How to Develop Good Taste (and Better Instincts) in Recruitment

Ah, “good taste.” That mysterious, almost snooty quality that seems like a magical gift bestowed on the lucky few with effortless style and perfect gut instincts. But when it comes to recruitment? Good taste isn’t about fancy fonts or color palettes—it’s about your instinct for talent, your sixth sense for spotting a great hire, and your judgment when everyone else is distracted by shiny CVs and LinkedIn buzzwords.

The truth is: just like in design, having good taste in recruitment can be learned. And no, it doesn’t require a monocle, a fedora, or attending TED talks while sipping espresso. It’s about sharpening your skills, challenging your own assumptions, and expanding your understanding of people, patterns, and potential.

So if you’re ready to stop making “meh” hires and start becoming the recruiter clients trust, here’s how to develop recruiter-grade good taste—with a side of fun.

1. Taste Takes Time (Sorry, No Instant Nespresso Version)

You know that moment when you look back on a past placement and cringe? Yeah, we’ve all been there.

Maybe it was the over-polished candidate who turned into a professional gaslighter. Or the “culture fit” who ended up fitting in like a fax machine at a TikTok startup.

The point is: good taste in recruitment comes from experience, reflection, and—let’s be honest—a few flops.

Just like a designer looks back on their old work with horror (and a bit of secondhand embarrassment), recruiters grow through trial, error, and many, many reference calls. Keep showing up, keep refining, and you’ll develop that instinct to spot both red flags and purple unicorns faster than your competitors.

2. Get Off LinkedIn (Sometimes)

Look, we love LinkedIn too. But if that’s your only source of candidate discovery, inspiration, and learning—you’re living in a professional echo chamber.

Step away from the “Open to Work” banners and go offline for a bit.

• Read biographies of great leaders.
• Sit in on team meetings from industries you don’t recruit in.
• Eavesdrop (ethically) on how customer service teams operate.
• Go to community events, volunteer, or take a course in behavioral psychology or sales.

The more human stories and real-world behavior you absorb, the sharper your judgment becomes. Recruitment, after all, is the business of people—not just profiles.

3. Mind the Gap (Between What You See and What You Place)

To quote the great Ira Glass (with a recruiter twist): there’s a gap between the kind of recruiter you want to be and the work you’re doing right now.

That candidate you wish you'd spotted earlier? The hiring manager you wish you’d pushed harder? That shortlist you sent that didn’t quite hit?

Use it all. The gap isn’t a sign of failure—it’s a sign of awareness. And every recruiter worth their salt is constantly closing that gap.

How? By sharpening your questions. Testing new sourcing tactics. And by always asking yourself:

“What am I missing here?”

Good taste means building a habit of not settling for the obvious.

4. Do Personal Projects (Yes, Even in Recruitment)

You don’t have to be a designer to benefit from side projects. In recruitment, that might look like:

• Building a dream pipeline for a client type you want to work with 
• Reverse-engineering a bad hire to spot red flags for future roles 
• Conducting mock interviews with a friend to refine your feedback skills
• Writing a “candidate persona” for your niche market 

These non-billable exercises hone your recruiter instincts without the pressure of KPIs or a looming deadline. And bonus: they often make your actual work a whole lot better.

5. Chase “Better,” Not “Done”

You sent a great candidate. You filled the role. The client’s happy.

Job done, right?

Not quite.

Recruiters with taste know there’s always room to improve. Maybe that onboarding could’ve gone smoother. Maybe the role wasn’t quite aligned with long-term retention goals. Maybe the hire was a hit, but there’s a bigger opportunity on the table.

Just like in design, good taste means staying curious. Stay humble enough to know your last great placement can always be topped—and smart enough to learn how.

6. Trust Takes Time. Taste Takes Longer.

You can study frameworks, take certifications, and binge industry webinars. But when it comes to gut instinct—when to trust a candidate, when to push back on a hiring manager, when to spot subtle brilliance in a non-traditional background—it takes years.

And that’s okay.

The trick is to stay in the game, keep your eyes open, and learn faster than the competition. Not by copying what other recruiters do, but by developing your filter for what makes a hire great.

And that filter? That’s your taste. Build it. Test it. Improve it. And soon enough, clients will call you not just for help—but for your judgment.

Final Thoughts

Good taste in recruitment isn’t some mystical gift—it’s a muscle. The more you flex it, the sharper it becomes.

So read more. Listen harder. Audit your past placements. Take risks. And above all, stay endlessly curious about people.

Because once you start seeing talent through a more refined lens, you’ll stop filling roles—and start transforming teams.