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/

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