Recruitment is subjective. It's both an Art and Science.

It's people-centric and based on connections. It also has processes, data, and systems.

🤝 Both need to exist for recruiters to succeed, but that also means job seekers must navigate the same complexities.

That's why recruiters have different answers to questions. Some say always apply because that’s how you’ll get a job. Some say to forget about applying and just network because that’s how you’ll get the job. Others say to do both; apply, but supplement each. All are correct. One or all of these things combined have been proven successful.

🎭 There’s subjectivity in each recruiter, hiring manager, and hiring team. Some like candidates that will go above and beyond. Some appreciate a balance of persistence and patience. Others find following up too much. I think this is because of how subjective “preference” is. Job seekers are either straightforward or creative. There is subjectivity in how they approach looking for a job too. (Resume on a cake, anyone? 🎂)

But that’s why processes, data, and systems should exist; to keep things balanced, fair, equitable, and free of bias. It’s to make sure hiring professionals aren’t basing judgment on preference but with the right tools for assessment. This also ensures job seekers aren’t trying to figure out unreasonable requests.

⚙️ There should be simple directions, expectation setting, clear timelines, metrics to define experience and skill levels, and proper data to inform decisions. The science for hiring is to use the best judgment with the data provided, but the art is knowing how much preference will affect that decision. Job seekers should align their experience and skills to the job as much as possible, bringing their own data to help provide context to the decision-making process.

The hard truth is that recruiting and job searching is complex. There’s no one way to do it, a single approach, or one answer 😅

It’s confusing as hell but great when it works out. My advice is to stay informed. Get all sides of a story. Work together and get feedback from others. There is room for improvement.