Real-World Hiring Process Experiences

📱 My phone’s been blowing up lately—colleagues on both sides of the hiring game are venting about the same thing. Job seekers can’t land roles, and hiring managers can’t find people who actually stay. About half of my network who were job-hunting have found something, but the other half are still stuck in the grind. Meanwhile, companies tell me that even when they do make a hire, retention is a nightmare—new employees are bouncing within six months. The disconnect is real: companies are hiring, candidates are applying, but something is clearly broken. Traditional hiring—bloated job descriptions, ATS black holes, and never-ending interview rounds—is failing everyone. So, what needs to change? 🔄 Here’s what I’ve seen work: ✅ Ditch the ATS Dependence – Get back to human recruiting instead of relying on keyword filters. ✍️ Fix Job Descriptions – Make them clear, real, and relevant—cut the jargon. 🤝 Prioritize Personal Connections – Hiring managers should actively engage instead of passively posting. 🎯 Focus on Skills, Not Just Titles – Look at what candidates can actually do, not just where they’ve been. ⏳ Speed Up the Process – The best talent won’t wait around for a four-week approval cycle. 💬 Improve the Candidate Experience – Give real feedback and make the process transparent. Here’s a real-world fix I put in place: At a previous company, the hiring pipeline was a mess—ATS filters blocked great candidates, and the process dragged on. I introduced a referral-first hiring approach, tapping employees’ networks before posting publicly. We also replaced multiple early-stage screenings with a 30-minute call with the hiring manager. 📉 Time-to-hire dropped 35% 🎯 Quality of hires improved—better fits, fewer regrets 📈 Retention rates increased—candidates knew exactly what they were signing up for 🔑 Bottom line: Hiring is broken, but it doesn’t have to be. The best hires come through real connections, not algorithms. What’s been your biggest hiring (or job search) frustration lately? Drop a comment 👇 #Hiring #Recruiting #JobSearch #TalentStrategy #HR #FutureOfWork

Being on the other side of the hiring process changes you. Since becoming a candidate myself, I’ve experienced everything from thoughtful, well run interview loops to complete radio silence. And while none of it was surprising, feeling it firsthand has been incredibly grounding. It reminded me of a few things I will never take lightly again as a recruiter: 👉 Every unanswered email creates unnecessary anxiety 👉 Every vague update erodes trust 👉 Every well run interview builds a relationship, even if the answer is no What stood out most most wasn’t the rejection itself. It was how deeply the process shaped how that rejection landed. When a recruiter communicated clearly, respected my time, and treated me like a human, I walked away with a positive impression of the company, even without an offer. When they didn’t, I walked away discouraged, disconnected, and far less likely to engage again. This experience continues to change how I will approach recruiting moving forward. Candidate experience is something we talk about often in Talent Acquisition, but it deserves even more intention, accountability, and follow through if we want to build a brand truly worth standing behind.

I am wrapping up our hiring process for our first two sales roles at Lawfully. We had over 700 applicants apply—standing out isn’t easy. For these roles I was the recruiter, hiring manager, and executive sponsor. Here’s my advice on how to stand out: Getting Through to the First Stage— 1. Reach out directly to the recruiter, hiring manager, or executive sponsor I gave priority to candidates who reached out personally. Some sent LinkedIn DMs, while others crafted thoughtful cold emails. Two memorable examples: one email had the subject line “Matt, I’m skiing my way into your inbox,” and another featured a personalized video introducing herself and addressing common interview questions. Make sure your outreach is thoughtful, creative, and mindful of people’s time. Done right, it sets you apart Done poorly, it can backfire. 2. Make your Linkedin look professional Many applicants had unprofessional profile photos, large employment gaps, or short stints at companies. While you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, with 700 applicants to review, these things can quickly lead to being passed over. You control your LinkedIn narrative and the professional story it tells. Demonstrate to recruiters that you can commit and follow through. 3. Use the right professional jargon. For this SDR role, candidates with SDR experience were fast-tracked to interviews. Ensure your job titles and descriptions align with industry standards to avoid being missed. Make it clear what you do, especially if your role mirrors the position you’re applying for. Getting Through the Interview Stage— 1. Research the company before your interview. Out of 60 people I interviewed, only one could identify our competitors, and few provided detailed responses about our products and services. One candidate couldn’t name a single thing about Lawfully, while another was clearly reading straight off our homepage. Take the time to learn about the company. It shows genuine interest and sets you apart. 2. Answer all the questions. I evaluated candidates on several criteria, including experience, passion, coach-ability, and their ability to learn. To gauge learning, I asked their favorite books—professional or otherwise. If someone admitted they didn’t read, it was a quick signal to move on. 3. Answer positively and tie it back to the role and your strengths. Strike the right balance between positivity and authenticity. Candidates who dwelled on negative experiences sent a clear sign they weren’t the right fit. 4. Align your answers with company & hiring manager goals When candidates nailed this, they were an automatic pass. One standout example was a candidate who asked about our goals right at the start of the interview. Throughout the conversation, he consistently explained how he would help us reach our milestone. I’ve got 20 more tips to share—including what it takes to crush the final round. Drop a comment, and I’ll send them your way!

