decision-making. When AI sources the same profiles or ranks based on poor criteria, it amplifies existing bias. AI should be a co-pilot (not an endorsement), not a crutch; it should make us better, not over-reliant and lazy.
- Use AI to enhance human interaction, not replace it. A person must have the final say in most instances.
- No more AI-generated outreach that says “Dear [First Name]” or sourcing that assumes every Java dev wants to work in “Java, VA.”
Perception flips when tech makes recruiting more human.
🟠 Reality: Hold Hiring Managers Accountable
Jobseekers know that many bad interview experiences stem from disengaged, untrained, or biased hiring managers. Mixed signals, poor communication, unrealistic expectations – they see it all. They just don’t know who to blame. But they sure know where to discuss their anger.
C-Suite Executives tend to protect business units and assume TA owns hiring. Completely. Until they make hiring a leadership priority, nothing changes. Accountability means implementing consequences for ghosting, bias, and delayed decision-making.
TA Pros often tiptoe around hiring managers under the belief that the customer is always right. But real impact comes from setting expectations, pushing back, and coaching them on how to be better interviewers and decision-makers. You can’t anoint yourself a Talent Advisor without learning and living what it means.
- Hiring is a team sport, but recruiters get blamed for losses. When the interview team not in TA makes errors, accountability is on them not TA; the customer is clearly not always right.
- Educate managers. Give them feedback. Stop working with ones who treat candidates poorly. Here’s where I wish there was a way to implement “Rate My Professor” for hiring managers.
Perception flips when recruiters stop shouldering all the blame for bad process and weak partnerships.
🟠 Reality: Tell the Right Stories
Jobseekers usually only hear about recruiting when something goes wrong: layoffs, rejections, or horror stories (see /r/recruitinghell on Reddit). They rarely see examples of TA advocating for them, building inclusive processes, or helping people grow.
C-Suite Executives need to hear success stories tied to business impact. How did a great hire transform a team? How did a reimagined sourcing strategy unlock a new market? If TA doesn’t tell those stories, no one else will. When was the last time a jobseeker sent a CEO a letter for how well they were treated during the hiring process even when they weren’t ultimately selected?
TA Pros spend too much time fighting fires to document the wins. But visibility matters – so tell stories about coaching a person to success, hiring from an unconventional background, or driving cultural change through hiring. Honest human narrative builds credibility.
- People share horror stories louder than hero stories.
- We need more real narratives about recruiters changing careers, closing equity gaps, building communities, and empowering people.
Perception flips when people realize recruiting done right changes lives—not just calendars.
What’s Next?
Recruiting isn’t broken; mediocre recruiting is. The rest of us are out here doing magic. We just need to get truly serious at fixing the human problems, showing the magic, measuring it, and calling out the BS when it shows up.
Helloooooo Steve, if I call things out and try to improve things, won’t that put me in the line of sight for layoff fodder.
Absolutely.
But who do you want to be when you look in a mirror?
The Recruiting Inferno 