How to Attract Top Candidates with This One Simple Step
- Kimberly Wilson
- Jun 2, 2025
- 8 min read
Updated: Aug 25, 2025
🕰️ Editor’s Note: This was the very first blog post ever published by TLR Search over 15 years ago. We’ve since updated and adapted it for today’s hiring landscape, but the core truth remains: attracting top talent starts with understanding the candidate’s perspective.
Why Empathy Might Be the Most Powerful Step to Attract Top Talent
TL;DR: Attract Top Candidates with This One Simple Step
▍ If you're suddenly tasked with hiring, you’re not alone. One simple shift can make all the difference.
▍ Step into your candidate’s mindset. That empathy can improve your job descriptions, outreach, interviews, and acceptance rates.
▍ This guide explains how to improve the hiring experience by putting yourself in a candidate’s shoes. This will help you attract aligned, engaged, and excited candidates who say yes.
If Hiring Isn’t Your Day Job, But It’s Suddenly on Your Plate
You're not alone if you’ve recently found yourself leading a search on top of your “real” job. Many engineering managers, technical leads, and business unit heads find themselves tasked with hiring, even when recruitment wasn’t in the original job description.
The challenge? Hiring well isn’t about luck or volume; it’s about resonance. The best candidates don’t just want a job. They want to feel aligned, understood, and energized about what they’re stepping into.
So, how do you attract top candidates in a competitive market?
Start by walking a mile in their shoes to understand the candidate journey.
Walk a Mile in Their Shoes
The easiest way to attract candidates, especially top talent, is to stop thinking like a hiring manager and start thinking like a candidate. Think about your role from the candidate's perspective.
Remember the moment when you found that “perfect role”? Everything clicked during the interview. You liked the team, felt energized by the opportunity, and could see yourself growing there. That alignment? That’s what today’s candidates are searching for, too.
But here’s the twist: most hiring managers never intended to become recruiters. You’re leading projects, hitting deadlines, and now you’re expected to fill roles too. It’s not easy, but there’s one step that makes everything easier.
Empathy.
To attract top candidates, walk a mile in their shoes. Understand what they’re thinking. Anticipate what they’re feeling. Recognize what might hold them back from saying “yes.”
Because while you’re drafting job descriptions and reviewing resumes, candidates are wondering:
Do I trust this company with my career?
Will this role stretch me or box me in?
Is this team where I’ll thrive—or just survive?
When you understand a candidate's emotional journey, you make smarter hiring choices and build stronger connections from the first conversation.
What Candidates Are Actually Thinking
As a hiring manager, you might assume candidates are focused on the obvious: title, pay, and responsibilities. But the truth is, a candidate's internal dialogue is far more layered.
When someone considers your opportunity, their thoughts go something like this:
What will my partner or family think if I make a change right now?
Do I really want to risk leaving something stable for the unknown?
What if this isn’t as good as it sounds and I regret it?
Who can I talk to who knows this company, this team, this manager?
Even passive candidates who aren’t actively applying face similar uncertainty when approached. They might think:
I don’t know this recruiter. Do they understand my background, or are they just guessing?
This job sounds familiar. Is it really any better than what I’m doing now?
If your outreach or job description doesn’t stand out or feel personal, many will not engage at all, not because they’re not interested, but because they’re not convinced it’s worth the emotional energy.
To attract top candidates, you must earn their trust before earning their resume.
The more you understand their mental process, the better you can tailor how you present your opportunity. And the more likely they are to say yes to the next step.
The Emotional Risk Behind Every Application
Applying to a job, especially when the person isn’t actively looking, requires more than just curiosity. It takes emotional risk. Every step forward asks the candidate to put something on the line.
When someone applies, they’re not just sharing a resume. They’re sharing a story—a career narrative—and a hope that what they bring to the table will be seen, understood, and valued.
But behind every application is a quiet series of doubts:
What if I don’t hear back?
What if I’m judged for applying while already employed?
What if they think I’m not qualified, even though I know I can do the work?
The risk is even greater for someone who’s content but curious. They have to overcome inertia, fear of regret, and the mental labor of imagining themselves somewhere new. If they feel your process is slow, impersonal, or unclear, they may withdraw to avoid feeling exposed or let down.
This is where many hiring processes lose great candidates, before the first interview is even scheduled.
If you want to attract top candidates, especially those who are not actively job hunting, you need to make it safe to explore. That means communicating clearly, showing empathy, and offering a glimpse of what makes the opportunity different. Small signals of trust go a long way toward helping a candidate feel comfortable stepping into the unknown.
Why Job Descriptions Often Miss the Mark
Most job descriptions are written with the company in mind. They list qualifications, responsibilities, and internal jargon that make sense to the team, but don’t always connect with the people reading them.
Candidates don’t engage with job descriptions the same way you do. They’re scanning for meaning. They’re asking:
Is this role different from what I already have?
Will this help me grow, or is it a lateral move with a new logo?
Can I picture myself here?