I don’t talk often about the companies I’ve interviewed with throughout my career, but one of them was Google. The thing that surprised me most? My recruiter coached me through the process. Not just a quick pre-screen. They checked in, shared what the team was really looking for, and helped me prep between rounds. It made me feel like I wasn’t doing it alone. That experience stuck with me. Since then, I’ve had a few recruiters at both tech companies and startups do the same and every time, I thought: Why don’t more people get this kind of support? So I decided to recreate it. I built a living, breathing Interview Database, filled with tips, prep questions, and experiences from real candidates. I tapped friends, colleagues, and former candidates to contribute. The advice is all anonymous. Yes big named companies like Google have made the list, but so have some smaller ones. The best part of this database is that it’s designed to make you feel less alone and more in control. Because I’ve learned, both as a candidate and as someone who supports others: ~ You can ask your recruiter what success looks like in the role ~ You should request internal prep docs when they exist ~ You deserve feedback after every interview ~ You aren’t meant to go through this process in the dark Whether you're applying to a startup, FAANG, or another type of company, sometimes the playing field feels a little uneven. But real, human-centered, behind-the-scenes insights, levels it. If you're interviewing now, check out the database here: https://lnkd.in/gvTvCtTc If you've recently interviewed, add your tips here: https://lnkd.in/g3ay52ba Let’s turn a system that feels opaque into one that’s just a bit more transparent. :) ☕ Déja White

I remember hiring a candidate who nailed the interview without hesitation. Within months, it was a disaster. During the interview, this lawyer had seemed like a perfect fit: • confident • articulate • charismatic. Once she started, though, this lawyer showed up late and left early. She didn’t align with our firm’s values. Her work was subpar. I had to admit that I let myself get fooled by a great first impression. The truth is, the traditional hiring process is broken. • exaggerated résumés • meaningless references (who lists someone that won’t praise them?) • performative interviews. If you're hiring based primarily (or solely) on interviews, then you run the risk of hiring people who can talk—or BS— their way into a job. The problem is that you might find yourself  standing knee-deep in their accumulated BS within a couple months. I've learned that lesson the hard way. That's why we stopped relying so much on interviews at the Mike Morse Law Firm. We've incorporated methods for ensuring candidates don’t just look good on paper. In addition to interviews, we administer skills tests to ensure that a candidate actually have the skills we need for the job. We also use different  assessments to learn more about a candidate's personality and whether they share our core values. Interviews still matter. But they matter far less today than they did when I was hiring 20 years ago. And that's reduced the guesswork in our hiring process. It's also helped us avoid those scenarios where we're left knee-deep in BS. 

Candidate experience matters. Period. As a Talent Acquisition Specialist, I’ve seen firsthand how the hiring process can shape how candidates view a company — long before an offer is made. It’s not just about filling a role. It’s about how people are treated along the way. Clear communication matters. Timely follow-ups matter. Honesty about timelines matters. Respect for a candidate’s time and effort matters. Candidates remember how you made them feel, especially when the outcome isn’t a yes. Silence, vague updates, and delayed closures don’t just impact one role — they impact employer brand, trust, and future pipelines. Great talent doesn’t just choose roles. They choose experiences. When we prioritize candidate experience, we don’t just hire better — we build stronger, more human organizations. #CandidateExperience #TalentAcquisition #Recruiting #PeopleFirst #HiringProcess #EmployerBrand #HumanCenteredHiring #HRCommunity

