Introduction
If every recruiter had to spend a month job-hunting, the industry would change overnight. Empathy would skyrocket. Processes would tighten. Conversations would improve. Because walking in someone else’s shoes changes how you think.
At We Do Group, we’ve always believed in doing things differently. Less sales pitch, more substance. That’s why, when we say we understand the companies we recruit for, we mean we’ve been there.
We sat in the corner. Made the tea. Listened. Observed. Not to tick boxes, but to genuinely get under the skin of a business. Because if we want to give candidates real insight, we have to go deeper than a job spec.
Why empathy changes everything
Hiring is emotional. It’s about trust, clarity, and impact. But recruiters often forget what it feels like to be on the other side. The wait. The lack of feedback. The generic roles. The mismatched intros.
If you’ve never experienced it yourself, it’s easy to lose touch.
That’s why we believe empathy isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s a commercial advantage. When a recruiter truly understands the candidate experience, everything improves. The conversations get sharper. The questions get better. The process gets faster.
You can’t brief culture
Culture isn’t something you can fully capture in a one-hour client call. Or even in a well-written spec. It’s what you see and feel when you walk through the door.
We’ve spent days on site with clients. Not as consultants. As observers. Listening. Watching. Chatting to the finance team. Picking up the stuff that doesn’t get said in meetings. That’s where the real insight lives.
We’ve seen businesses that sound high-performance but feel chaotic. Teams that look close-knit but operate in silos. And the reverse too – businesses with modest reputations that have brilliant, grounded cultures behind the scenes.
The corner seat advantage
You learn a lot by being quiet. Sitting in a corner, watching the dynamic in meetings, hearing how leaders speak to juniors, noticing what people celebrate – these small moments tell you more about a business than any presentation ever could.
The bonus? When we speak to candidates, we’re not relying on guesswork. We’re giving them reality. The good, the bad, and the stuff worth knowing. That builds trust. And that’s what moves good people to take great jobs.
Faster, smarter hiring starts with better insight
When a recruiter understands the real culture of a business, hiring moves faster. Why? Because every conversation with a candidate is more targeted. The match isn’t based on CV keywords, it’s based on alignment.
We know who will thrive. We know what the line manager really cares about. We know what pace the team moves at. And we can guide both sides clearly and confidently.
Final Thought
Better hiring doesn’t start with better adverts. It starts with better listening. If you want to attract the right people, insight beats sales tactics every time.
We’re not interested in making placements for the sake of it. We want to make the right hires for the right reasons. And to do that, you’ve got to understand the culture from the inside, not from the spec.
At We Do Group, we don’t just talk about culture fit – we sit in it. If you want recruitment that feels more like a partnership than a transaction, let’s talk.
