Vineet Gambhir
CHRO
Datalink
Episode 91
Stop Chasing Talent, Start Building Your Brand: The Strategic Imperative of Recruiting
Current chapter: Built by People Podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJuly 25, 2025 · 22:18
Thesis
“Recruiting is a fundamental brand-building and sales exercise for any company, demanding empathy, authenticity, and a strategic future-focused approach to attract and retain the best talent, rather than being treated as a mere tactical task.”
Show notes
Vineet Gambhir started his career as an electrical engineer on a factory floor. Twenty-five years and a complete reinvention later, he's one of the more original thinkers in the HR world — and his "Seven Deadly Sins of Recruiting" framework is the kind of thing that makes you stop and think about every candidate interaction you've ever gotten wrong.
The sins range from obvious (ghosting candidates, skipping follow-up) to uncomfortable (unconscious bias, hiring only for today's needs, inauthenticity). But the thread connecting all of them is the same insight: recruiting is your brand. Not just your employer brand — your company brand. Every candidate who walks through your process and leaves with a bad taste is a future Glassdoor review, a closed referral network, a potential customer who remembers how they were treated. Vineet's employer brand definition is broader than most: it's not just current employees, it's everyone who's ever been interested in you, or who used to work for you. That complete continuum needs to be right.
He's also one of the clearest voices on adapting recruiting for a multi-generational workforce — from how to think about resume gaps (focus on the journey, not the gap) to why he caps every process at five conversations and two weeks, regardless of level.
- The Seven Deadly Sins of Recruiting — and which ones are destroying your employer brand without you knowing
- Why Vineet focuses on "what you did with the gap" instead of the gap itself when evaluating career breaks
- The strict process limits he maintains: no more than 5 interviews, no more than 2 weeks per cycle
- How to adapt recruiting and onboarding for Gen Z's shorter attention spans and different communication expectations
- Why treating every candidate as a potential future CEO changes the entire tenor of your recruiting culture
This episode is brought to you by Previ — an employer network that saves employees thousands on the necessities they already pay for, at no cost to the company.
What you'll take away
- 1Treat recruiting as a strategic brand-building and sales function, not a tactical task, as it significantly impacts company culture and future talent attraction.
- 2Avoid the '7 Deadly Sins of Recruiting' (ghosting, lack of follow-up, biased judgment, narrow-minded hiring, hiring only for today, poor brand representation, inauthenticity) to protect employer brand and candidate experience.
- 3When evaluating candidates with resume gaps, focus on their story, how they navigated adversity, and what they learned, rather than simply the gap itself.
- 4Implement empathetic recruiting strategies by accommodating personal circumstances, limiting interview rounds (max 5) and cycle time (max 2 weeks), and measuring process effectiveness.
- 5Adapt HR practices, including recruiting and onboarding, to generational differences by emphasizing social impact, growth opportunities, and using bite-sized, digital communication and gamification.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Do not focus on why someone has a gap. I would rather focus on what they did with that gap.
- •The biggest mistake we can all make is to treat recruiting as a tactical, here are the positions open, let's go check the box, let's move on. It's a huge opportunity which is missed...
- •The measure of success again isn't the number of positions you close, but if someone came to me next year and said, yeah, I interviewed with you, I didn't get a job, but I still loved the experience so much that I wanted to check if you have something else open now.
In Vineet's words
“For me, the people brand is not a function of who works for you today. It's a function of who's interested in you and who used to work for you. And it's that complete continuum. Which has to be correct from an experience perspective.”
This highlights the comprehensive nature of employer branding beyond just current employees, encompassing all interactions with potential and past talent.
“I do not focus on why someone has a gap. I would rather focus on what they did with that gap.”
This emphasizes a growth mindset and learning from adversity over strict adherence to continuous employment, challenging traditional resume screening.
“I have no more than 5 conversations in any interview process. I have no more than 2 weeks in any interview cycle.”
This provides concrete metrics for an efficient and empathetic candidate experience, aiming to reduce fatigue and provide timely closure.
“We now live in the age of Instagram and instant messaging. What I'm noticing is that the attention span is much shorter. Like, you cannot send a long email, a traditional form of communication. Now it's bite-sized learning, bite-sized communication. So instant updates is what people resonate.”
This explains how modern communication habits necessitate redesigning HR processes like onboarding and learning for newer generations.
“The biggest mistake we can all make is to treat recruiting as a tactical, here are the positions open, let's go check the box, let's move on. It's a huge opportunity which is missed, which not only damages the culture as it stands now, but a negative experience is what appears on Glassdoor reviews.”
This powerful statement argues against a transactional view of recruiting, highlighting its profound and long-term impact on company brand, culture, and reputation.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Losing valuable candidates due to poor interview experiences like ghosting or lack of timely follow-up, hurting the talent pipeline.
- •Unconscious biases in recruiting (e.g., judging candidates by name or appearance) leading to the exclusion of top talent.
- •Missed opportunities for innovation and better talent by rigidly adhering to exact skill sets instead of recognizing broader potential.
- •Poor workforce planning leading to over-hiring or mis-hiring, resulting in later layoffs and inability to scale into new markets.
- •Damage to employer brand and negative Glassdoor reviews caused by inconsistent or unprofessional interactions during the hiring process.
- •Disengagement of newer generations during traditional, lengthy onboarding processes and communication styles.
- •Employee dissatisfaction and potential early attrition stemming from inauthentic recruiting that oversells roles or hides critical company changes (e.g., acquisitions).
In this episode
Built by People Podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Vineet has 25 years of experience in the HR industry
In the Elevator With Vineet
Vinay pioneered the 7 Deadly Sins of Recruiting
7 Deadly Sins of Recruiting
What specific actions have you taken to transform traditional recruiting practices when dealing with resume gaps
What Types of Recruitment Questions Should Companies Ask About Resume
How have you personally implemented more empathetic and effective recruiting strategies
How to Build a More Empathetic Recruitment
What generational differences have you observed in recruiting expectations and how should HR professionals adapt
HR Professions: Gen X and The Future
The one and only one which helps build a company's brand is recruiting
Rebuilding the Company's brand through recruiting
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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