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What 20 Years in Recruitment Taught Me About What Actually Gets People Hired

What 20 Years in Recruitment Taught Me About What Actually Gets People Hired

I’ve been in recruitment for over 20 years. Agency, in-house, small companies, large ones. I’ve screened thousands of CVs, conducted hundreds of interviews, and been involved in more hiring decisions than I can count.

And if there’s one thing that experience has taught me, it’s this: most people have absolutely no idea how hiring actually works. Not because they’re not intelligent, but because nobody ever tells them. You’re expected to just figure it out as you go, and most people never do.

So here’s what I’ve learned. The stuff that actually makes a difference.

Your CV is a skim read, not a deep read

Nobody is reading your CV word for word. Recruiters and hiring managers are busy people who are often reviewing dozens of applications at a time. They are looking for specific information, and if they can’t find it quickly, they move on.

The single goal of your CV is to get you an interview. That’s it. It’s not a life story, it’s not a list of everything you’ve ever done. It’s a document designed to answer one question for the person reading it: does this person have what we’re looking for?

Structure matters more than most people realise. Get your name and contact details at the top, a short two or three sentence professional summary, a key skills section, and then your experience in reverse chronological order. Keep it clean, keep it readable, and don’t bury the important stuff.

If you need help download my Free CV Template

Nobody cares about your responsibilities. They care about what you achieved.

This is probably the most common mistake I see on CVs, and it makes a huge difference. Most people write their experience section like a job description. They list what they were responsible for, what they did day to day, and that’s it.

The problem is that tells the reader nothing about how good you actually were at the job. Two people can have the same responsibilities and produce completely different results.

What hiring managers want to know is what you achieved. What changed because of you? What did you improve, build, deliver, or save? If you can put a number to it, even better. “Reduced time to hire from 37 days to 30 days” is infinitely more powerful than “responsible for improving the recruitment process.”

Think about each role you’ve had and ask yourself: what would not have happened, or would have been worse, if I hadn’t been there? The answer to that question is what should be on your CV.

The ATS is not rejecting you

There is a whole industry built around the myth of the ATS scanner. People are paying money for “ATS optimised” CVs and spending hours stuffing their applications full of keywords because someone told them a robot is deciding their fate.

It isn’t. There is no ATS scanner going through your CV and auto-rejecting you based on missing keywords. If you’re getting rejected immediately after applying, it’s almost always because of the answers you gave to the screening questions during the application process, not your CV.

Your CV will be read by a human. Write it for a human.

Who you know still matters, but not in the way most people think

Networking gets a bad reputation because most people do it wrong. They connect with strangers on LinkedIn, send a generic message asking for a job, and then wonder why it doesn’t work.

The useful version of networking is much simpler. It’s about getting yourself in front of the person who would actually manage you if you got the job. Not the CEO, not HR, but the hiring manager. Find them, have a genuine conversation about the role or their team, and you’ll immediately stand out from the pile of faceless applications.

I’ve seen average candidates get hired over stronger ones on paper simply because they made a connection. And I’ve seen brilliant candidates get overlooked because nobody inside the business knew who they were.

Interview preparation is not optional

Most people prepare for interviews by thinking about what they might be asked. That’s fine as a starting point, but it’s the minimum. The candidates who stand out do more than that.

They research the company properly, not just a quick skim of the about page. They understand what the company is trying to achieve, what challenges it faces, what the role actually needs to deliver. They walk into the interview already thinking like someone who works there.

And they prepare questions. Real ones, not the polite filler questions most people ask. Questions that show you’ve thought about the role and the business. That level of preparation is rare, and when a hiring manager encounters it, they notice.

Salary negotiation is a conversation, not a confrontation

Most people either don’t negotiate at all, or they approach it apologetically, as if asking for what they’re worth is somehow cheeky. Neither approach serves you well.

Hiring managers expect you to negotiate. It’s a normal part of the process. The key is doing it based on something concrete, whether that’s market data, your current package, or the value you bring to the role. Know your number before you go in. Have a reason for it. And say it with confidence.

The worst thing that happens is they say no. That’s fine too, because then you have all the information you need to make a proper decision.

The basics matter more than people think

After 20 years, the thing that still surprises me is how often people are undone by the basics. Turning up late, not doing basic research on the company, sending a CV that hasn’t been proofread, giving vague answers in interviews because they haven’t prepared.

Getting hired is not complicated. It’s just not easy. Most of the people who struggle with job searching aren’t doing anything dramatically wrong. They’re just not doing enough of the right things consistently.

A well-structured CV that showcases your achievements. Decent preparation for interviews. A clear sense of what you’re worth. A bit of effort to stand out from the pile. That’s genuinely most of it.

The people who get hired aren’t always the most talented. They’re usually the most prepared.

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