The Slow Food Movement of Recruiting
The recruiting industry has a speed problem. Everyone’s trying to build the Netflix of recruiting - promising instant matches, AI-powered everything, and thousands of candidates at the click of a button. But what if we’ve been thinking about this all wrong?
I’ve been watching recruiting technology evolve for years, and I’m convinced we’re optimizing for the wrong things. We’re so obsessed with scale and speed that we’ve forgotten what recruiting is really about: building relationships that last.
Think about fine dining versus fast food. Sure, McDonald’s can serve thousands of customers per day, but there’s a reason people still wait months for a reservation at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Quality takes time. It requires attention. Most importantly, it can’t be mass-produced.
The best recruiting platforms I’ve seen lately are taking what I call the “slow food approach” to hiring. Instead of promising hundreds of candidates, they’re focusing on delivering just ten really good ones. Rather than building massive databases, they’re creating carefully curated communities. Instead of replacing humans with algorithms, they’re using technology to make humans better at what they do best - building relationships.
Here’s what this looks like in practice:
First, you start with curation. Just like a great restaurant sources the finest ingredients, these platforms pre-vet their talent pool to include only the top 20% of candidates. Yes, that means turning away business. Yes, that means growing slower. But it also means building something that actually works.
Next, you focus on the experience. Modern recruiting isn’t just about filling positions - it’s about creating matches that last. This means understanding how people make career decisions, how companies solve business problems, and where these two things intersect. It’s about values alignment, cultural fit, and long-term potential.
Finally, you use technology as an enabler, not a replacement. The best recruiting tech I’ve seen lately isn’t trying to automate everything - it’s trying to automate the right things. It’s giving humans better tools to build relationships, make connections, and understand needs.
The future of recruiting tech isn’t about building bigger platforms or faster algorithms. It’s about building better relationships. And just like a great meal, that takes time, care, and attention to detail.
Sometimes slower is better. Sometimes smaller is better. And sometimes, the best way to use technology is to help humans be more human.