Agency life teaches you what recruiting actually is

Jeroen started his career at a recruitment agency in the Netherlands, a path many TA leaders share. "Recruiting is not just finding jobs for people but it's actually filling roles and adding business value." That mindset stuck. He didn't love the agency environment, but the skills transferred. After that came TravelBird, Bunk, and six years at Dept before landing at The Social Hub. Each move brought a new challenge and a reason to stay uncomfortable.

When the machine runs itself, it's time to leave

At Dept, Jeroen built a recruitment team that eventually ran like clockwork. Four leads reporting to him, everyone knew their role, changes felt incremental. "Any change I wanted to make was like upgrading an iPhone 14 to a 15, small changes." When The Social Hub reached out and described a function with foundation but massive room to build, he took the call seriously. The opportunity to create real impact again was the pull.

The TA partner role isn't optional anymore

Jeroen is direct about what separates good recruiters from forgettable ones: the shift from order-taker to advisor.

"Recruiters often just fill roles without explaining the 'why.' I coach my team to be advisors who discuss talent pools and processes, not just order-takers."

He also sees the silos between TA, HR Ops, and HRBPs as a problem. The handoff model, TA finds the person, HR Ops contracts, HRBP manages performance, creates gaps. Tie those functions together and you get a stronger advisory position toward the business.

AI handles tasks, not relationships

Like most TA leaders, Jeroen uses AI for note-taking, scheduling, repetitive admin. But he's tired of the hype.

"I hope we talk more about what AI enables us to do, which is focusing on candidate experience."

For him, that's the real opportunity. With 60,000 applicants a year, personalized communication at scale is the challenge. Some candidates already feel like they've been rejected by a bot, even when they haven't. That perception alone tells him personal contact and transparency still matter. Figuring out how to make that work across hiring managers in 21 hotels is on his roadmap this year.

Metrics that actually matter

Jeroen tracks the usual: time to fill, pass-through rates. But the ones he cares about most are candidate experience and hiring manager satisfaction.

"If a hire takes six months but the manager is happy and we found a gem, I prefer that over a fast, poor process."

Speed means nothing if the experience is broken.

Bad hires happen

When asked about mis-hires, Jeroen didn't dodge. He's had them, even on his own team. He describes himself as the opposite of a micromanager: he gives people full trust and expects them to deliver. But when someone can't stick to agreements, it becomes a problem. Case studies help in interviews, but no process is foolproof.

"You can never fully eliminate bad hires."

What matters is learning from it.

The leadership trap

One of Jeroen's bigger frustrations in the industry: people who become leaders just because they've been around the longest.

"Being a good recruiter and a good leader are two totally separate things."

His advice to new heads of TA: immerse yourself in the business. Learn the language your stakeholders use, not ATS jargon, but what they actually care about. In a hotel, that's guest experience, not scorecard completion rates. Ask the questions you think might be silly. That's where real understanding starts.

The hybrid hospitality model

The Social Hub isn't a typical hotel company. They own most of their properties, build them from scratch, and serve a mix of hotel guests, students, coworkers, and locals. With 21 hotels across 8 countries and around 1,300 employees, the company is scaling fast. Jeroen's team of six handles about 25% of roles end-to-end; the rest are decentralized to local hiring managers. That split, roughly 12 to 15 active roles per recruiter, is challenging but doable.

The takeaway

Jeroen's approach is grounded in a simple belief: TA earns trust by acting like a partner, not a service desk. That means pushing back when needed, explaining the why, and caring more about experience than speed. AI will keep absorbing admin work, but the human side, building relationships, advising on talent strategy, protecting candidate experience, isn't going anywhere. The recruiters who thrive will be the ones who stay curious and refuse to run the same playbook forever.