TALKING TALENT - How to Fix Hiring with Transparency, Feedback & Human Touch with Gita Selli
Welcome back to Talking Talent, a RecTalk podcast, hosted by Nitin Sharma and Sean Kennedy. In this episode, we’re joined by Gita Selli, an experienced in-house talent leader who brings real-world, no-BS insight into what’s going wrong with candidate experience — and what talent teams should be doing instead. With candidate frustration at an all-time high, ghosting now “normalised”, and AI being used for convenience rather than value, this conversation digs deep into how recruitment has lost its human touch — and how to get it back. What we cover in this episode: * Why candidate experience is at an all-time low and who’s really responsible * The damage caused by ghosting, overcomplicated hiring processes, and poor stakeholder management * How many interview stages is too many (and why 6-stage processes kill good candidates) * Why feedback matters, even when the answer is “no” — and how it impacts employer reputation * The right (and wrong) ways to use AI in recruitment * Why “auto-reject” and transactional tech is harming talent teams * The importance of transparent, honest rejection messaging * How smaller TA teams can outperform big brands by being human * Employer branding that actually works — no stock photos, no fake messaging * Using real employees and simple video to boost applications (at zero cost) * Why if your people won’t advocate for your company, the problem isn’t branding — it’s culture * Hiring for reality, not hype: “the holiday has to match the brochure” * Lessons from in-house vs agency recruitment * Personal career reflections, leadership honesty, and staying human in high-pressure TA roles This episode is candid, funny, occasionally brutal, and packed with practical advice for anyone involved in hiring — whether you’re in TA, recruitment leadership, or building employer brand from scratch. Who this episode is for: * Talent Acquisition professionals * Internal recruiters and in-house TA leaders * Recruitment leaders frustrated with broken hiring processes * Employer branding and EVP specialists * Hiring managers involved in interview design * Anyone who cares about treating candidates like humans 🔗 Connect with the guest Gita Selli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gita-selli/ Loadsmart: https://loadsmart.com/ 🔗 Connect with the hosts Sean Kennedy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanthetaguy/ Nitin Sharma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitin-rectools/ New episodes of RecTalk, plus Founder Diaries and Talking Talent, drop every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Look out for new episodes of The Mixed Grill — the official podcast of the Recruitment Curry Club — dropping on Thursday. https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-recruitment-curry-club/ Listen on another platform: https://rectalk.co.uk/ 🔗 Get in touch with these recommended suppliers Ross Thompson — Infinity Staff Global: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossnthompson/ Matt Fox — Exitus Advisory: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-fox-50b10311/ SourceFlow: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sourceflow/ Robert Woodford — The Marketing Junction: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marketing4recs/ Carl Jones — Konquest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-jones-66093722/
