Career Journeys in Talent Acquisition: Ashni Anto

Thanks for reading! This series is designed to shine a spotlight on Talent Acquisition professionals and highlight their career journeys and learnings so far. Today, we're joined by Ashni Anto. If you'd like to be next, please reach out to a TTC Community Manager.

Introduce Yourself:

Hi, I’m Ashni Anto, a recruiter who found her way into talent acquisition unexpectedly and stayed because I realised it’s not just about filling roles; it’s about changing lives.

Over the past eight years, I’ve learnt that:

• Job descriptions are 80% fantasy (No, you don’t need a “10x engineer who’s also a stand-up comedian”.)

• The best candidates are usually hiding in plain sight (Yes, even in those questionable subReddits)

• Recruiting is basically matchmaking (Except instead of swiping right, you’re convincing someone that your client’s “fast-paced environment” won’t destroy their soul)

I started my career thinking recruitment was about checklists—matching skills to job descriptions, optimising processes, and hitting KPIs. But somewhere between Bangalore and Braintree, I realised the real magic happens when you stop seeing candidates as resumes and start seeing them as people with dreams, fears, and untapped potential.Now, a corporate TA escapee turned freelance recruiter who now happily sources talent for a YouTube media company (no, I won’t share which one, and no, I definitely don’t find all my best candidates on Reddit threads… or do I?).

Can you walk us through the key milestones in your career in the talent acquisition space? What were some pivotal moments or decisions that shaped your journey?

1. The Candidate Who Changed Everything

Early in my career, I prided myself on efficiency. I reduced time-to-hire, streamlined interviews, and patted myself on the back, until a rejected candidate messaged me:

"Your process made me feel like a defective product. No explanation, no feedback—just silence."

That stung. It made me realise that speed without humanity is just organised rejection. From that day forward, I vowed to:

• Give feedback, even when it’s hard

• Treat every "no" as a human, not just a missed KPI

• Push back when hiring managers dismiss candidates for vague reasons

  
  

2. The Eastlight Awakening: Where Recruitment Met Purpose At Eastlight Community Homes

I stepped out of the corporate TA bubble and into a world where hiring decisions carried real weight. This wasn’t about filling seats to hit quarterly targets, it was about finding people who’d literally help put roofs over families’ heads. One interview shattered my old mindset forever. A candidate, let’s call her Sarah, paused mid-conversation and said quietly:

"This role isn’t just a pay cheque for me. I was in social housing as a kid. Now I get to be the person who changes that story for others."

That wrecked me in the best way.

Suddenly, all those corporate TA metrics felt small. At Eastlight, I learnt:

• Nonprofit recruiting isn’t "charity hiring", it’s finding mission-driven people who’ll fight for others

• The "perfect candidate" often looks nothing like the JD

• You can actually measure success in lives changed (Not just "time-to-fill")

It was my first taste of recruitment with a soul, where every hire rippled outward into communities. I’d spend evenings rewriting JDs to remove elitist requirements or coaching nervous candidates who’d never had someone believe in them before.The best part? We still hit all our KPIs, proving that you can do good and do well if you care enough to try.

3. The Leap into Freelancing

Corporate TA was draining my soul, so I jumped ship to freelance, where I quickly learnt:

• The best video editors hang out in obscure Discord servers

• Brilliant scriptwriters vent on Reddit threads

• The algorithm won’t show you the perfect candidate because it’s too busy pushing “premium” profiles

Now I spend more time in niche online communities than I do on traditional platforms. (Let’s just say a recruiter needs to protect a few trade secrets.)

Freelancing forced me to unlearn corporate habits and rebuild my approach around fairness, not just efficiency.

In this rapidly evolving industry, what strategies or practices have you adopted to continuously enhance your skills and stay ahead of the curve? Do you have any resources or learning methods you'd recommend to others?

My Survival Kit:

The "20% Rule": Spend 20% of my week breaking my own habits, testing new tools, reading outside TA (behavioural economics FTW), or shadowing engineers to understand what they actually do.

Reverse Mentoring: I’ve learnt more about TikTok sourcing from early-career recruiters than from any webinar.

Guilty Pleasure Data: I obsess over Glassdoor reviews of my clients’ competitors. Nothing reveals hiring flaws like anonymous rage.Resources I Swear By:

• TTC’s Slack (where someone’s always solved your exact problem)

• Recruiting brain food

• "Who" by Geoff Smart (helps me coach hiring managers to stop asking, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?")

• Laszlo Bock’s "Work Rules!" (The OG HR disruptor)

• JooBee Yeow (For when you need to data-slap a bad hiring process)

• The Hiring Fix podcast (Like eavesdropping on TA therapists)

The recruiting world can be fast-paced and demanding. How do you strike a balance between your professional commitments and personal life? Are there specific routines or rituals you follow?

Recruiting never stops. Candidates email at midnight. Hiring managers panic on weekends. But burnout helps no one, so I’ve learnt to:

1. Set Ruthless Boundaries

• "Aeroplane Mode Hour": 5-7 PM is for my baby girl's swimming class and zero LinkedIn messages.

• Real OOO Messages: Not "I’ll check email occasionally!" lies. If it’s urgent, call. (Spoiler: It’s never urgent.)

2. Measure Energy, Not Just Time

Some tasks drain me (endless project meetings). Some energise me (candidate coaching). I schedule deep work around my energy peaks, not just deadlines.

3. The "No Apologies" Vacation Rule

I take real breaks, no checking in, no "just one quick call". Because when I’m rested, I:

• Spot red flags faster

• Advocate for candidates more fiercely

• Remember that this is work, not my entire identity

For those entering the talent acquisition space or those looking to pivot within it, what's the one piece of practical advice you'd give to help them thrive, especially if they are actively job-seeking?

"Specialise in Being Uncomfortable"

The best recruiters I know:

• Seek out roles that scare them (I once hired for a quantum computing startup). I still don’t understand quantum computing.

• Ask ‘Why?’ constantly ("Why is this a ‘must-have’ skill?" "Why do we only hire from these three schools?")

• Embrace being wrong (Every "Oops, that candidate was amazing despite my doubts" moment makes you better.)

  
  

The 3 Truths No One Tells You

1. You'll cry in your car at least once (When a dream offer falls through last minute)

2. Ghosting hurts both ways (I still remember every candidate I couldn't properly reject)

3. The best hires often break the "rules" (That "job hopper"? Turned out to be our top performer.)

   
   

For job-seekers: Your edge isn’t just knowing ATS systems, it’s seeing potential where others see risk. Maybe that "job hopper" is relentlessly curious. Maybe that "overqualified" candidate just wants work-life balance. Your job is to connect those dots. Recruiting is the only job where you’re part cheerleader, part detective, and occasionally a heartbreaker. The day I stopped chasing "fast" and started chasing "right" was the day I finally loved this work.

(Well, most days. On the tougher ones, I still fantasise about becoming a professional chocolate taster.)

Want to debate the ethics of AI sourcing or share your worst "culture fit" horror story? Open for a chat.