Most hiring processes keep the candidate and the hiring manager apart until the interview, with a matchmaker standing in the middle relaying messages. I do the opposite. Before the two of you ever sit across a table, I send a short email that puts you in direct contact. It is a small move, and it changes the entire shape of what follows.
The quality of a hire is principally driven by the leader, and a leader's read on a candidate sharpens the closer they get to that person. Distance dulls that read. When you do not know who you are meeting, or you feel you need permission to reach out, you show up to the interview unsure of who is in the loop and how you are being seen. That is a poor footing for anyone, and it is the footing the standard process hands you by default.
A handshake, not a gate
The introduction email is a handshake. It tells you: this is your future team, go connect. It tells the hiring authority: this person is worth your attention, go build trust. Hiring is a relationship, not a transaction, and a relationship cannot form between two parties who have been kept walled off from each other.
The role here is not to stand in the middle. It is to set the stage and then step back just enough to let a real connection grow.
It keeps both sides in sync
Life happens. Schedules shift. People get sick. Without a direct line, a small change becomes a large stress, because the only path runs through a third party who may not respond for hours. With the introduction already made, both sides know exactly who to contact when something comes up.
No playing telephone. No confusion about who owns the next step. The logistics stop being a source of friction and become a non-event, which is what good logistics are supposed to be.
This is how a durable match forms
A strong relationship does not form when people feel cut off from one another. It forms when access comes early and trust has room to build before the formal evaluation begins. I stay involved to support both of you through the whole process. I just start by getting out of the way of the part that matters most: the two of you, deciding whether you belong together.
If you want a real conversation about your next move, apply for an introductory career discussion. No pitch, just a real conversation about the right team and the right next step.
The interview tests whether you fit. The introduction decides whether you walk in already on the same side of the table.
The short version.
- Why introduce the candidate and hiring manager by email before the interview?
- Because hiring is a relationship, not a transaction, and a relationship cannot form between two parties walled off from each other. A short introduction email puts candidate and hiring authority in direct contact before they ever sit across a table, so the candidate walks in knowing who they are meeting and the leader walks in ready to build trust.
- How does a direct introduction help with interview logistics?
- Both sides know exactly who to contact when something changes. Schedules shift and people get sick, and without a direct line a small change becomes a large stress because everything routes through a third party who may not respond for hours. With the introduction already made, logistics become a non-event.
- What is wrong with a recruiter standing in the middle relaying messages?
- Distance dulls the leader's read on the candidate, and that read sharpens the closer the two get. When a candidate feels they need permission to reach out, they show up to the interview unsure of who is in the loop and how they are being seen, which is poor footing the standard gatekeeping process hands both sides by default.
- Does the recruiter step away after making the introduction?
- No, the recruiter stays involved to support both sides through the whole process. The move is to set the stage and then step back just enough to let a real connection grow, starting with the part that matters most: the two parties deciding whether they belong together.
