Benskin & Hott Talent Partners

06/05/2026

One of my recruiters asked me recently how to present a search that has real problems in it. The answer is that you present it as it is.

The search was for a CFO role at an organization that had been through a hard stretch. Leadership changes and financial issues that had been building for a while. These things were true. You cannot recruit a good CFO into that situation without being honest about what it is.

I get why recruiters lead with the mission and the upside. Those things are true too. But any CFO candidate worth talking to is going to ask questions and do their homework. If what they find doesn't match the picture you painted, you lose them and you lose the client's trust at the same time.

The right candidate for that search is someone who genuinely wants a turnaround challenge, understands the risk, and cares about the mission beyond just the title. That's a smaller pool. But there's no point placing someone who expected a stable organization into one that needs to be rescued. That placement won't hold.

06/03/2026

Nobody ever asks the recruiter what they're worried about. That's usually the most useful question in the whole process.

You're going to come into that call with questions about the role. The responsibilities, the comp, the growth. That's fine. But the recruiter knows things that are never going in a job posting. What the manager is actually like to work for. Whether the team is settled or all over the place. Why the last person left, if the client was honest about it. If they've placed people there before, they've heard how those placements went. That's the stuff you want to ask about.

So ask them what they're worried about. Not what they're excited about. What do they think might not work for you specifically. A good recruiter will tell you. A company that takes forever to make decisions might be fine for you or it might be a problem. But knowing it before your second round interview is a lot better than figuring it out in month three.

The first conversation with a recruiter doesn't have to feel like an interview. The more you treat it like a real conversation, the more useful it gets. You're allowed to ask the hard questions. That's what they're there for.

06/01/2026

Don't ever pay a recruiter. I want to lead with that because it's happening again.

Job seekers are getting texts and emails from people claiming to be recruiters. It goes a few rounds, seems real, and then the ask comes: pay for resume services, pay for candidate marketing, pay for access to their network. I have never in 25 years run into a legitimate search firm that charges candidates. Not for placement, not for marketing, not for any of it. The employer pays. That is how this works.

I keep seeing this and it makes me angry because the people getting hit are the ones who have been searching the longest. When you've been out of work for a year and someone seems attentive and promising, you want it to be real. These people know that. That's exactly who they're targeting.

If you genuinely want help with your resume, find a resume writer through a word of mouth recommendation. You're paying for a specific service and you know what you're getting. That's a completely different thing. But a recruiter? No. If they ask you for money, that's your answer.

I've watched this come around before. It showed up in 2008, again around 2016, and here it is again. If you know someone who's currently searching, tell them.

05/28/2026

The candidate isn't going to work for me. They're going to work for the client. I think some recruiters forget that.

I've always thought of myself as a matchmaker of sorts. My job is to set up the dates. Coordinate the trip so they can get to know each other. Make sure both sides show up prepared and feel good about the process. At some point, those two people need to actually talk to each other.

There's an older model in recruiting where you never let a client and candidate have direct contact before an offer. The logic was protecting your placement from being cut out. Pre-LinkedIn, you could actually build that wall. Email addresses were harder to find, phone numbers weren't public. It made a certain kind of sense.

That world is gone. And honestly, even when it existed, I'm not sure it served anyone well. If a hiring manager wants to reach out to a candidate directly and that candidate is comfortable with it, I'm going to make that happen. My job isn't to stand in the middle of a relationship that both people need to build. It's to make sure it gets built right.

I represent the company because they hired me. I also represent the candidate because the next several years of their career are on the line. I've always taken both equally seriously. A placement that works is one where both sides are genuinely excited. You can't manufacture that through a recruiter relay race.

05/26/2026

A hiring manager took the time to reach out to a candidate before leaving the country for two and a half weeks. She wanted to let her know directly that the process would pause and pick back up when she got back. That is a thoughtful thing to do. Most hiring managers don't do it.

The candidate responded at 1:06 in the morning. She said it would have been "much more polite" if the hiring manager had sent the email to the agency instead.

I can tell you more about the email, but I think you already see where this is going.

The hiring manager forwarded it to me that morning and said she was relieved to know how sensitive the candidate was before moving forward. Then she asked me to decline her.

Here's what I keep coming back to. The hiring manager did the right thing. She went out of her way to be transparent. She told a candidate exactly what to expect so the silence wouldn't feel like rejection. That is above and beyond. And it cost her the relationship.

I've been recruiting for 25 years. I know hiring managers who disappear for a month without a word and expect the process to stay warm. The ones who actually take the time to let you know what's happening are rare. When you find one, don't send them a message at 1:06 in the morning calling them condescending.

If you're in a job search right now, your recruiter isn't always going to be the one delivering bad news. Sometimes the hiring manager is just telling you they'll be in Ireland for two weeks. Let them go to Ireland.

04/20/2026

Before I send a candidate to a client, I want to see where they're going.

Not because I don't trust the job description. It's just that a job description can only tell you so much.

I want to walk the floor. Meet the hiring manager. Get a feel for how people actually interact with each other. Because there is a version of a company that exists on paper and a version that exists on a regular Tuesday morning and I want to know both.

Candidates ask me all the time what the culture is like. And I can actually answer that. Not because I read their reviews online. Because I've been there.

Most people don't think to ask their recruiter this. Have you met this client in person? Do you know what it actually feels like to work there?

It's worth asking.

You're making a decision that touches your career, your income, and a lot of your daily life. You deserve a recruiter who has done their homework before sending you in.

04/17/2026

You don’t get a redo on someone’s first week.

Once they’ve walked in and experienced it, that’s the impression.

If it feels disorganized, they notice.
If no one seems prepared for them, they notice.
If there’s no plan, they definitely notice.

It doesn’t have to be elaborate. But it does need to feel intentional.

Computer ready.
Workspace ready.
Calendar invites sent.
Someone assigned to help.
A simple outline of what week one looks like.

That first week sets the tone for how they think decisions get made, how communication works, and how much the company values preparation.

You only get one shot at that start.

04/16/2026

04/15/2026

When a role has been open that long, it usually isn’t because no one exists.

I promise you, people exist.

When something stays open for years, it’s almost always one of a few things.

The pay is below where the market is.
The interview process is dragging.
The location is limiting the pool.
Or there’s hesitation internally about pulling the trigger.

None of those are character flaws. They’re just realities.

But if you’ve talked to dozens of candidates and none of them feel “quite right,” it’s worth stepping back and asking which of those levers might need adjusting.

Sometimes the talent isn’t the issue.

Sometimes the structure is.