In this article, RedCore explains how it increased recruiter productivity by equipping its talent acquisition team with better tools, AI-powered sourcing, soft-skills assessment and a more strategic approach to hiring, raising average monthly hires per recruiter from three to five.
How can you increase a recruiter’s productivity without simply increasing their workload? Today, this is one of the most relevant questions in HR. The reason is that the balance between the number of candidates and the number of truly suitable specialists has changed.
As a result, according to ManpowerGroup’s 2026 data, 72% of employers worldwide face difficulties hiring specialists with the necessary competencies. It is particularly challenging to find candidates who can make decisions independently, handle complex tasks, and manage resources effectively. As a result, according to PwC, almost one in four CEOs claim that talent shortages are holding back business performance.
This is primarily due to the pace of change in today’s world. For example, AI not only creates new roles but also changes the nature of existing ones. Accordingly, businesses increasingly need specialists who can adapt quickly and adjust to new realities.
“Organizations face ongoing recruitment challenges, a growing shortage of qualified talent, and changing workforce expectations driven by technological and strategic shifts,” says Tetiana Moskal, Head of Talent Acquisition at RedCore.
All these factors lead managers to ask how they can accelerate the search and hiring of relevant candidates. This topic became the central focus of HR MeetUp by RedCore, held on September 26 in Limassol.
“At the RedCore business group, we developed a plan that enabled every recruiter to hire more people. For comparison, previously, one recruiter made an average of three hires per month; now it’s five. In the future, we aim for each recruiter to hire around seven people. As a result, not only does the business benefit, but so does the recruiter, who earns more because they receive a bonus for every candidate hired. And we didn’t simply increase the workload — we provided tools that work,” Tetiana Moskal continues.
Hire for more than skills
According to the expert, the first task was to teach recruiters how to assess soft skills. This is an essential skill for successful hiring because even if a specialist meets all the hard-skill requirements, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will become part of the business, understand the company’s values, work well with the team, or deliver results.
“At RedCore, we approached this challenge from several angles. First, based on our values, we developed a candidate profile. It serves as a guide for every recruiter, defining exactly whom we are looking for. Second, together with a psychologist, we designed a dedicated course. The team learns to recognize behavioral markers, explore answers in greater depth, and identify risks that are difficult to detect during a standard interview. This way, we reduced the number of offboardings caused by hiring mistakes,” RedCore explains.
Sales mindset
At RedCore, every search begins with researching the position from A to Z. Because this is exactly where another obstacle can arise: the company may be looking for someone who doesn’t exist. Tetiana explains how the process works within the business group: the recruiter analyzes the request together with the hiring manager, adds context from the HR Business Partner, and checks expectations against market realities using an internal salary calculator.
“A recruiter should be a business partner, not simply someone who fulfills its wishes. They work with the market every day and should be able to explain, with clear arguments, where requirements are unrealistic or narrow the search too much,” Tetiana explains.
The salary calculator developed at RedCore helps recruiters quickly navigate the market, avoid miscalculating the salary offered by the employer, and understand whether there is room to increase the offer if a candidate doesn’t agree to the proposed conditions.
Proof over promises
Strong candidates receive dozens of identical messages every day: “great team,” “interesting challenges,” “international company,” “growth opportunities,” and so on. Attractive wording and a description on the website are no longer enough.
“If a company has nothing to show, the recruiter has to make too many promises. That’s exactly why at RedCore we work on our employer brand: our specialists publicly share their expertise, for example, at conferences, in interviews, on podcasts, and so on. As a result, when there is strong external content, it’s no longer just one recruiter working to attract a candidate — the reputation of the entire company works for them,” Tetiana notes.
And even before the first conversation, candidates can see who they’ll be working with, what challenges the team addresses, what opportunities actually exist within the business group, and which values are central to it.
Beyond the obvious
LinkedIn can easily turn sourcing into an assembly line: find a suitable specialist, send a message, receive no response, and move on to the next one. But as RedCore points out, this is only one possible point of contact.
“We teach our team not just how to find strong specialists, but how to reach them. No response on LinkedIn? We look for an email address, Telegram, other professional and social media profiles, check where the person speaks, what they write, and which communities they belong to,” Tetiana explains.
At RedCore, this approach is strengthened by the business group’s own AI solutions. Instead of limiting themselves to ready-made tools, the team develops technology tailored to its specific needs.
These tools help find mentions of specialists in specific domains, collect information from different sources, and identify relevant profiles faster.
Hiring long before
“The best time to get to know a strong specialist is when you don’t need anything from them yet,” says Tetiana.
In the business group, networking is about building relationships for the future. Teams actively meet people at conferences, meetups, other industry events, and within professional communities. Afterward, they stay in touch. Even if there is no suitable position yet, they continue communicating: sharing opportunities and relevant business group news, learning what interests the person, what motivates them, and where they want to go next.
“This is how a talent pool gradually takes shape, serving not only today’s vacancies but also tomorrow’s. When the business needs specific expertise, the recruiter already knows whom to contact and what to offer,” Tetiana explains.
Don’t start from scratch
Every interview for the TA team at RedCore is literally 45 minutes of real-time market research. Even if no offer follows, the team gains an understanding of the specialist’s experience, expectations, and potential match with other roles, as well as insights into what is happening at other companies.
“For us, a rejection is not the end of the road. Everything we have learned during this time should remain within the team and continue to be useful. Today, someone may not be suitable for one position, but in six months, they could be a perfect match for another,” Tetiana explains.
This way, no interview and no conversation at a conference booth remains simply a closed chapter. Today, RedCore’s internal database already contains around 180,000 candidates, and each of these contacts could potentially become the next perfect fit.
Strong pitch ≠ strong candidate
Bringing a strong candidate to an interview does not necessarily mean evaluating them correctly. And this is where things get particularly challenging.
“We’ve already learned that specialists have become very good at walking through their CVs as if following a script. That’s why we always go beyond the first answer. ‘We increased results by 30%.’ Great, but what exactly did you do? Why did you choose that particular solution? What didn’t work? The deeper you explore a case, the harder it becomes to hide a lack of real expertise,” Tetiana explains.
At RedCore, the recruiter doesn’t become a passive listener once the hiring manager joins the interview. Their task is to notice when candidates avoid answering questions, bring the conversation back to specifics, and form their own conclusions. AI helps with transcripts and summaries rather than confusing the process. After all, the decision always remains with a human.
Effective hiring today isn’t about doing more. It is about making every action deliver better results. And the first and most important resource for achieving this is already inside the company: the team, which needs to be given the right tools and the motivation to use them.
Join RedCore — explore our open positions. https://link.redcore.group/4hBbLuR