Howdy recruiters! first off, I just realised the word "fix" is one of those words that quickly loses it's meaning if you say it over and over again. Go on, go to the bathroom mirror and say "fix" over and over. I bet by the 8th fix you are just looking at your face making noises.
Anyhoo...
Ever been in a meeting with leadership and held back from challenging an unrealistic hiring plan?
Or struggled to get execs to take your data seriously?
Or felt like recruitment is seen as a service, not a strategic function?
If yes to any of these, then congratulations!.. you are a human being as well as a recruiter.
But that’s not just a leadership problem. That’s a communication problem. And part of it comes from how us recruiters have been trained to think about ourselves in the business. Our mentality is holding us back!
Let’s break down three psychological blockers that, from my experience, might be holding you back from owning your seat at the table, and how to fix them.
The “Service Mentality” Trap
A lot of us enter the field through high-volume, reactive roles, where speed is rewarded over strategy. The job starts as:
- Filling as many roles as possible, as quickly as possible. Responding to whatever hiring managers ask for, without questioning it. Thinking our job is to serve, not to advise.
This ingrains a service mindset, we take orders, fill jobs, and move on. The problem is, when you operate like a service function, you get treated like one.
Ever been left out of headcount planning? Told to “just get it done” without proper context? That’s the result of being reactive instead of proactive.
You can go halfway down your career with the feeling that the hiring manager is the customer/boss/authority, instead of a partner which makes it hard for us, psychologically to deliver to them the benefit of our deep domain expertise in recruitment.
How to Fix it
Shift your mindset from execution to strategy. Instead of asking, “What does this hiring manager want?” ask, “What does this business need?”
Challenge bad hiring plans early, not just when they fail. Don’t assume roles should be filled as requested. Instead, ask:
- How does this hire support business goals? Is hiring the best solution, or can the work be distributed internally? What happens if this hire doesn’t happen in this timeframe? Remember, not all problems are human shaped.
Use market data to guide decisions. Instead of saying “This is a tough search,” say “The talent pool for this role is only 300 people in EMEA, and the average time to hire is 90 days. Let’s plan accordingly.”
By positioning yourself as a hiring partner, not a hiring assistant, you stop being an afterthought and start being a trusted business function.
Fear of Pushing Back
Sometimes we assume leaders know better because they’re senior. We sit in meetings with execs and think, Well, they run the company, they must know what they’re doing. But when it comes to recruitment, that’s rarely the case.
In fact, good leaders are hoping and expecting for you to challenge and advise, but we don't because of our mentality towards leadership.
- Hiring managers have deep expertise in their domains, but most don’t understand recruitment mechanics. Execs are focused on outcomes, not process, so they underestimate hiring timelines and candidate availability. If you don’t push back, you’ll still be blamed when things go wrong, the only difference is, you’ll have wasted months before that happens.
Ever had a hiring manager insist they need the absolute best candidate, but also demand a one-week turnaround time? That’s a lack of understanding of market realities. Your job isn’t just to execute; it’s to educate
How to Fix it
Get comfortable saying no, with data. Instead of saying, “That’s not possible,” say, “Here’s what the data says about this timeline and hiring pool.”
Frame challenges in leadership’s language. If an engineer wants 15 hires in three weeks, don’t say “That’s not realistic.” Say:
"With our current conversion rates, 15 hires will require 120 hours of engineering time you haven't accounted for. would this threaten your technical roadmap?"
“Based on market data, this timeline has a high failure rate. If we adjust X, we improve our chances by Y.”
Use case studies from past hiring cycles. Show what happened when hiring was rushed vs. when it was well-planned. Leaders respond to precedent.
Recruiters who confidently push back avoid hiring disasters, build credibility and influence within the business.
Lack of Defined Authority
Some businesses don’t properly define recruitment’s role. It’s a problem that starts with leadership and seeps down through the company:
- TA is sometimes treated as admin support rather than a business-critical function. Some hiring managers assume they own recruitment, while TA just posts jobs and schedules interviews. When leadership doesn’t define TA’s authority, recruitment gets ignored, until there’s a hiring emergency.
If leadership sees recruitment as an afterthought, they won’t listen to you until they’re in panic mode. And by then, it’s already too late.
How to Fix it
Set clear expectations early. Your job isn’t to “just fill roles,” it’s to build an effective hiring process that helps the company scale. That means:
- Pushing back on vague job descriptions. Enforcing structured interview processes. Holding hiring managers accountable for their role in hiring.
Define hiring governance at the exec level. Get leadership to agree on:
- Who makes final hiring decisions. What criteria a role must meet before it’s opened. How hiring priorities are set across departments.
Don’t wait for permission to lead. If hiring governance doesn’t exist, create a proposal and drive the conversation. Most leaders will respect someone who steps up to fix a problem before it becomes a crisis.
TL;DR = Own Your Space, or Someone Else Will
✅ You’re not just here to take orders, you’re here to shape hiring strategy.
✅ Leaders don’t know recruiting better than you, so push back when needed.
✅ If your role isn’t clearly defined, step up and define it.
Recruiters who act like leaders get treated like leaders.
Luke Update
I had a blast at ETHDenver last week getting to know the broader team and learning about some really interesting technologies. I also got to spend some time chatting with the incredible Brandon Jeffs for his awesome RevolTA Podcast.
We got really deep on TA, TA Tech, AI, talked smack about a few ATS providers. If you haven't already followed him do it, he's really entertaining on LinkedIn and definitely check out the podcast, especially if you want to see me in a kilt.
Well... that's issue thirty nine! If you have any questions about it, or any feedback on this issue of The Data Driven Recruiter, grab me on LinkedIn for a chat.
I'll see you next week!