Most recruiting teams hire against a job description.

Patrick Circelli, Head of Talent at Cognition, thinks that's backwards.

In this episode, Patrick breaks down how Cognition builds one of the leanest, highest-performing recruiting teams in tech—from hiring around exceptional people instead of rigid roles, to treating recruiting as the company's most important operating function.

He also shares what "intensity" actually means, why founder-led recruiting scales further than most people think, and the questions that reveal whether a candidate is truly aligned with your company.

In this episode:

Why the best recruiters bet on founders—and exceptional people—not perfect role fit
The interview question that reveals whether someone will thrive in an intense culture
How an eight-person recruiting team hires 10–20 people a week
Why candidate experience compounds into your best future hires

Key topics covered:

[00:00] Intro

[00:42] Secret to picking generational companies

[01:39] Why believing in founders matters most

[04:52] Thriving inside intense company cultures

[06:25] Why intensity means different things

[08:06] Interview questions that reveal true fit

[10:03] Why talent acquisition beats everything else

[12:05] Graduating to work Heaven explained

[14:30] Kids and 80 hour weeks

[16:44] Keeping recruiting teams lean and mighty

[18:00] Surgical sourcing and 50 percent referrals

[20:32] What to measure recruiters on

[22:20] Sign on bonuses and benefits culture

[23:38] Why great benefits are underused

[26:37] Hiring beyond the role shape

[33:25] Playing the long game with networks

To learn more about Metaview, the AI platform for 10x recruiting teams, head to www.metaview.ai/10x