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Episode 29: Relationship Building and Trust in Recruiting feat. Keirsten Greggs

Hear Keirsten Greggs, founder of TRAP Recruiter, explain why the DEI backlash misreads diversity, and why the relationship a recruiter builds is what makes new hires stay.
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Read transcript

When companies started stripping "equity" out of their programs, Keirsten Greggs gave the trend a hashtag: bye bye DEI. A talent acquisition veteran of more than 20 years and the founder of TRAP Recruiter, she's built her career on the parts of hiring most recruiters rush past, and she argues the backlash rests on a misread: that diversity is only about race and gender, when the real definition is much wider than that.

In this episode of the Team Check-In, Keirsten tells host Emre Ok where she'd broaden the lens, from neurodivergent candidates and veterans to parents, older workers, and people without a four-year degree. She explains why affinity bias toward FAANG alumni quietly shuts qualified people out, why feeding old hiring data into AI just automates yesterday's bias, and how she builds trust with candidates long before there's an offer on the table. It all points to the throughline of her approach: recruiting and retention are the same job, because how you treat someone in the first interview is what they remember when they decide whether to stay.

Chapters

  1. 01:01 Where the name TRAP Recruiter came from
  2. 05:53 #RecruiterProblems: the memes that built a following
  3. 08:34 "Bye bye DEI": companies walk back their commitments
  4. 14:13 The biggest misconception about DEI hiring
  5. 20:16 The diversity categories everyone forgets
  6. 25:51 Where traditional recruiting fails: age, bias, and FAANG worship
  7. 33:14 Can AI fix hiring bias, or bake it in?
  8. 40:29 Building trust before you need it
  9. 45:41 Why recruiting and retention are the same job

Key Takeaways

1. Broaden the definition of diversity. Greggs pushes past race and gender to neurodivergent candidates, veterans, parents, older workers, and people whose skills came from somewhere other than a four-year degree. Widen the lens and you reach a genuinely bigger pool.
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2. Affinity bias hides inside "culture fit." Whole recruiting tools exist to chase FAANG alumni and coach them through those interviews, which walls out everyone else. Greggs calls it a barrier to entry, not a harmless gut feeling.
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3. AI automates the bias you already have. People build and train the models, so pointing a recruiting tool at past hiring data teaches it to repeat past decisions. Keep a human in the loop on the calls that matter.
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4. Build relationships before you need them. Don't save your best effort for the VP role or the second interview. Greggs meets candidates on whatever channel they prefer, from a phone call to a camera-optional screen, well before there's an offer on the table.
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5. Recruiting and retention are the same job. Hiring doesn't stop at the signed offer letter. The recruiter is a candidate's first impression of the company and often their last, and how they were treated is what they carry into whether they stay, or refer a friend.

Speakers
Emre Ok
Product Marketing Manager
Teamflect
Keirsten Greggs
Talent Acquisition Executive & Strategist
TRAP Recruiter