Recruiting is about getting people to change their minds about where they work. A small percentage of recruiting conversations relate to logical issues (ex. who has the best deal for a recruiting prospect’s unique situation), but most decisions are driven by emotions or personal beliefs. For example, a recruiting prospect might feel an emotional connection to a beloved manager or mentor in their current company. According to Harvard researchers, engaging in debates is futile when someone is being primarily driven by emotional factors. Don’t jump in and try to convince the other person. Instead, invest time in personally learning about and building rapport with them. Here, it’s not about arguments or presentation, at least initially, but understanding their perspective and why they might feel antagonistic to what you’re offering. This approach takes patience, empathy, and a commitment to the well-being of your prospect. And it can be difficult to execute. Detractors can easily sense if you’re trying to manipulate the situation to get them on your side. Authenticity is key: allow the other person to see who you are so that they can more fully understand your point of view. Why go through all this trouble to employ these recruiting tactics? Because it’s the arena where most recruiting prospects reside. If you’re only engaging those recruiting prospects who can be swayed by logic, you’ll miss a majority of the opportunities.