What does it really look like to turn a high-pressure search during COVID into a long-term win for the client and the candidate?

On this week’s episode of Recruiter Wins, I sat down with Aman Sodi, recruiter at Summit Search Group, who shared how she navigated a Director of People & Culture search in late 2021, right in the middle of school closures, parenting chaos and shifting employee expectations.

This wasn’t just “fill the role fast and move on.”

It was about:

• Balancing a client who needed someone in-seat ASAP with a top candidate who had just taken a family-focused career break.
• Building flexible start date options (modified schedules, delayed ramp-up) before things went sideways.
• Framing tough conversations about salary and flexibility with data, market benchmarks and real options (not just “sorry, that’s the market”)
• Treating the placement as the beginning of the relationship: one week, one month, three month, 6+ month check-ins that turn today’s placement into tomorrow’s client

Fast forward almost four years: that candidate is still in the role, has built out an HR team and is thriving.

That’s the win.

If you’re a recruiter who’s:

• Juggling misaligned expectations on comp or flexibility
• Trying to push back on clients without damaging the relationship
• Wondering how to build a real partnership model vs. one-and-done placements

…this episode will give you a super practical playbook.

Check out my conversation with Aman Sodi on Recruiter Wins and steal some of her frameworks for your next tough search.