Y/our. A recruitment AiDE, pt 10

Greg Wyatt • January 8, 2026

Happy New Year!


What follows is about putting ikigai in practice, and how what fulfils your people can also attract capable new hires.


Does your team say this to their friends in the pub when asked how their job is going?


"I'm passionate and excited about working for a progressive market-leading employer of choice."


Not unless the brainwashing has gone well, I'd wager.


May, 2023


Why do your people enjoy working for you?


Why might others leave great jobs to work for you?


Why would they stick around?


Share the answers to these questions, with meaning, in your messaging, and you’ll attract better-suited candidates if they aren’t ready to apply.


Offer them an appealing reason to take their first step – which might simply be a conversation.


While ‘apply now’ can be your first experience of an applicant, it may not be their first experience of your process, especially if their CV is outdated or they hadn’t been considering a move.


What will encourage further consideration, perhaps an application, a 2nd interview, accepting a job offer, declining a counteroffer, or starting a job successfully?


That final step doesn’t happen without the first, and all those in-between.


A first step that may not happen, if you haven’t given good enough reason to do so.


It’s all very well grabbing attention, but why should anyone seriously consider engaging with you?


Fail to do the latter, and you’re left with clickbait.


That’s what ikigai is for.


It can be found in every touchpoint in your process and it’s closely tied to the experience of your candidate.


For now, let’s focus on attraction.


Many employers have a kernel of truth about why they are a great place to work.


But it slips away when they start describing that truth because they focus on what it means for them.


Our company. Our culture. Our values. Our vacancy. Our needs.


That’s no advert. It’s a boast.


Most adverts lead with company info first, presumably for promotion purposes, yet why should a candidate care?


If it matters, show why.


If it doesn’t, strip it out.


“We’re a high-growth market leader”


You’re growing through acquisition?


Growing because the world demands a sustainable product only you can provide, creating opportunities for career development?


Growing because you work your team really hard, and pay them through the nose to compensate?


Get to the root of your statement to give meaning.


“We’re innovative and disruptive.”


So is every other company. What does it mean and why does it matter?


If there’s no benefit for the candidate, will they care to read about your company? And if they don’t, why are you writing about it?


Values are a great example of truth being lost in words.


“We value honesty, fairness and respect”


Ah, so you don’t hire narcissistic criminals?


I’m pretty sure most people believe they fulfil these, even if they don’t, because they read it from their perspective.


Words that are both universal and ambiguous, letting readers find their own meaning: it might mean “we make fact-based decisions, based on impartial research, and no BS” or it might mean “we work openly and toward a common goal, we have each other’s backs, without politics.


What is the story of your personal values?


Learning from success and failure, giving the world more than I take, and helping others improve their lot - a few of the things I aspire to, even when I get them hideously wrong 🤣.


If your perfect candidate is fed up with the corporate rat race and wants to contribute their experience in a more meaningful way, with honesty, fairness and respect… isn’t that something to appeal to?


Culture is often described from intent, not from the experience of performing a role in a team.



“We have a brilliant culture of learning, teamwork, and bringing people forward”


But what does Alan in Accounts experience or Mandy in Marketing? Harry in HR?


Alan at one company might love the quiet time he spends with Excel.


Another Alan might help his manufacturing leadership team make better decisions by establishing cost variances.


How are they brought forward?


Mandy may be thrilled by automation, or maybe she’s totally into creativity.


What does teamwork look like for them?


Harry might find delight in telling agencies to PSL off, or perhaps he wants to make a difference and not be trapped by firefighting ER issues.


What part does HR have to play in a culture of learning?


All might fit into a single definition of culture while being very different candidates, experiencing their roles very differently.


Some who would make great hires, and some who are great people yet not the right employees.


What does the culture of your vacancy mean to the right candidates?


Maybe candidates don’t care if your culture is toxic, they just want money for their habits.


Flexi-time to care for the horses.


Working from home because they’re better team players when they don’t have to hang around humans.


Working from the office because that’s how ideas are inspired.


Joining a friendly team who all like crochet.


Knowing that their professional development will be invested in.


Earning money to pay the bills, because work is just a transaction.


Everyone’s different.


So talking about you, as an employer, makes much less sense than appealing to their needs, inclusively, in the way your vacancy inherently offers.


Culture, values, pay, working arrangements, career development, commute – what matters to them, and why.


What you can offer that meets their ikigai.


Why not spend time with your teams and find out what their roles are really like, what makes them tick, and what frustrates them?


If they genuinely want a career with you, might it be that their ikigai is the same as those you want to attract?


Look at why people leave your business. Is it because their new roles are actually better, or is it because you no longer meet their needs?


Is that something you can change, have everyone benefit from, and show a new attraction point to candidates?


What makes your ideal candidates tick? If you’ve established what good is, in your candidates, you should also have established what motivates them.


How can you make their life better?


What problem does working for you solve?


Why not give them a good reason to start a conversation with you, by distilling the ikigai you can offer into a simple concept or two that makes them want to learn more?


