Dear Recruiter

What do a pasta-making class and recruitment tech have in common? More than you’d think.

Both are about the right ingredients, perfect pairings, and smooth execution.

That's why, at Tech on Toast’s Service event last week, we teamed up with our integration partner Bizimply to celebrate perfect pairings—?? in the kitchen and in HR tech—with a pasta-making class.

(Plus, it was tasty!)

Big thank you to the terrific Aneta Yakoub of Pasta Evangelists . Everyone had a great time ??

?? Data Point: Latest Applicants per Hire by Industry

Data and insights direct from the Pinpoint team at RecruitmentTrends

Over the last couple of years, Financial Services has consistently had one of the highest applicants to hire ratios, most recently averaging out at 91.5.

If you’re in Financial Services (or Professional Services, or Manufacturing, which come close behind), you might feel reassured your peers are seeing a surge in applications too.

But if you also have a time to fill of more than c. 45 days, your applicant volume might be high because your job ads aren’t detailed or transparent enough to help candidates self-filter early on.

In high-pressure, time-poor environments, it’s easy to benchmark your performance on a single metric. Benchmarks are useful, but they only tell part of the story.

To improve hiring outcomes, you need to dig into your data, spot patterns, and know when it’s better to buck the trend.

????Talent Talks with Sophie Brown, TA Manager at thyssenkrupp

Quick fire questions to get to know leading recruiters

In the latest Talent Talks, I speak with Sophie Brown . As TA Manager at thyssenkrupp, she’s rethinking how a traditional industry attracts the next generation of talent.

I really don't think there is one thing in particular that attracts candidates because candidates come to roles through various channels and their interests are different as well.

From job ads with video to recruiting in shopping centres, Sophie meets candidates where they’re at. Hear more about it in the full episode here.

?? The Pinboard

What's new in recruitment?

• ?? 60% of companies are seeing longer time to hire—according to GoodTime’s 2025 Hiring Insights Report. The main bottlenecks? Interview scheduling, lack of qualified candidates, and poor communication with candidates.
• ???StartupExperts is a community of HR, Finance, and Ops leaders who find themselves operating as a ‘team of one’. A great place to meet your peers and get new ideas.
• ????Want a blunt reality check about employer brand and talent strategy? Then Bryan Adams and James Ellis ’s new The People MBA for is for you. Check out the ‘If You Aren't At The Table, You're on The Menu: The People MBA Trailer’.

?? Tips from TA teams: Get candidate experience scores up with a simple SMS

From the Pinpoint team and our customers

In the last 10 months, N Family Club has improved candidate feedback, increased its candidate NPS score, and got candidates talking positively about their interview experience on Glassdoor.

How? The TA team added a ‘good luck’ message to its automated SMS text reminders that go out as part of the automated interview workflow.

Sure, they also put in the graft and used Pinpoint to:

• Automate interview scheduling,
• Decrease time to hire with tools like scorecards,
• And tailor candidate comms to its employer brand.

But that tiny tweak proves that with a little creativity, automation does more than save time—it transforms the entire candidate experience.

That’s it for this week. And remember, whether it’s fresh pasta or high-volume hiring, the simplest ingredient can make all the difference.

Have thoughts or questions? Comment or reach out at?[email protected]—we’d love to hear from you.

All the best,

Tom Hacquoil

Pinpoint CEO