Sitting at the Intersection
Recruiting, Coaching & Hiring in a Changing Market
By
Margaret Buj
Global Talent Acquisition Leader and Interview Coach
A few months ago, I worked with a mid-level product marketer who had been job searching for months. He was getting interviews – but no offers. After one coaching session, we pinpointed the problem: his examples were outdated, and he wasn’t connecting his work to business impact. Two weeks later, he had two offers on the table.
This kind of disconnect isn’t rare. I see it on both sides of the hiring table, every week – as both a recruiter and a coach.
With nearly 20 years in tech recruiting and 18 years coaching professionals worldwide, I have a rare vantage point: I’m not just advising candidates or helping companies hire – I’m doing both, every single day. That dual perspective has given me a front-row seat to what actually works in hiring – and where companies (and candidates) often go wrong.
Here’s what I’ve learnt – and what HR leaders can do to build more effective, inclusive, and high-performing teams in 2025.
Company Mistakes That Drive Great Candidates Away
The biggest issue I see? Disorganised, slow-moving hiring processes.
I’ve watched companies lose A+ candidates because the process dragged on for weeks – or even months — with unclear steps, redundant rounds, and poor communication.
It usually looks like this: a candidate does a screening call, waits two weeks for another interview, then faces a redundant panel. The final interview gets pushed back (again), and by the time the company is ready to make an offer, the candidate has already accepted another one – or quietly walked away.
The irony? These bloated processes don’t lead to better hires – they just increase the odds that your top choices will go elsewhere.
Another common misstep: treating interviews like interrogations.
Hiring is a two-way street. If your process feels adversarial, confusing, or disjointed, your strongest candidates won’t stick around. I’ve seen top engineers and product marketers walk away simply because the experience signaled misalignment or dysfunction.
Then there’s the issue of inconsistent evaluation criteria. I’ve seen companies reject candidates for a skill they later waived for someone else – simply because the interview team wasn’t calibrated. This not only undermines decision quality but can open the door to bias and create distrust in the process.
Finally, many companies over-index on current skills rather than hiring for potential. In fast-evolving industries, frameworks change quickly. The best hires aren’t always the ones who tick every box – they’re the ones who can grow, adapt, and level up with the business.
Candidate Blind Spots HR Doesn’t Always Catch
On the candidate side, the most common issue I see is a lack of adaptability in communication.
For example, a candidate might deliver the same detailed technical walkthrough to an engineering lead and a VP of Product – missing the fact that the VP cares far more about business outcomes. Great candidates adjust their messaging based on the audience, but many don’t realise how crucial that is – and interviewers often miss the mismatch.
Another invisible signal: the quality of questions candidates ask.
Strong candidates don’t just answer well – they’re curious. They ask thoughtful, informed questions about team dynamics, challenges, and strategy. But if your interview rubric focuses only on how candidates perform, not how they engage, you may overlook high-potential talent.
Most interviewers are trained to evaluate answers – not adaptability. But qualities like curiosity, learning agility, and insight are often better predictors of long-term success than polished talking points.
Trends That Are Reshaping Talent Acquisition in 2025
Here’s what I see shaping hiring right now – and how smart HR leaders are responding:
🔹 AI in Hiring: When used well, AI can reduce admin work and time-to-hire by 30–50%. But over-reliance can lead to biased filters and missed opportunities. The best teams are using AI to support, not replace, human judgment.
🔹 Global Talent Pools: Remote and nearshore hiring is no longer about cost savings – it’s about accessing talent you can’t find locally. Countries like Portugal, Estonia, and Costa Rica are emerging as vibrant hubs.
🔹 Skills-Based Hiring: Still underutilised, but extremely effective. Companies that remove rigid degree or industry requirements are accessing deeper and more diverse talent pools – and seeing better results.
🔹 Hybrid & Async Work: Flexibility is now a business imperative. Companies that support async collaboration and hybrid flexibility have lower turnover and higher offer acceptance rates.
🔹 DEI: Forward-thinking organisations are moving beyond compliance. Structured interviews, skills-based assessments, and expanded sourcing are helping reduce bias and improve inclusivity.
What My Dual Perspective Reveals
Because I’m both actively recruiting and coaching, I’m plugged into what candidates value, what frustrates them, and where hiring processes fall short.
I’ve seen companies transform outcomes by making small but strategic changes – like one SaaS firm that streamlined their 6-round process into 3, aligned interviewer expectations, and started providing prep docs to candidates. In six weeks, they filled three key roles and saw offer acceptance rates rise dramatically.
At the same time, I coach professionals every day on how to navigate a competitive market. One client said after working with me: “Your advice completely changed how I approached my interviews – and I landed a role with a 30% salary increase.” Another told me it was “the most practical and useful session I’ve had – far more insightful than what I’ve seen even from LinkedIn themselves.”
These results don’t happen by chance – they happen when hiring is thoughtful, strategic, and responsive to real-world dynamics.
How HR Can Lead Smarter in 2025
The companies thriving today aren’t necessarily the ones with the most tech – they’re the ones using it to amplify human expertise.
🔹Start with clarity. Build hiring processes with clear objectives, structured evaluation, and timely decision-making.
🔹 Invest in adaptability. Train your teams to look for potential, not just pedigree.
🔹 Close the loop. Build feedback systems post-hire so you learn and improve over time.
And above all – don’t lose the human element.
Recruiting is changing fast. But at its core, hiring is still about people making smart decisions about other people. In 2025, that’s where HR can make the biggest impact
Margaret Buj is a Global Talent Acquisition Leader and Interview Coach with two decades of experience hiring top talent across EMEA, LATAM, and the US. She has led hiring across engineering, product, marketing, and G&A at companies including Expedia, VMware, Cisco, Microsoft, Box, Typeform, and Mixmax.
Margaret is also a Career Success Manager at Kadima Careers and the founder of Interview Coach UK, where she’s coached over 1,000 professionals on landing jobs, negotiating salaries, and advancing their careers. Her insights have been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Fox Business, and Financial Times, and she has been recognised as a LinkedIn Top Voice.
She offers 1:1 coaching, group programs, and interview training for hiring managers. Learn more at interview-coach.co.uk or connect with her on LinkedIn.