Recruiter Insights
Recruiter Insights is a public community on OnJob. Recruiters and candidates in the same room - how screening really works, what gets a profile shortlisted, and what hiring teams wish applicants knew.
What are people discussing in Recruiter Insights?
- Karthik Reddy
A hiring process that takes six weeks loses candidates to processes that take two
Every additional round has a cost measured in dropped candidates, and it is usually paid by the strongest people in the pipeline, who have other offers. If a round exists because …
- Priya Raghavan
Requirement lists shape who applies, and they do not filter evenly
Long lists of must-haves systematically reduce applications from candidates who read them literally, while candidates who treat them as aspirational apply anyway. If a team wants …
- Sandeep Rao
Welcome to Recruiter Insights
Recruiters and candidates both post here. The point is to close the information gap: candidates get to ask why a process works the way it does, and recruiters get to hear how thei…
- Sneha Kulkarni
On salary conversations
Naming a range early is not a trap in most markets - it saves both sides three rounds of interviews for a role that was never going to work financially. Give a range you would gen…
- Aditya Joshi
For recruiters posting roles
The two additions that most improve applicant quality are a salary range and a concrete description of the first project. Both narrow the pool, which is the point. Fewer, better m…
- Arjun Mehta
Outreach that gets replies has one thing in common: evidence the sender read the profile
One specific sentence about the candidate's actual work outperforms any amount of enthusiasm about an exciting opportunity. Candidates receive a great many templated messages and …
- Rahul Verma
What usually happens in the first pass on a profile
A recruiter checks whether the last two roles resemble the one being hired for, whether the location and work authorisation fit, and whether the headline skills appear anywhere co…
- Arjun Mehta
Candidates disappear from processes too, and it is worth naming
Withdrawing is entirely reasonable at any stage. Sending one line to say so keeps a relationship that may matter in three years, when the same recruiter is filling a role you actu…
- Sandeep Rao
Recruiters are usually willing to tell you who you will meet, what each round covers, and what the team is looking for
Candidates ask this far less often than they should. It is not an unfair advantage - it is the recruiter's job, and a candidate who arrives prepared makes their week easier.
- Ananya Iyer
What a recruiter screen is really testing
Can you explain your own experience clearly, does your motivation for the move make sense, are the logistics workable, and are the expectations in range. It is rarely a technical …
- Vikram Singh
For candidates responding to recruiter outreach: a short reply beats silence even when the answer is no
"Not looking right now, but the role sounds relevant - happy to talk in six months" keeps a warm contact and costs one line. Recruiters keep notes, and the next role they call abo…
- Vikram Singh
Understand who you are talking to
An in-house recruiter works for one company and is measured on filling its roles. An agency recruiter works across many and is paid on placement. Both can be genuinely helpful. Bu…
- Karthik Reddy
Why applications go unanswered, from the other side
A single role can attract several hundred applications, rejection messages are frequently gated behind a system nobody owns, and the recruiter running it is usually filling eight …
- Sandeep Rao
On counteroffers: if the only thing that changes is the number, the reasons you started looking are still there
A counteroffer that comes with a different scope, a different manager, or a concrete change to the thing that was wrong is worth considering. One that is purely financial usually …
- Divya Nair
Recruiters give less feedback than they would like to, and the reason is usually legal caution rather than indifference
Specific, factual feedback about a round is generally safe and genuinely useful. If you are hiring, giving one concrete sentence to everyone who reached a late stage costs very li…