A great recruiter knows what’s important—building trust with candidates and clients. They’re clear about expectations, honest with feedback, and always stay connected. They listen carefully and focus on what really matters, making sure everyone’s priorities align. At the end of the day, it’s about people, not just placements.
A year has shown me how complex recruitment really is.
Before working at a recruitment agency, I thought staffing was all about sifting through resumes. I had experience doing that at a small marketing agency. But the dynamic at a staffing agency? Wow, it’s completely different.
Recruiting doesn’t rely on reviewing applications. It’s about actively finding talent, understanding client needs, advocating for candidates, and building long-term relationships.
To introduce myself, I’m Sara, TAG HR’s Sales & Marketing Assistant. While I’m not a recruiter, my time here has given me the chance to observe and learn key lessons from my colleagues—picking up on the traits that set great recruiters apart.
In this post, you’ll find the values I’ve noticed in my peers, along with their most memorable quotes and insights on how they live those values.
Let’s get started.
Understand clients’ unique needs
Recruitment agencies often specialize in specific industries and roles, but even within the same field, clients may have different approaches.
A client’s internal operations, processes, and business goals shape how they work—and, in turn, what they prioritize when hiring. On a day-to-day basis, that means it’s important to dig deep to understand company culture, areas of specialization, and what makes them unique.
Here’s what my colleagues Supreet Jaiswal, Recruitment Consultant, and Jessica Paupst, Senior HR Recruiter, have to say about the importance of understanding and meeting client needs:
Get to know your clients. Ask questions, as many as you need. Clients need to trust you, and they can’t if you don’t show that you care.
— Supreet Jaiswal, Recruitment Consultant
Always keep your client’s needs in mind. If they require a candidate with five years of experience, don’t send someone with only 1.5 years. Your goal is to exceed client expectations whenever possible, and when that’s not an option, aim to get as close as you can.
— Jessica Paupst, Senior HR Recruiter
Get to know your candidate’s stories
Everyone’s needs are unique, whether they’re a candidate or a client. That’s why it’s important to go beyond the surface level and ask the right questions.
Dive into a candidate’s long-term goals and the biggest contributions they’ve made in their career. These insights help Account Managers better represent their potential value to clients.
As Supreet puts it:
Ask candidates about their biggest ROI at their current job. Ask what motivates them. Learn about their life and why securing a specific offer matters. Ask what type of management they respond well to. Go beyond salary and remote/hybrid preferences. You won’t know these things until you ask.
— Supreet Jaiswal, Recruitment Consultant
It all comes down to caring and understanding people’s stories, so we can advocate for them.
At the end of the day, we’re in the business of people. That requires trust and accurate representation.
Advocate for your candidates
True recruitment goes beyond matching resumes to job descriptions—it’s about standing up for great talent when it counts.
Once you’ve taken the time to understand a candidate, you can trust your judgment on when to encourage a second review of a candidate or to expand search criteria. Sometimes, that means recognizing when a resume alone doesn’t tell the full story and knowing when it’s worth a conversation with the client or account manager.
As Daniel Palozzi, Recruitment Consultant, puts it:
It’s important to advocate for your candidates whenever you can. Biases and assumptions are real, if the client doesn’t have all of the information and they make a decision, we need to be there to clear up any inconsistencies. There are so many times when good candidates are overlooked due to a gap in the resume or because they don’t come from the same industry. In those cases, I’m not afraid to call, talk and highlight transferable skills, because a lot of the time, the industry can be learned, while the skills can’t be taught.
— Daniel Palozzi, Recruitment Consultant
Of course, advocacy has its limits as we still work within the realities of each industry and our clients’ needs.
But over time, you develop an instinct for when a candidate is exceptional. Here’s how Daniel approaches that judgment call to build an advocacy strategy.
I base my advocacy on genuine relationships with candidates. I’ve never been one to spend 5-10 minutes on a call or an interview with a candidate, I always make sure my interviews last 30 minutes or longer because I want to make sure both myself and the candidate have all the information we need, ensuring accurate presentation.