If the job description sounds generic or overly formal, it can blend into a sea of sameness. Candidates start to wonder if this job will bring real opportunity or just more of what they’re already trying to leave behind.
When you're trying to attract candidates, especially experienced or passive ones, you need more than a checklist. You need to tell a story that shows where the role is going, how it connects to company goals, and why someone would want to be part of it.
Generic job posts repel top talent. Human-centered hiring starts with clarity and empathy.
Try reframing your job description from the candidate's perspective with questions like:
What kind of impact will this person make in their first 90 days?
What challenges will they help solve that are meaningful and exciting?
How will their work contribute to something bigger?
By stepping into the candidate’s mindset and writing from that perspective, your job description becomes more than an HR requirement. It becomes a compelling invitation.
From Interest to Action: What Moves a Candidate Forward
Attracting candidates isn’t just about grabbing attention; it’s about building enough curiosity, trust, and clarity that they decide to take the next step.
Interest is fragile. Even if a candidate feels intrigued by the opportunity, they’re also weighing risk, uncertainty, and effort. Especially if they’re not actively looking, you’re asking them to:
Consider leaving something familiar
Picture themselves in a new environment
Take time to update a resume and prep for interviews
Make a decision that will impact their career and personal life
That’s a big ask.
So what moves them from “maybe” to “let’s talk”?
It’s often one of these:
A recruiter who clearly understands their background and respects their time
A leader who shares the real story behind the role and what success looks like
Specifics that go beyond the job description, including team culture, leadership style, and key projects
A sense that they won’t be treated like a transaction, but as a valued potential team member
If you want to attract top candidates, you need to do more than post a role. You need to invite someone into a meaningful conversation.
The more you reduce friction and create connection, the more likely candidates are to move from curiosity to action.
The Waiting Game: Why Communication Makes or Breaks Trust
You’ve piqued a candidate’s interest. They’ve engaged. Maybe they’ve updated their resume or even taken time off for an interview.
Now what?
Too often, this is where the momentum breaks and top candidates quietly walk away.
Why? Because the silence between steps feels like a verdict.
Even high-performing professionals with confidence and experience second-guess themselves during the in-between moments. They’re wondering:
“Did they lose interest?”
“Should I follow up, or is that too much?”
“If this is how communication works now, what will it be like if I accept the offer?”
Uncertainty erodes trust. And once that trust fades, it’s hard to win back.
If you want to attract candidates and keep them engaged, every interaction matters, especially when nothing is happening behind the scenes.
You don’t have to rush decisions. But you do have to communicate.
✅ A simple update saying, “You’re still in the mix. Here’s our next step,” goes a long way.
✅ So does being honest if the process is taking longer than expected.
✅ Even a quick thank-you note after an interview signals respect and builds goodwill.
Candidates remember how the hiring experience made them feel, not just the offer you made. And when you’re trying to attract top candidates in a competitive market, clarity is your edge.
The Secret to Attracting Top Candidates Is Simpler Than You Think
The one simple step that changes everything?
Start with empathy.
When you walk a mile in the candidate’s shoes, you stop seeing hiring as a transaction and start treating it like a relationship.
That mindset shift affects every part of the process:
How you write job descriptions
How you follow up after interviews
How you create space for honest questions
How you respond when someone’s unsure
Whether you’ve just started leading hiring or it’s only part of your broader role, this approach sets the tone for every future hire. It helps you attract candidates who are not only qualified but also show accurate candidate alignment with your team and goals. That’s what drives performance, retention, and culture.
Here’s your next move:
✅Revisit your most recent job posting. Would it speak to you if you were the candidate?
✅ Ask yourself: What would I be thinking at this stage?
✅ Then answer the unspoken questions before the candidate has to ask.
That’s how you build trust. That’s how you stand out.
And ultimately, that’s how you attract top candidates to your team.
What Hiring Managers Need to Know to Attract Top Candidates
What makes someone a “top candidate” anyway?
Top candidates bring more than just qualifications. They align with your culture, care about making an impact, and often aren’t actively job hunting. To attract top candidates, you need to invite them into a conversation. One that goes beyond the job offer and speaks to what really motivates them.
What if I don’t have time to walk in their shoes?
You don’t have to overhaul everything. Start small. Shift how you write the job post. Follow up faster. Ask your recruiter what excites the candidate. Even micro-empathy moves the needle.
I’m new to hiring. How do I know what candidates care about?
Think back to your last job search. What made you feel respected or dismissed? You already have the insight. You just need to bring it to the surface.
Does this apply to technical or experienced hires?
Absolutely. In fact, the more experienced the hire, the more selective they are about culture, leadership, and meaning, not just responsibilities.
Ready to attract top talent without guessing what works?
At TLR Search, we help companies like yours stand out with a hiring experience that speaks to the right people. As energy recruiters and chemical recruiters, we know how to reach candidates who aren’t actively looking but are ready to say yes to the right role.
For more practical strategies that support high-stakes hiring, explore our full guide on how to hire the right person (when nothing else has worked).