EP 71 – The Real Difference Between Average and Great Recruiters in Today’s Market w/ Sarah Leete
In this episode of The 1 Percent Better Recruitment Podcast, I’m joined by Sarah Leete, Co-Founder of Lawrence Dean Recruitment, to break down what really separates average recruiters from great ones in today’s market. With over 15 years in recruitment, Sarah has built and led a successful agency through recessions, market crashes, COVID, and now the rise of AI. She didn’t fall into recruitment, she chose it, and built her career on customer service, honesty, resilience, and long-term relationships. This conversation is rooted in real experience, not theory or LinkedIn soundbites. We cover: ✅ The real difference between average and great recruiters ✅ Why customer service is still the biggest competitive advantage ✅ Short-term wins vs long-term recruitment careers ✅ Work ethic, resilience, and early-career reality checks ✅ Partnership recruitment vs chaos-led contingency ✅ Educating clients and pushing back with confidence ✅ Why great recruiters don’t rely on CV-sending ✅ Where AI adds value, and where it goes too far ✅ Why AI won’t replace great recruiters, but will expose weak ones ✅ Hybrid vs office working and how recruiters really develop ✅ The power of listening and deep questioning ✅ Building a reputation that compounds over time ✅ Sarah’s 1 Percent Better tip for recruiters ⏱ Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro, purpose of the podcast and Sarah’s background 02:00 – Choosing recruitment, early career lessons and customer service foundations 08:00 – Starting Lawrence Dean in a recession and building long-term resilience 19:00 – Work ethic vs work-life balance, what great recruiters do differently 28:00 – Partnership recruitment, client education and pushing back properly 45:30 – Office vs hybrid working and how recruiters actually develop 54:00 – AI in recruitment, where it helps and where it damages trust 01:00:00 – Why AI won’t replace great recruiters, but will expose weak ones 01:12:00 – Final reflections and Sarah’s 1 Percent Better tip 🔗 Connect with Sarah Leete LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-leete-26652122/ 🔗Connect with Charles Kyriakou LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@charles.kyriakou Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ ... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46LjJfw ... LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7244346543967731712/ 🔗 Find out more about SourceWhale 🐋 Mention 1 Percent Better Recruitment Podcast or my name, Charles Kyriakou, when you sign up by clicking the link, or head to https://sourcewhale.com/demo to get started. 👇 If this episode resonated, like, comment, and subscribe, and share it with a recruiter who needs to hear this.