Eight years ago, I was trying to quickly build a marketing team from the ground up when I came to an uncomfortable realization: I was wasting everyone’s time - my colleagues’, the candidates’, and my own. Not a good feeling. I 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 I knew how to hire. But as I brought in candidate after candidate for the eight open heads on my team, I knew that something wasn’t quite right. I needed to fix it, 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵. I knew the problem lay in the initial phone screen, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was going wrong. So I took action: → I reached out to a few expert interviewers in my org and asked if I could shadow their phone screens, and have them shadow mine. The feedback I got was invaluable. → I reviewed feedback on the candidates I’d brought in so far, looking for patterns among the “not-a-fits” and “almost-a-fits.” Then I brainstormed ways to screen for those red, yellow, and green flags earlier in the process. → Finally, I sat down with my recruiting partner to develop a framework for screening resumes, ensuring we filtered out poor-fit candidates before they ever got to a phone screen. (If you know me, you know I 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 a good framework.) Before long, I started filling those roles with 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 team members. And eventually, I was invited to join the panel of expert interviewers that I’d learned so much from. Looking back, the challenge wasn’t just finding the right candidates - it was about becoming the kind of leader who could identify and develop top talent. Today, I apply those lessons to every hiring process, knowing that the right frameworks and feedback loops make all the difference. Have you ever felt stuck in your hiring process? What did you do to get un-stuck? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Being in HR, I’ve seen what really happens during hiring—beyond the polished resumes and rehearsed answers. Here are 7 real truths I wish more job seekers knew 👇 (and how to turn them to your advantage): Decisions happen fast ✨ First impressions matter. Energy, presence, and confidence set the tone. ✅ Show up sharp, self-aware, and ready to engage. The “interview” starts before the interview ✨ How you interact in the waiting room or over email matters. ✅ Kindness and professionalism go a long way—people notice. Culture fit outweighs technical skills ✨ A strong resume won’t help if your vibe clashes with the team. ✅ Learn the company's values and reflect them in your responses. Your resume might be skimmed ✨ Don’t count on them knowing your best wins. ✅ Weave your top 2-3 achievements into the conversation. They’re watching how you handle discomfort ✨ Your reactions to curveball questions reveal a lot. ✅ Stay grounded and show what you’ve learned—not just what you’ve done. Coachability matters more than you think ✨ If you seem rigid or defensive, it’s a red flag. ✅ Show you're open to feedback and working as part of a team. Soft skills seal the deal ✨ Communication, empathy, and adaptability are gold. ✅ Don’t shy away from showing how you collaborate and solve problems. Which one feels the most true to your experience? Or the most surprising? #HRRealTalk #Transformation #Interviews

I spoke with a packaging sales professional recently who’s quietly exploring his next move. Not desperate. Not unemployed. Just paying attention. He asked a smart question: “How do I actually get in front of the right person?” I walked him through the three real paths into a new packaging role: 1️⃣ Apply online and hope your résumé survives keyword filters. 2️⃣ Work through a recruiter and let the company decide if they want to pay for access. 3️⃣ Position yourself correctly and go directly to the decision-maker. Here’s the part most people miss. Option three only works if your profile tells the right story: • Products • Substrates • Customers • Problems you’ve solved Not titles. Not logos. When your experience mirrors what the hiring leader lives every day, the conversation changes. This isn’t about gaming the system. It’s about understanding how hiring actually works in packaging. HR screens for keywords. Hiring leaders screen for people who’ve lived it. My job sits in the middle helping candidates choose the right path, not just the loudest one. If you’re asking yourself, “Is there a smarter way to do this?” There usually is.

Let’s talk about it — Interviews. I’ve seen (and personally experienced) up to six rounds of interviews for a single position. Let’s be honest — that’s excessive. This kind of process leads to interview fatigue and creates a poor candidate experience. We have to do better. Here’s my take: • For individual contributor roles, a 3-step process (including the recruiter screen) should be sufficient. • For leadership roles, a 4-5 step process is reasonable — again, including the recruiter screen. Make sure to include interviewers who will actually work with the candidate. The goal is to assess alignment and fit, not overwhelm them with hoops to jump through. According to SHRM, C-suite candidates typically undergo an average of five interviews, while associate-level candidates average around three. So if your process is significantly longer than that — it might be time to re-evaluate. The more rounds you add, the more disorganized and indecisive your process can appear to top talent. Let’s build efficient, respectful, and thoughtful hiring experiences. #candidateexperience #hiring #interviews