04/10/2026
I was going through some old messages and came across one that reminded me why I still love recruitment.
Years ago, when she was starting out in BD, I’d spent about 15 minutes giving her some feedback and career advice.
No placement. No fee. No role attached.
And only today she came back to tell me how much her career has taken off — and that our conversation all those years ago had played a small part in it.
After 20+ years in recruitment and 3,800+ placements, it reminded me that some of our most valuable work will never appear on a dashboard.
Good feedback is often simple:
Be specific — show people where they’re underselling themselves.
Give a “no” with a path forward — tell them what would get them to a “yes”.
And sometimes, help when there’s absolutely nothing in it for you.
As a founder, I watch placements, revenue and time-to-hire closely.
But those numbers don’t measure trust.
And as AI automates more of recruitment, I think that becomes even more important.
Let technology make us faster.
But let’s not automate away the part people remember.
15 minutes for you.
Years of impact for someone else.
That’s a pretty good ROI.
What’s one piece of career advice you still remember today?
Xtend Recruitment
