Your Best Self is Your Best Recruiting Strategy

As a recruiter, I’ve lost count of how many times candidates or friends have asked me: “How do I stand out in interviews? How do I become the candidate every company (that I want) wants?”

If I had to give you a first-level answer, I’d tell you this: Put yourself in the hiring manager’s shoes. What is the job really asking for? If you were them, who would you hire? Are you that person — or can you become that person?

Once you’ve assessed that, it’s all about preparation. The interview shouldn’t be the first time you’re thinking about your professional journey. Why did you make the choices you did? What did you learn? And most importantly, how does your experience make you a strong fit for this role?

You don’t need to practice in front of a mirror or memorize lines. Honestly, you can rehearse it in the shower for all I care. The key is this: connect the dots. It’s not about listing your experiences — it’s about showing how they come together to create the story that got you here.

If you prepare this way, you’ll likely stand out.

But if you asked me for the deeper truth, I’d tell you this: to win at recruiting, you don’t need to crack the interview. You need to crack yourself.

The candidates who truly stand out aren’t the ones who memorize “perfect” answers. They’re the ones who’ve done the work to understand and improve themselves. They know what drives them, what their values are, and what they’re naturally good at. These candidates aren’t just looking for any job — they’re looking for the right job for them.

At that point, interviews become less about “getting it right” and more about sharing your story. You won’t need to ask yourself, “What’s the right answer here?” because the right answer will naturally be the one you want to give. You’ll connect with your future colleagues — not because you know networking is important, but because you’re genuinely excited to work with them.

The deeper your self-awareness, the more real confidence you bring into the room. And that authenticity — the ability to show up as your best self — is what creates opportunities. It’s what helps you stand out from the rest.

This isn’t just true for candidates — it applies to companies, too.

As a recruiter or hiring manager, it might feel tempting to oversell a role or paint an unrealistically rosy picture of the company. But let me ask you this: once the candidate is hired, how long do you think it’ll take for them to realize you’ve sold them a lie?

A lot of candidates ask me about the state of diversity in venture capital. I’m always honest: it’s tough, and there’s still so much work to do. But I also tell them this: I care, and so do a lot of the people around me. The system isn’t perfect — it’s far from it — but we’re trying to learn from the mistakes of the past and doing our best to make things better.

Honesty doesn’t scare the right people away. It draws them in. It attracts candidates who aren’t just ready to do the job but ready to do it with you — because they believe in where you’re going, even if you’re not there yet.

Whether you’re a candidate or an organization, authenticity isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s the smart thing.

So, here’s my advice to candidates and companies alike: stop worrying about playing the game. Focus on achieving authentic personal growth.

For candidates, that means understanding your values, sharpening your strengths, finding fun and passion in what you are doing and pursuing roles where you can truly thrive. For companies, it means building trust through honesty and staying committed to your mission, even when it’s not perfect.

When your actions align with your values, everything else eventually clicks into place. Whether it’s landing a job that excites you, hiring someone who truly fits, or building something you’re proud of, it’s the real work — the messy, uncomfortable effort of figuring out who you are and what matters to you — that gets you there. No shortcut, no rehearsed answer, just authenticity and substance.

Authored by Giovanna Roma — Senior HR Manager at Picus Capital