Just be mindful if you notice homogeneity in your team - a lack of diversity can hold you back, in which case the right question to ask is


"How can I access a wider talent pool?"


The next post is about how you can provide ikigai to candidates at every step in your process, and how it can benefit you.


Regards,

Greg


p.s. While you are here, if you like the idea of improving how you recruit, lack capacity or need better candidates, and are curious how I can help, these are my services:


- UK key hire recruitment (available for no more than two vacancies)

- manage part or all of your recruitment on an individually designed basis for one client

- outplacement support


Just hit reply to check if my approach is right for you.

Introduction to personal branding

By Greg Wyatt • March 30, 2026
What follows is Chapter 39 of A Career Breakdown Kit (2026) . It's 10 months old, so surely the algorithm has moved on right? Indeed, my own content performance has tanked if you compare 2026 to 2025. Around 12 million views of my content last year, while if I extrapolate my year to date performance, it looks like a little shy of 640,000 views. My LinkedIn feed is quieter, yet real life relevant conversations go from strength to strength, many of which stem from my content. Look, I don't love the term, but I am a fan of putting your message out there, across multiple means, so that your most relevant audience might become aware of you. And perhaps your relevant audience is an audience of one, a person who can put you nearer that job. Which is the only algorithm you need. This is a three part series, with part 2 on " Content strategy and philosophy " and part 3 on " A flair post ". Click on the links for the unedited versions on Substack. 39 - Introduction to personal branding Whatever you think of LinkedIn, you shouldn’t overlook its nature as a free marketing platform, where you can build a reputation through the words of your posts, comments and messages. Personal branding is a viable tactic as part of a multi-channel approach to your job search and it can bring opportunities to you. I'll start off by saying I'm not a fan of the term personal branding. It can lead to make-work which can even get in the way of what you should be doing. Writing and using content to create experiences that support a job search is a great idea and calling it personal branding - as a discrete activity - isn’t a bad thing. I expect there are many mediums through which you can build a personal brand. I'll focus on LinkedIn because of how entrenched it is in other job search activities. What a personal brand is For businesspeople the idea is that by building awareness of your personality, lifestyle and what you're promoting, you also build trust. So that when people are ready to buy, they'll buy your products. The brand might be personal. The goal is sales. When you see personal branding on LinkedIn it’s often a business that promotes their services through the account of the author. ‘Here’s my puppy, buy my stuff.’ Take note that the target audience for these advice posts is the businesspeople above. And these posts often seek to part them from their money. Your goals are similar. If there’s a commercial outcome you want, it’s likely a single job, not a throughput of leads. You’ll also see that controversial content gets huge engagement and can also repel readers. If you need a job, what’s the danger of writing overly spicy content? Could a reader make a decision against you based on your words? How much you need any job should inform the experience you want to create for your readers. How it sits in your wider job search Publishing content is about raising awareness and starting conversations with the right people. This can be your profile, written posts, newsletters, (bestselling) career breakdown kits, videos, you name it - anything you can become known for. In many ways the hierarchy of relationships your content appeals to is the same as with networking. Content can be publishing posts, commenting on the posts of others, sending direct messages. I’d argue even your applications and interviews are part of your personal brand. I think of LinkedIn posts like a plumber’s van driving around town. Most of the time you’ll disregard the van unless it cuts you up with noxious fumes. When you have a leaky pipe, you’ll surely take note of their number. It can support an application if a hiring manager decides to surreptitiously stalk your profile. And it can work against you if it suggests problem behaviour. A good balance for content is the poster in my daughters’ primary school from a few years back: THINK. Is it True? Is it Helpful? Is it Inspiring? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind? Achieve those five points and content will rarely work against your job search. Content should be consistent with your wider activity. Which means that everything people (potential employers) experience of you is a complementary and non-contradictory message. Content that contradicts your CV or cover letter may lead to red flags, whether that’s fair or not. Content should be intentional. HOW TO GO viral, and why you shouldn’t Anyone who writes content will enjoy the sweet, sweet flow of dopamine when you see reactions and comments trickle in. Such as that first flair post announcing you are available to help your next employer with examples of your achievements and what you are looking for. Do that and you’ll get loads of engagement. Why haven’t you done it yet? Tag me in and I’ll support you. Or you can do what most people do and say, ‘I’m sorry to announce I’ve lost my job, please help’ and that will get loads too. Because it is relevant and relatable to fellow job seekers, recruiters and sympathisers. Then you feel the soul-crushing defeat of a well-thought-out post, highlighting a problem in your industry, with tumbleweed to follow. Both types of content have a place. That tumbleweed post is relevant and relatable to a niche audience. I try to take a land and expand approach to content - job seeker advice, recruitment advice and stories, ponderings and satire, which I use to tackle topics from different directions. Over the past three years I’ve had between 3m to 11m views of my posts and I’ve gained a bit of business through them too. What I don’t do is try to go viral anymore. Because when I have gone viral with a few 1m impression posts, it’s taken weeks to extricate myself from them and there hasn’t been real benefit. I find my tumbleweed posts start better conversations from lurkers - those that never engage publicly. I promised you I’d show you how to go viral. Here you go. Relevance + relatability + readability + entitlement. Maybe add a selfie. If that seems too simple, search for this sentence on LinkedIn: “An employee asked me if he can WORK from HOME permanently.” You’ll need to use the double speech mark to search on the phrase, and rank by Posts. ‘Does it really work?’ asked Charles. I told him to try it as an experiment. He rarely got more than a few hundred impressions per post. 170,000 impressions, 2,000 reactions. Pretty viral for a first timer. It is the wrong path. What do these posts actually say? Who are they aimed at? And if they don’t appeal to people who can help you reach your objective, what’s the point? 

