Mistakes, Regrets, and Better Bets

After spending the last few days at a hospital in Macon, GA, I found myself roadtripping back to Atlanta, GA, on Saturday morning. As I began my trip home, I started listening to Benjamin Mena 's most recent episode with Diane Prince .

Before I hit the first gas station in Dawson, GA, the pistons in my mind were firing like that of the new Lotus Emira (what could possibly be the last Lotus with an internal combustion engine), and I was already starting to write. Pulling out my journaling app, I went HAM on the keyboard.

When I heard Diane, I realized that I was operating from a deficit of curiosity.

That's right.

I was missing what I hold to be one of the three major characteristics of what makes a good recruiter truly great: curiosity, tenacity, and empathy.

I've talked about these three critical elements during keynotes like at SourceCon or on podcasts.

Here I was... I'd got comfortable. I was making assumptions about what I knew.

That's dangerous for a recruiter.

Making Mistakes

In the high-stakes game of talent acquisition, assuming you know the playbook is akin to bringing a knife to a gunfight. It’s not just dangerous; it’s career suicide. As a recruiter, your currency is insight—understanding not just the "what" but the "why" behind each candidate's story. The moment you start banking on assumptions, you devalue that currency, leaving opportunity on the table.

The world doesn't need more recruiters who think they've seen it all.

It demands professionals who recognize that the only constant in talent is change, and who are adept enough to navigate this flux with curiosity and humility. Forget assumptions. Dive deep, ask the hard questions, and listen. That’s your real job.

I was asking myself "What if" I was one of those doctors at the hospital in Macon?

Was I diving deep?

Was I asking hard questions?

Was I listening to hiring managers and candidates alike?

As I thumbed over my screen, I found that humility, and I was ready to start asking questions, again.

Making Better Bets

I do not have it all figured out. what I do know is that curiosity isn't just a trait — it's the superpower behind every truly great recruiter. The marketplace of talent is a dynamic battlefield, a relentless churn of skills, aspirations, and personalities. In this ever-evolving landscape, the recruiters who stand out, who truly make a dent, are those fueled by an insatiable curiosity.

Curiosity drives a recruiter to dig deeper, to understand not just the what but the why. It's about peering beyond the resume, beyond the rehearsed responses of a job interview, to uncover the genuine human sitting across from you. This relentless pursuit of understanding is what separates the wheat from the chaff.

In a world awash with LinkedIn profiles and generic cover letters, curiosity enables a recruiter to discover the unique stories, the hidden gems of insight that illuminate a candidate’s true potential. And as I discussed with Jason Singer on that car ride back to Atlanta, I love to hear a good story from a candidate. I like them to be hero of the story.

But let's not sugarcoat it — this industry is cutthroat, and the competition is fierce. The recruiters who thrive are those who treat every interaction as an opportunity to learn, to adapt, and to refine their approach — that's the tenacity I speak about often.

I am reminded by heroes like Shannon Pritchett , Torin Ellis , Steve Levy , Erin Mathew — they ask the tough questions, not just to challenge, but to connect on a deeper level. Don't go surface. Go deep.

They're not content with surface-level engagement; they want to know what makes a candidate tick, what drives them, what scares them. This depth of understanding is crucial, not just for matching a candidate with a "job," but for shaping the very culture of the organizations we hope to build.

It's like curiosity is the catalyst for innovation in recruitment. (Catalyst has a nice ring to it, right, Michael Goldberg ?)

It's what compels a recruiter to look beyond the obvious, to challenge the status quo, and to envision the potential for a candidate not just for the role at hand, but for future roles yet unimagined. It's about building relationships, not databases; about crafting stories, not transactions.

In the end, the truly great recruiters, the ones who leave a lasting impact, are those who understand that at the heart of every successful placement is a story of human potential unlocked by curiosity.

Brian Fink is the author of Talk Tech To Me. He takes on the stress and strain of complex technology concepts and simplifies them for the modern recruiter. Fink’s impassioned wit and humor tackle the highs and lows of technical recruiting with a unique perspective — a perspective intended to help you find, engage, and partner with professionals.