Recruiting is Chaos. Here’s How to Handle It.

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Recruiting isn’t like selling software.

Our product is people. And people are unpredictable.

We can have the perfect process. We can build great relationships with our candidates. We can check every box to make sure they’re the right fit.

But at the end of the day, our product has a mind of its own.

That means interview backouts, offer rejections, and early resignations are part of the game. They’re not anomalies. They’re inevitable.

Now, that’s not an excuse to operate without discipline. Your process still needs to be airtight. Your follow-ups still need to be strong. Your candidate experience still needs to be elite.

But in a down market, when every loss stings a little more, dealing with these setbacks can feel exhausting.

The Reality of Recruiting

Imagine you’ve spent weeks nurturing a candidate. Multiple rounds of interviews, deep conversations, constant follow-ups. Everything is going smoothly.

Then, suddenly—

They ghost you.

No warning. No explanation. Just gone.

Or maybe you secure an offer for a candidate. They accept. You celebrate. Then, two days before their start date, they tell you they’ve accepted another offer.

Frustrating? Absolutely. Avoidable? Sometimes. Uncommon? Not at all.

This is the nature of the beast. You’re not selling a static product. You’re managing moving parts with thoughts, emotions, and options.

Last month, I placed an internal recruiter at a large financial services company. Great fit, great opportunity.

Then, not even a month in, they quit. Just like that.

Annoying? Absolutely. But I had two more contractors starting the same week. That softened the blow.

Last week, a PM I was working with went off the market.

Frustrating? Sure. But not as bad when I realized I had six more interviews lined up.

The Key to Surviving the Chaos

Most recruiters get stuck in reactive mode. A candidate backs out, and they scramble. An offer gets rejected, and they panic.

That’s because they rely too much on what’s already in motion.

Here’s the fix:

You need volume.

You need an overflowing pipeline.

The more reqs, submissions, and interviews you have in play, the easier it is to absorb the hits.

• One interview cancels? No big deal—you have five more.

• An offer gets rejected? Fine—you’ve got five more in the pipeline.

• An early resignation? Annoying, but you’re already working five more.

When you build redundancy into your process, losses don’t hurt as much.

Top-of-Funnel is Everything

Recruiting isn’t about playing defense. It’s about building a system where setbacks are irrelevant.

If your pipeline is always full, you’re never scrambling. You’re never desperate. You’re always in control.

That means:

• Always sourcing new candidates.

• Always booking more interviews than you need.

• Always keeping relationships warm.

• Always thinking two steps ahead.

It’s not about avoiding failure. It’s about making failure insignificant.

Play the Long Game

Most recruiters get discouraged when things go wrong. They take it personally. They dwell on the losses.

But the best recruiters? They expect the chaos. They prepare for it.

They know that the only way to win is by staying relentless at the top of the funnel.

Fill the pipeline. Keep it full.

That’s how you make setbacks irrelevant.

That’s how you win the long game.

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