Principal Talent Advisor | Executive Search | Engineering Hiring | Mental Models Trainer | Previously worked for Google, Postman, Yahoo!, and WalmartLabs as an Engineering Recruiter.
Don’t Approach Recruiting Like Sales – It’s a Consultative Process. Sales focuses on closing deals, recruitment is about aligning a candidate’s potential with an organization’s needs to support growth on both sides. Recruitment requires empathy, humility, and a greater sense of responsibility. Here’s why: ❌ Approach: Setting hiring targets like sales quotas Rushing candidates to accept offers Focusing on quantity over quality Making unrealistic promises about growth Lacking transparency about work culture This Results In: High turnover, unhappy employees, and a damaged company reputation. ✅ Approach: Clear discussions on job expectations Multiple interviews to ensure cultural fit Transparency about both pros and challenges involved in the role. Focus on long-term career growth Emphasis on work-life balance This Results In: Better retention and satisfied employees. Recruiters act as consultants for both employers and candidates. For employers, they assess organizational needs, culture, and role requirements. For candidates, they evaluate skills, career aspirations, and compatibility with job opportunities. This dual consultative role is unique to recruitment. Sales deals with Products and services that have fixed specifications, features, and pricing. Look into this example: Mobile Phone Sale vs. Software Developer Job Sale: A customer buys a phone for Rs 1,00,000. If unhappy, they can return it. At worst, they lose money or time. Job: A developer relocates their family from Delhi to Bangalore. Kids change schools mid-year. The spouse quits their job to move. If someone buys the wrong phone, it can be returned. But if someone takes the wrong job, it can mean: Relocating family unnecessarily Missing better opportunities Financial stress Career setbacks Mental health issues This is why recruitment requires a higher level of responsibility and care than traditional sales. Lets look into these communication approaches: ❌ Sales-Style: "We need to close this position by Friday. The offered package is really great. It shows a great increment—don’t think much, just accept it!." ✅ Career-Focused: "I understand you need to discuss this with your family. The role sometimes involves weekend shifts—please consider this. I’d be happy to connect you with team members if you’d like to learn more about the culture. I hope this helps you make a conscious decision." Sales tactics often push candidates to make quick decisions, emphasizing benefits without addressing challenges, with little regard for candidates' personal circumstances. This approach risks creating a negative culture within the company. Recruitment has only a few overlaps with sales such as Branding Market research. Storytelling But fundamentally, it is different, it is a "consultative process" for both candidates and hiring managers that defines company’s culture and values. "People" are partners in creating a lasting, positive impact within the organization. #hiringculture
