We recorded this episode live in person, right after Sandra Feldmann rocked the stage at the Sourcing Summit. The energy of doing it in person was - as usual - incredible, and Sandra was totally in her element – you’ll feel like you’re in the room in Amsterdam with us!
Sandra is big about blending Marketing + Recruiting (a common thread on the podcast). During our conversation, she shared some super cool strategies on making connections with candidates that are way more than just about hiring. It's all about getting to know them as people and what they really want.
Here’s what we discussed:
Start with Why
Sandra brought up Simon Sinek's book "Start with Why," applying its principles to recruiting. It's all about flipping the script and focusing on why the role matters to the candidate, not just what the job is. As Sandra put it, “You first have to cut through the noise... People want to feel the relevance of what does this person want from me? Why is this relevant to me?”
The company is not the hero - the candidate is!
Sandra shared her insights on the importance of making each candidate feel like the hero of their own story - a big topic of her SOSU talk. I liked this idea and the whole “hero journey” comparison. Most (all?) recruiters frame the company as the “Hero” whose journey the candidates can join ("let's join us to disrupt X and become the first unicorn to do Y!", but nobody's excited about being the side kick to another hero. People want to be the heroes of their own stories, and have their own journeys!
Personalize based on the person AND their culture
Different people like different things. It’s super important to tailor your approach, especially when it comes to different cultures. That requires effort, work, investigation. Last but not least “You should follow up, follow up, make sure to stay top of mind”.
The Impact of Recruiting
We also got into how what we do as recruiters can really make a difference in someone's life. Pretty inspiring stuff, and I hope both our passion showed :)
So, what do you think? I’d love to hear your take on the episode. Just hit reply and let’s chat!
P.S. Want to dive deeper into Sandra’s insights? Check out her amazing collaborative book "Talent Titans" on Amazon. Plus, she agreed to share her ENTIRE slide deck from the Sourcing Summit – check it out here!
P.P.S. Loving our podcast? A five-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcast would be amazing! Let’s keep the recruiting conversation going strong!
The Modern Recruiter #66: How to use emotion to increase your reply rates, Sandra Feldmann, TA Campaign Manager