The Reality Check: 10 Hard Truths About Bridging Hiring Expectations and Market Realities
In our latest Ask a Recruiter panel discussion, we brought together three seasoned talent acquisition leaders to tackle one of recruiting's most persistent challenges: the growing disconnect between what hiring teams expect and what the market can actually deliver. Ruthie Goodell from Buoy Software, Zaharo Tsekouras of Right Hand Talent & Conscious Talent, and Virginia B. Hillman, an independent recruiting consultant, shared unvarnished insights from their extensive frontline experience.
TL;DR: The gap between hiring expectations and market reality isn't just about salary—it's about fundamentally rethinking how we approach talent acquisition. From rewriting job descriptions to setting transparent timelines, these three experts reveal how the best recruiters bridge this gap through radical honesty, creative positioning, and relentless advocacy for both candidates and clients.
1. Start Every "Unicorn Hunt" with Radical Market Research
When faced with impossible job requirements, the instinct is often to negotiate or push back immediately. But the most effective recruiters take a different approach: they become market researchers first.
I always run a benchmark of salaries because you got to stay equitable and attractive. I love to do a skills availability heat map, which is just layman's terms for a market analysis.
Virginia B. Hillman, who has achieved 95-100% offer acceptance rates throughout her career, explains this foundational approach.
This isn't just about pulling salary data from Glassdoor. It's about creating what Virginia calls a "visual clarity" presentation that maps rare skills versus common skills, analyzes similar companies' approaches, and determines whether a role needs to be split into two positions.
The key insight? Don't argue with unrealistic expectations instead demonstrate them with data.
2. Use "Failure Mode Transparency" to Reset Expectations
Zaharo Tsekouras, who specializes in executive search, has developed what she calls "failure mode transparency" by being brutally honest about where searches typically break down.
My MO here is just being really transparent where I think the failure modes of a search could be, and sometimes that is saying, 'Hey, based on these past 5, 10, 20 searches we've done for this role, your ideal candidate is probably not going to be in the 130 to 150 range on the base. They're probably closer to 150 to 175.'
This approach works because it's predictive rather than reactive. Instead of discovering salary misalignment after weeks of rejections, you're setting realistic parameters from day one.
3. The "Why with Empathy" Method for Difficult Conversations
When hiring managers dig in their heels on unrealistic requirements, Virginia's secret weapon is what she calls "why with empathy."
My favorite word slash question is why. You got to understand where people are coming from. Everyone has a reason why they think a certain way. And then you can reverse engineer the problem by starting always with why.
This isn't about being confrontational—it's about understanding the underlying business need that's driving the unrealistic request. Often, what looks like stubbornness is actually fear or past bad experiences driving overly specific requirements.
4. Speed and Quality Aren't Mutually Exclusive—But They Require Different Trade-offs
The panel tackled a common recruiting dilemma: compressed timelines with slow decision-making. Zaharo's take was uncompromising:
Slow and inconsistent is totally incompatible with a compressed hiring timeline because the loop is iterative.
As an agency recruiter, she's developed a clear boundary: if clients can't meet basic service level agreements (24-hour candidate review, 48-hour feedback), she reallocates resources to searches where success is more likely.
For in-house recruiters, Virginia suggests a different approach: "parallelize whenever possible." She describes herself as a "risky recruiter" who will compress multiple interview rounds into a single day when candidates are entertaining other offers—but only with full transparency to all parties.
5. Set Transparent Expectations Before the Process Even Begins
Ruthie Goodell credits her time at Wellfound (formerly AngelList Talent) with revolutionizing her approach to candidate experience through radical transparency.
One of the best things was a 'what to expect' document sharing that with the candidate to say, here's what you can expect from our interview process. There should be no surprises. We've got our ducks in a row.
But she takes it further: promising specific response times and holding the hiring team accountable. This isn't just candidate experience, it's a forcing function that makes internal stakeholders commit to the process.
6. Master the Art of "Authentic Polarization" in Job Descriptions
Perhaps the most counterintuitive advice came around job descriptions. Instead of making roles appeal to everyone, the panel advocated for what Zaharo calls "authentic polarization."
She shared two extreme examples: a venture firm whose partners were deeply committed to consciousness work, and a hedge fund founder who demanded "no vacation for 2 years, working 16 hours a day." In both cases, they leaned into the extremes in their job postings.
