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Home > REC Scale Up Podcast > Hiring for growth: how to avoid costly mis-hires in recruitment with Dominic Waters
Podcast: REC Scale Up Podcast
Episode:

Hiring for growth: how to avoid costly mis-hires in recruitment with Dominic Waters
Category: Business
Duration: 00:34:56
Publish Date: 2026-03-31 19:11:35
Description: In this episode of Talking Recruitment, Maxine Bligh, Chief Membership and Innovation Officer at the REC, is joined by Dominic Waters (Paul Waters Associates) to explore what drives performance in recruitment and what businesses should be prioritising if growth returns to the market. The conversation focuses on what separates high-performing recruiters from the rest, challenging common assumptions around experience and highlighting the importance of mindset, resilience and consistent sales behaviours. As hiring activity begins to pick up again, the episode also examines where agencies continue to make costly hiring mistakes and how they can avoid them. Drawing on insights from working with over 250 recruitment businesses, Dom shares why relying on instinct and interviews alone often leads to poor hiring decisions, and makes the case for a more objective, data-led approach to assessing potential. The episode also looks ahead to how the recruiter role is evolving, with technology reducing administrative tasks and increasing the importance of relationship-building and value creation. Ultimately, the discussion reinforces that while the tools and context may change, the fundamentals of success in recruitment remain the same and getting hiring right will be critical to the next phase of growth. Guest • Dominic Waters, Managing Partner, Paul Waters Associates
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