Why do some recruiters get ghosted while others hear “I never respond to recruiters, but I had to respond to you”?
Theresa Nordstrom spent nearly 20 years as an HR leader. At one company, she cut agency spending by over $700,000 by building creative referral programs and filling roles in-house.
Then she jumped to the other side.
In 2015, she launched Talent Company and discovered something most recruiters miss. Job descriptions don’t recruit talent. Stories do.
“Job descriptions are ingredient labels,” Theresa says. “You don’t recruit talent with a job description. You recruit with the ability to tell the story.”
In this episode, you’ll hear why messaging matters more than volume, how Theresa gets candidates to engage and self-select early, and the working habits that turn one-off placements into long-term client relationships. If you’ve ever wondered why some recruiters cut through the noise while others get ignored, this conversation reveals exactly how it’s done.
Episode Outline and Highlights
- [3:01] Why Theresa left a 20-year HR career to start her own search firm
- [6:41] The employee referral program that gave away a Harley Davidson and saved hundreds of thousands in agency fees
- [9:22] How to elicit the story behind the role that candidates actually care about
- [12:32] Why progression examples close candidates better than generic culture claims
- [17:09] The key to employee referral programs that actually work (not just policy documents)
- [23:21] How to partner with HR without alienating them or getting blocked
- [32:26] Theresa’s lean team structure and why she doesn’t follow the typical VA model
- [38:26] Why results-driven work beats traditional business development tactics
- [44:20] The video outreach strategy that makes candidates stop and respond
- [51:56] Theresa’s tech stack: Crelate, SourceWhale, Quill, ChatGPT projects
- [55:03] Why detailed submittals save clients time and increase interview ratios
- [58:34] Mixing retained, exclusive, and selective contingent work strategically
Job Descriptions Are Ingredient Labels
Most recruiters regurgitate job descriptions and wonder why candidates don’t respond.
Theresa learned early that telling the company’s story mattered more than listing requirements.
At ConAgra Foods, she supported the internal audit department. Auditors from Big Four firms didn’t want to move into corporate audit roles. They feared becoming career auditors.
Theresa changed the conversation.
“I was able to say, hey, all these people are growing into the business. So many of them are CFOs and heads of audit now. I was able to tell that story and help them see the vision.”
She focused on their pain point. They didn’t want to be auditors forever. They wanted to grow into the business.
That’s marketing at its simplest.
You identify someone’s challenge. You show how this opportunity solves it.
How to Extract the Story
Theresa doesn’t rely on job descriptions. She asks for quotes and examples.
“What are the top things you’re really looking for? What does that mean and look like?”
She asks what employees say about working there. What does culture actually feel like?
For one role, she’s recruiting for a leader who develops people relentlessly. One of her messages includes five examples of staff promoted to senior to director.
“Here’s proof,” she tells candidates.
She also tailors messages to individual pain points. For a candidate commuting to Omaha every day, she writes: “If you don’t want to commute on those icy roads every day…”
The lesson?
Generic messaging doesn’t work. Stories with proof do.
How Theresa Uses Video to Break Through Candidate Noise
Theresa combines email, LinkedIn messaging, audio notes, and video to break through.
She doesn’t rely on one channel. She combines them intentionally.
On LinkedIn, she records quick videos or audio messages using the mobile app. For email outreach, she uses Dub or Hippo Video to send personalized clips.
She also created generic overview videos for harder-to-fill roles. These explain the company story, the role, and what candidates can expect. She can share them with team members or candidates who haven’t responded after multiple touches.
Theresa once sent 200 personalized videos to potential clients. Not AI-generated. Real videos.
“I would much rather do that than get on the phone and cold call. Any day.”
One of her best clients responded because of that video.
The key?
She doesn’t worry about polish. She keeps it casual and authentic.
Candidates appreciate that.
The Response That Proves It Works
Theresa has screenshots from candidates who’ve written: “I never respond to recruiters, but I had to respond to you.”
Others have said: “That is the best job ad I’ve ever seen. I’m not interested, but I had to tell you.”
That’s the power of storytelling combined with video.
Why Detailed Submittals Win More Placements
Theresa spends hours on submittals. She always has.
When she started recruiting, she didn’t know there was another way. She acted like a retained recruiter from day one.
“I don’t think resumes represent people so many times. The people with crappy resumes are sometimes the best because people with beautiful resumes are always looking for new jobs.”
She’s placed several candidates this year that hiring leaders wouldn’t have interviewed based on resumes alone. Her detailed submittals articulated what the resume missed.
Her goal?
Give the hiring leader enough information to make a confident interview decision without spinning their wheels on questions Theresa already asked.
How She Uses AI to Save Time
Theresa uses ChatGPT projects to build submittals faster now.
She uploaded past submittals and trained the AI to understand her style. She also feeds it job intake notes and interview transcripts.
Now when she or her operations manager build submittals, ChatGPT already knows the CFO’s priorities, the job requirements, and the company story.
She still edits the output heavily. But the foundation is faster.
She also uses Quill to ask follow-up questions about interview notes. SourceWhale handles multi-channel outreach. Crelate is her single source of truth.
The lesson?
Use AI to elevate quality, not replace thinking.
The Employee Referral Programs That Saved $700k
Before Theresa became a recruiter, she built employee referral programs that slashed agency spending.
At one construction company, she gave away a Harley Davidson.
“Twenty grand is nothing in the scheme of recruiting.”
She called the program “Join the Ride.” Employees earned entries for quality referrals. Ten entries if someone got hired.
At a healthcare SaaS company, she ran a College World Series promotion. Employees earned tickets behind home plate for quality referrals.
The key?
These weren’t policy documents. They were engagement activities.
She got leadership involved. The CEO announced programs. Leaders participated in videos and messaging.
She also made referrals fun and visible. She communicated results. She kept it alive.
“A lot of people say ’employee referral’ and send out emails. How’s that working for you?”
For Theresa, it worked. At one company, she reduced recruiting spend from $800,000 in nine months to almost nothing.
Why She Switched Sides
After three companies where recruiting became her superpower, Theresa realized she was good at it.
A former executive reached out. They needed help. No one could find talent like Theresa had in the past.
The timing was right. The company she was with was being sold.
She launched Talent Company in 2015.
But it took her years to reconcile the fact that she used to eliminate agency fees, and now she was charging them.
“I struggled with it for quite some time, probably until after 2021 or so.”
Over time, she realized there are legitimate reasons to hire external recruiters. Capacity. Confidentiality. Speed. Skill set.
“I’m not going to say you always need to come to me to get great talent. There are times and places for hiring a recruiter.”