The applicants that we got for that [hedge fund] role were so strong, 10 times stronger than any other regular job posting we might have had up for other roles, and I think it's because the message was so authentic, even if it rubbed some people the wrong way, it rubbed the right people totally in the right way.
The lesson: Bland job descriptions attract bland candidates. Authentic extremes attract passionate matches.
7. Use Market Rejection as Education, Not Failure
When salary ranges are off or requirements are unrealistic, the smartest recruiters use market rejection as a teaching tool rather than admitting defeat.
"Sometimes hiring managers just need to see, to actually see it, to experience it," Ruthie explains. "If you're honest, they'll receive that well."
This approach requires courage—letting a hiring manager experience the reality of their unrealistic expectations rather than endlessly massaging the search. But it's often the fastest path to realistic requirements.
8. Build Quality Filters That Scale with Volume
When facing hundreds of unqualified applicants, the panel's advice went beyond just better screening. Virginia advocates for what she calls "marrying volume with selectivity" by using creative filtering mechanisms that actually reveal candidate quality.
One client sent candidates a personal YouTube video about his philosophy and asked for a paragraph response.
It wasn't exactly what you answered, and that was the ones that won were the ones that had a 50-50 split on agreement because they needed opinionated people that would be able to push an envelope and question and grow.
The insight: Generic screening questions get generic responses. Creative, role-specific challenges reveal authentic thinking.
Tip: Wellfound:ai Autopilot service offers the ability to work with our team to create video branding to share with your candidates to make sure they fit well with your company culture and attract them to the role. To find out more about Wellfound:ai click here and click here to book a demo.
99. Remember You're Advocating for Long-term Success, Not Quick Placement
Perhaps the most important theme was the panel's shared commitment to long-term candidate success over quick placements. Virginia shared a story about a 72-day search that required escalating to the VP level to split an unrealistic role into two positions.
I'd rather sit on something than bring someone and set them for failure. We advocate. We took this profession because I wanted more women that sound like me and look like me to have a seat at the table, and also I want every person to have a seat at the table.
This perspective reframes recruiting delays not as failures, but as advocacy. Sometimes the most responsible thing is to pause a search until the role is set up for success.
10. Don't Underestimate the Power of Active Sourcing When Applications Fail
When facing hundreds of unqualified applicants, many recruiters get stuck in the screening trap. But Ruthie advocates for a fundamental shift in approach.
Before I actually worked at Wellfound, I was using Wellfound very heavily to source candidates. I know that doesn't really touch on the applications, because sometimes as a recruiter, you just get so frustrated with that quality of candidate being so low coming in through applications that I actually found that sourcing candidates through platforms has a higher success rate.
This insight reveals a crucial reality: when job postings attract the wrong candidates, the solution isn't better screening — it's proactive outreach to the right people. Rather than getting stuck in an endless cycle of reviewing inappropriate applications, successful recruiters pivot to targeted sourcing on platforms where they can find candidates who actually match their requirements.
Actionable Takeaways
- Create market reality reports early: Before pushing back on unrealistic expectations, create visual presentations that show salary benchmarks, skills availability, and competitive analysis for similar roles.
- Set service level agreements with hiring teams: Establish clear timelines for feedback and stick to them, or reallocate your time to searches where stakeholders are committed to the process.
- Write job descriptions that polarize authentically: Stop trying to appeal to everyone. Clearly articulate both who would thrive in the role AND who wouldn't be a good fit.
- Use creative screening mechanisms: Move beyond generic application questions to role-specific challenges that reveal actual thinking and cultural alignment.
- Lead with "failure mode transparency": Share upfront where similar searches have typically broken down, using data from past searches to set realistic expectations about timeline, budget, and candidate availability.
What This Means for Job Seekers
While this panel focused on recruiter strategies, the insights reveal important truths for candidates navigating today's market. When you encounter lengthy hiring processes or role changes mid-search, remember that good recruiters are often advocating behind the scenes for realistic job requirements and fair compensation.
Look for companies that provide transparent timelines, detailed job expectations (like 30-60-90 day goals), and authentic culture descriptions that include both positives and challenges. These are signals of organizations that have done the internal work to set you up for success rather than just fill a seat quickly.
This article summarizes key points from Wellfound's 'Ask a Recruiter' live Q&A panel featuring Ruthie Goodell, Zaharo Tsekouras, and Virginia B. Hillman. To find out more candidate tips, check out other 'Ask a Recruiter' sessions on the YouTube playlist here.