Nothing but the truth. Innovation from Iteration, pt 4

By Greg Wyatt • March 26, 2026
I was tempted to use another Tom Cruise AI image for this article, but his hands ended up looking like feet, which wasn't a true representation of him. Probably not fair to use AI in this way either, stealing copyrighted material without permission. And so I use this AI 'stock image' instead, which is probably also highly unethical, but feels more suitable and sufficient . Anyway here's an article about why the same principles are crucial for good recruitment: ‘True and Fair’ is an accountancy concept that lies at the heart of reporting, and can be applied effectively in recruitment. Its meaning is that any financial statement made about a company should accurately and completely represent its financial position and performance. The role of auditing is to confirm that documentation meets this definition. Do so and everyone knows what they are dealing with. HMRC, shareholders, customers, suppliers, employees – useful, and in many cases necessary, to have access to a true and fair view of a company’s accounts. Can something be true and not fair? In 2001, Enron went bust, a huge scandal with real-life repercussions that led to new legislation in the US. Their accounts were true, in that they conformed with the required laws and standards. However they had an incredibly complex reporting structure which made it impossible to see the overwhelming debt they had. Poof! Bye-bye a $100bn company when this all came out in the wash. How about fair but not true? This can happen if a situation is described which gives a fair picture but lacks accuracy. An example here could be the UK politician who HMRC deemed behaved fairly but made errors in his tax reporting. Only a few million quid plus penalty. What types of recruitment documentation does this apply to? Three key ones that spring to mind (although there’s no reason it can’t be applied everywhere): The job description. The job advertisement. The CV. If these three documents were always a true and fair representation of either a job or a candidate, you’d interview and hire better candidates who stick around longer. With the caveat that these documents should also be ‘suitable and sufficient’, if you remember last week's edition. Documents are the first step in a recruitment process, relating to a decision to apply and the decision to interview. Is it not the case, that the second most common complaint in recruitment is “not what we expected”? Therefore, if we nipped this complaint in the bud, with true and fair documentation, wouldn’t life be better for everyone in the recruitment process? What does true and fair mean in recruitment documentation? I think it has to cover three points. 1/ factually correct 2/ shows context suitably 3/ describes sufficiently An immediate objection might be that job descriptions are always true and fair, but I’d argue this is actually rarely the case. If you recruit for a new role, do you audit your job description against the current context? If you have a generic job family description does it show the specific day-to-day duties of a role? Have things changed in the current role that makes it different to the last time you recruited? A common scenario in recruitment is that Greg resigns, and the hiring manager says “we’d love someone just like Greg”. Yet if Greg resigned, wouldn’t someone just like Greg be at risk of resigning for the same reasons in future? Would now-Greg have applied for the same role that then-Greg applied for? Which definition of Greg is the true and fair one you’d hire? It feels strange writing my name like this. There are lots of different situations in which a job description that was true and fair a few years ago is no longer so. The only way to ensure it is true and fair, is to audit documentation prior to going live. You may think a fully representative and accurate contextual analysis is too time-consuming for most vacancies, especially where it doesn’t actually matter if there is some inaccuracy. “Oh yeah, that’s not relevant anymore”. But if you have a key hire that can make a difference in your business, ‘true and fair’ should be the starting point, each and every time. If you have a systematic process that finds truth and fairness, you’ll see the benefit of applying the same across any vacancy – for the reason that the time invested at the outset is offset by interviewing fewer unsuitable candidates and wasting less time and resources overall. And what should be the more important reason of better recruitment outcomes. For any project I take on, this is the first step – getting the documentation in order. Get it right and everything flows from there. It’s a key reason behind my nearly 100% fill rate. It’s also one of the reasons my average tenure is over 4 years for key hires. These achievements don’t come down to chance. They come from my process. If you've forgotten why suitability and sufficiency is the other pillar, here's an example that isn't suitable: Nineteen experiential bullet points might be true and fair but will also encourage ideal candidates to run away screaming. See you next time. Regards, Greg p.s. While you are here, if you like the idea of improving how you recruit, lack capacity or need better candidates, and are curious how I can help, these are my services: - commercial, operational and technical leadership recruitment (available for no more than two vacancies) - manage part or all of your recruitment on an individually designed basis for one client. This can be a large as end-to-end delivery of a programme of vacancies, or as small as writing one job advert for a key hire- recruitment strategy setting - outplacement support