27/02/2026
Over the coming weeks, I’m sharing my personal take on recruitment — the emotional highs, the pressure, and the patterns we fall into.
Working in recruitment strategy, I’ve noticed recurring human behavioural patterns in how candidates and clients approach decisions.
This is Week 1: why the ride feels like a roller coaster, and how my horses continue to teach me steadiness — a quality I bring to both the people I work with and the strategies I create to stay steady both in work and in life.
If you’ve never worked in recruitment, it’s hard to explain the intensity of it.
From the outside, it can look simple: match a CV to a job, make an introduction, send an invoice.
In reality? It’s a full-blown emotional roller coaster — fast climbs, sudden drops, white-knuckle negotiations, and the constant pressure to deliver.
The Pressure Cooker
Every vacancy comes with urgency.
Clients don’t just “want” someone — they need them. Projects are delayed. Teams are stretched. Revenue is impacted. And often, you’re the one expected to fix it.
You feel the pressure immediately:
Time ticking.
Expectations rising.
Competitors also working the role
Internal targets watching you.
In recruitment, speed matters. But so does quality. And balancing both is where the tension lives.
You’re not just filling a job. You’re solving a business problem — quickly.
The Hunt
Then the search begins.
Calls. Messages. Database searches. LinkedIn trawling. Conversations that start cold and need to turn warm quickly.
There’s rejection. There’s silence. There’s “I’m happy where I am.”
And then — suddenly — you find them.
The right experience. The right attitude. The right availability. The right cultural fit.
You just know.
The High
When you find a genuinely strong candidate, there’s a surge of adrenaline.
You can picture it working. You can see the client’s reaction. You start mentally placing them before the CV has even been sent.
When the client responds positively? Even better.
When the interview goes well? You’re flying.
Recruitment highs are real. They’re energising. They’re addictive. That moment when the client says, “This is exactly who we’ve been looking for,” is hard to beat.
But the ride isn’t over.
The Fragile Middle
This is where the real emotional work begins.
Now you’re managing:
Candidate expectations
Client timelines
Salary negotiations
Counter-offers
Notice periods
References
Compliance
Start dates
At any moment, something can wobble.
The candidate gets a counter-offer. The client delays sign-off. The project gets paused.
A document doesn’t arrive. A medical fails. A contract takes too long.
And suddenly, the high turns into anxiety.
You’re chasing updates. Reassuring both sides. Holding momentum. Trying not to look nervous — even if you are.
This stage can feel like holding your breath for weeks.
The Emotional Investment
Here’s the part people don’t always see:
You care.
You’ve listened to the candidate talk about wanting progression. You’ve heard the client’s frustration about being understaffed. You’ve promised both sides you’ll make it work.
You’re holding multiple people’s hopes at once.
When it lands and the candidate starts successfully, there’s relief — and pride. You made something happen. You changed someone’s career trajectory. You solved a business issue.
When it falls apart at the last minute? It stings.
And you still have to pick up the phone the next day and start again.
The Reality of the Role
Recruitment isn’t just sales. It’s emotional regulation. It’s resilience. It’s relationship management. It’s expectation setting. It’s staying steady while everything around you fluctuates.
You learn to:
Stay grounded in the highs.
Stay professional in the lows.
Not over-attach too early.
Keep momentum without forcing outcomes.
But make no mistake — it’s a ride.
Why We Still Do It
Despite the pressure, despite the near misses, despite the unpredictability — there’s something powerful about it.
You get to:
Open doors for people.
Help businesses grow.
Build long-term relationships.
Spot potential others might miss.
Create opportunity where there was none.
Learn and grow in ways you never knew realised
And when it works — when someone walks into a new role because of a conversation you started — it’s worth every twist and turn.
The Recruitment Consultant Archetypes: Playing to Your Strengths (Without Burning Out)
If recruitment is an emotional roller coaster, then how you experience that ride depends heavily on who you are on it.
After reflecting on the highs, the pressure, and the fragile middle, our team created a set of recruitment consultant archetypes. Not labels. Not boxes.
Awareness tools.
Because the truth is — most of the emotional strain in recruitment doesn’t come from the job itself. It comes from operating out of balance.
When you understand your natural strengths, you can lean into them.
When you understand your shadow patterns, you can catch yourself before the drop.
Over time, I’ve noticed patterns in how recruiters operate under pressure. I call them Archetypes — ways of showing up when the ride gets bumpy. I’ll share more soon, because understanding your type can completely change how you navigate the highs and lows.
Lets enjoy the ride.