— Daniel Palozzi, Recruitment Consultant
Be intentional with your time
As you’ve seen, investing time in getting to know someone is significant —far beyond the brief moments of an interview. The interview process is just one small step in the larger journey.
Here’s Supreet’s perspective on choosing when to interview a candidate:
Personally, I don’t interview candidates that I’m 100% confident I’ll never be able to help. It is not worth logging the interview just for the KPI. I am honest and tell them what we specialize in and that, right now, I may not have something, but if I do, I’ll reach out. However, I’m very resourceful and remind myself that everyone starts somewhere. I do provide resume advice; I will let them know how to improve their profiles or where they should look to get a leg up.
— Supreet Jaiswal, Recruitment Consultant
Supreet’s approach highlights an essential part of our philosophy about the value of being transparent and sharing educational information. Sometimes, we can’t assist someone immediately, whether due to experience requirements or location constraints. Offering a bit of advice doesn’t take much time, but it can nurture a network that evolves, changes, and grows over time.
But beyond that, staying organized in hiring is key.
As you meet more candidates, you’ll be keeping track of countless stories. Don’t rely on memory alone. Write things down. As I like to say, “What’s not written down doesn’t exist.”
Jess emphasizes why note-taking matters:
If you keep asking candidates the same things, they’ll feel like you weren’t listening. Take notes so every interaction builds on the last one.
— Jessica Paupst, Senior HR Recruiter
Every conversation is a chance to positively impact someone’s career. That applies not just to the questions you ask but also to the feedback you provide, which brings me to the next point.
Provide honest feedback
Just as you’re intentional about where you spend your time, showing the same respect for a candidate’s time starts with honest feedback and closing the loop for every interaction.
Offering feedback comes at different stages of the recruitment process. Here’s how my peers at TAG HR honour giving feedback at each stage with transparency and respect:
When setting realistic expectations about roles and compensation
If a candidate’s salary doesn’t match the market, or if they want to be presented for a role that they may not be the best fit for, it’s my job to let them know about their expectations and what’s realistic. I work with you to find the best opportunity, not your next opportunity.
— Daniel Palozzi, Recruitment Consultant
When improving resumes and sharing feedback from post-client interviews
I’m always honest about their resumes and let them know what clients find appealing. From removing photos to changing font colors, to removing their childhood hobbies from a professional resume. I’m also honest about feedback post-client interviews. It’s important to be direct, honest, but constructive, helpful, and kind.
— Supreet Jaiswal, Recruitment Consultant
When updating someone on how the recruitment process goes
Being a great recruiter means treating everyone with respect, whether you move forward with them or not. The industry is small, and you never know who you’ll work with in the future. No one appreciates having their time wasted, so be upfront and direct when providing feedback. A quick response—even just a one-line update—shows professionalism and courtesy.
— Jessica Paupst, Senior HR Recruiter
Recruitment requires involvement, interest, and respect for another person’s time and work. Once you’ve gone through those steps, what’s left is staying connected.
Stay connected with your network
No matter where previous candidates are in their career journey, maintaining a relationship matters. Supreet reminds us of how important it is to keep showing up:
I put a congratulations under EVERY promotion, new job, or new education update I see. People appreciate being recognized, they notice who is wishing them well and who is taking the time to reach out. Check in with your connections every few months, ask for referrals, ask how their new job is going. Remember: People can’t remember you if you aren’t making yourself memorable.
— Supreet Jaiswal, Recruitment Consultant
Come work with us
As you can see, at TAG HR, we stand by transparency, honesty, respect, open communication, and intentionality. If these values resonate with you and you’re looking for a place that stands by these principles, we’d love to have you on our team.
We’re always hiring recruiters in Ottawa! Explore more details on our careers page and reach out to Jesika Arseneau, our Vice President of Strategy and Culture, for any questions you might have.
Just a heads up! As we’re based in Ottawa, ON, we prefer candidates local to the area for a hybrid work setting.
From my perspective, this is a fantastic place to work. Sure, I might be biased, but in my opinion, the values we uphold here make it an amazing environment for growth and connection.