The #1 Mistake Leaders Make When Working With Recruiters: Expecting a One-Way Process
TJ Kastning
Most professional services are like hiring a sniper. 🎯
You call in the expert, hand over the situation, and they take the shot.
Law.
Accounting.
Engineering.
Each of these functions can be largely executed unilaterally—as long as the input is clear and the scope is defined. Sure, bad information can lead to poor results, but the actual work can be done mostly without you.
Recruiting? Not so much.
Why Recruiting Isn’t Like Other Services
When you bring on a lawyer, they don’t need your daily involvement to write a contract.
When you hire an architect, you’re not reviewing every structural load calculation.
You hire experts, and they execute.
But recruiting is fundamentally bilateral.
🚧 You can’t hire a recruiter and walk away.
🧩 You’re not buying a deliverable—you’re building a match.
Here’s why that distinction matters: a recruiter can’t complete the puzzle without your pieces.
🏗️ Think of It Like a Construction Project
Imagine a homeowner hires your firm to build a custom house…
…but shows up with only half the drawings.
They expect you to just “figure it out.”
Then, when you ask for input on layouts, finishes, or structural constraints, they get frustrated.
They want it turnkey—but didn’t do the work upfront to define what “done” looks like.
That’s what it’s like when a company hires a recruiter and expects a great hire without engaging in the process.
📉 When clients fail to invest, they’re damaging their own outcome.
And the best thing a recruiting firm can do?
Help them recognize their responsibility—and the opportunity—to shape a better result.
⚙️ Where We Can Execute Unilaterally
Once we’ve partnered with you to scope the role, align on outcomes, and build a clear interview strategy, we take the wheel.
✅ We run the search.
✅ We source, screen, and vet candidates.
✅ We manage outreach, follow-up, and calibration.
This part of the process can be done independently—because we’ve built the right foundation together.
But once we introduce a strong candidate?
👥 The process returns to bilateral mode.
Your team must:
- Show up prepared
- Move quickly
- Provide clear, constructive feedback
- Engage meaningfully with the candidate
- Own the decision-making process
Otherwise, the match dies on the vine.
🚫 What Happens When Companies Expect a One-Way Process?
Let’s not sugarcoat it: the process breaks down.
Companies that treat recruiting like ordering from a menu are always disappointed.
☠️ Candidates ghost.
⏳ Timelines slip.
🤷♂️ Offers get rejected.
📉 Brand reputation quietly erodes.
And then you’re left asking, “Why didn’t this work?”
Here’s the truth: recruiting is a co-creation.
We can lead. We can execute. We can advise and advocate.
But we can’t succeed without you being in the boat with us.
🧱 Four Types of Hiring Authorities
After years of running searches in construction, we’ve seen four kinds of hiring leaders:
- Those who get it.
They engage, follow through, and treat recruiting as a leadership function. The partnership hums. - Those who want to get it.
They might be stretched or under-resourced, but they’re ready to grow. When they commit, everything changes. - Those who don’t get it—yet.
They’ve been stuck in transactional habits. But with the right guidance, their eyes open—and they become powerful partners. - Those who aren’t helpable.
They want great hires without being part of the process. They delegate decisions, delay responses, and blame the recruiter when it doesn’t work. These are the projects we now decline.
Which one are you?
If you’re in groups 1 or 2, we’re ready.
If you’re in group 3, we’ll help you level up.
If you’re in group 4… it’s probably not the right fit.
🧭 What Great Client Engagement Actually Looks Like
If recruiting is a partnership, what does good partnering look like at each stage?
Here’s how strong hiring leaders engage with us throughout the process—and why it changes everything.
🕵️♂️ Phase 1: Discovery
What we do: Understand your role requirements, business context, leadership dynamics, and pain points.
What strong clients do:
- Bring context, not just a job description
- Share where past hires struggled or succeeded
- Talk openly about team dynamics and pressure points
- Identify decision-makers and their expectations
- Tell us what success looks like at 6, 12, and 24 months
🧠 Phase 2: Interview Strategy
What we do: Build a structured plan for screening, evaluating, and debriefing candidates.
What strong clients do:
- Help define success criteria beyond the resume
- Participate in strategy building and interviewer assignments
- Use feedback tools consistently
- Align internally on what “good” looks like
- Avoid “gut feel” shortcuts
🔎 Phase 3: Candidate Search
What we do: Execute a targeted search tailored to your company’s needs—not just who’s available.
What strong clients do:
- Offer real-time calibration input
- Stay responsive to outreach and shortlist reviews
- Share context from internal discussions or market shifts
- Communicate hiring urgency and constraints clearly
🪞 Phase 4: Faithful Representation
What we do: Ensure both sides see the opportunity and each other accurately.
What strong clients do:
- Share both strengths and growing edges of the role or company
- Follow through on commitments made during the process
- Treat candidates with dignity and transparency
- Stay engaged in relational conversations, not just transactional ones
🤝 Phase 5: Onboarding & Integration
What we do: Support onboarding with structured check-ins and early risk identification.
What strong clients do:
- Have an onboarding plan ready before Day One
- Hold regular check-ins with the new hire
- Treat onboarding as an extension of hiring—not an afterthought
- Ask about challenges early and act to support success
🧠 Recruiting Requires a Shift in Mindset
Hiring isn’t about offloading responsibility—it’s about leveraging expertise while staying involved.
You don’t ask your project manager to build a hospital without a spec.
So don’t ask your recruiter to build your team without:
- Clear success criteria
- Decision-making engagement
- Timely responses
- Cultural insight
You wouldn’t put your name on a sloppy build.
Don’t put your company’s name on a sloppy hiring process.
🔍 Want Better Recruiting Results?
Here’s how to find out if we’re the right partner:
- Evaluate your hiring situation — Are you set up for mutual ownership, or are you stuck in delegation mode?
- Learn how our process works — We bring structure, insight, and relentless follow-through. But it only works if we’re aligned.
- Book a call to explore fit — Let’s figure out if we should work together: Schedule a time here 🗓️
You’re not hiring us to work for you.
You’re hiring us to build with you.
Let’s make it count. 💪
