Career Journeys in Talent Acquisition: Nermin Kadiric

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 Career Journeys in Talent Acquisition: Nermin Kadiric. If you'd like to be next, please reach out to a TTC Community Manager.

Introduce yourself in one sentence:

Nermin Kadiric is a seasoned Talent Acquisition Partner, having helped grow and scale teams at some of the fastest growing start-ups and scale-ups in UK and EU.

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?

My career in talent acquisition has evolved deliberately from hands-on delivery into strategic partnership, shaped by a few key milestones.

I started my journey in agency recruitment, where I built a strong foundation in technical markets, candidate engagement, and commercial thinking. Working in fast-paced agency environments early on taught me how to deeply understand technical roles, sell complex opportunities, and operate with urgency and accountability. That period was critical in developing my sourcing discipline and market intuition.

A pivotal shift came when I moved in-house at Viagogo. This was my first exposure to scaling technology teams within a product-led business, and it fundamentally changed how I viewed recruitment. Instead of filling roles in isolation, I began thinking in terms of org design, long-term capability building, and stakeholder partnership. It was the moment recruitment became more than hiring - it became a business function.

From there, I moved into senior and leadership roles, notably at AND Digital and later Beauty Pie, where I helped build tech and product functions from scratch. At Beauty Pie in particular, owning hiring end-to-end and designing interview processes reinforced my belief in structured, data-driven hiring and strong candidate experience as competitive advantages.

Another defining phase was my transition into embedded and fractional talent partner roles with high-growth startups and scale-ups such as Healios, Ankorstore, Tessian, and Forward Partners. These environments sharpened my ability to operate at speed, influence founders and executives, and adapt hiring strategies to different growth stages. Scaling teams from 10 to 75 or 80 to 650+ required not just execution, but strategic judgment - when to hire, what to prioritise, and how to build sustainable processes.

Most recently, launching NK Consulting marked a conscious decision to lean fully into advisory and embedded talent work. It reflects how my role has matured - from recruiter to trusted partner - supporting businesses with hiring strategy, technical sourcing frameworks, and talent intelligence rather than just filling vacancies.

Overall, the defining thread in my journey has been moving closer to the business: from agency delivery, to in-house ownership, to strategic partnership. Each step was driven by a desire to have greater impact, build better teams, and ensure hiring genuinely supports long-term company growth.

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?

In talent acquisition, especially in tech, I’ve learned that staying effective means treating learning as a continuous, built-in part of the job rather than something separate from it. The market, tools, and candidate expectations change too quickly to rely on past success alone.

One key practice I’ve adopted is staying very close to the technical domain I recruit for. I regularly speak with engineers, product leaders, and hiring managers beyond active roles to understand how stacks, architectures, and team models are evolving. I don’t aim to become an engineer, but I make sure I can credibly discuss trade-offs, seniority signals, and emerging skill sets. This allows me to challenge role definitions, not just execute them.

I also deliberately rotate environments. Working across startups, scale-ups, and enterprise settings forces me to constantly adapt my hiring approach. Each context exposes different constraints - speed vs. quality, process vs. flexibility, volume vs. depth - which sharpens my judgment and prevents stagnation.

From a craft perspective, I continuously refine sourcing and assessment techniques. I test new sourcing channels, experiment with automation where it genuinely adds value, and review funnel data to understand where bias, drop-off, or inefficiency is creeping in.

Retrospectives after major hiring pushes are something I actively use to improve how I design processes going forward.

In terms of resources, I tend to favour practical, signal-heavy learning over generic content:

• Direct conversations with senior engineers, EMs, and CTOs are my most valuable learning source.

• Product and engineering blogs from companies like Stripe, Netflix, Monzo, and GitHub help me understand how high-performing teams think about structure and quality.

• Recruiting communities and peer networks (founder-led Slack groups, talent partner circles) are invaluable for pressure-testing ideas and sharing real-world lessons.

• I also keep a close eye on market data and talent intelligence - salary trends, role evolution, and hiring signals, because good recruitment decisions are grounded in reality, not assumptions.

If I were advising others in the field, I’d say: invest as much time in understanding the business and the work being done as you do in learning recruiting tools. Tools change quickly; judgment, credibility, and strong partnerships compound over time.

What has been the most challenging aspect of your career in talent acquisition, especially when you were actively seeking work? How did you overcome it, and what advice would you offer to others facing similar hurdles?

One of the most challenging aspects of my career has been navigating periods of uncertainty, particularly during times when the market tightened and I was actively seeking my next role or contract. In talent acquisition, you’re often the one advising others through hiring risk, so facing that uncertainty personally can be both humbling and mentally demanding.

A key challenge was dealing with the speed and opacity of the market - roles pausing suddenly, processes changing mid-way, or receiving little feedback despite strong alignment. Early on, it was easy to internalise that as a reflection of my ability or value, especially after long stretches of high performance.

What helped me overcome that was reframing how I approached the situation. I shifted from a reactive, application-heavy mindset to a more strategic one. Instead of focusing purely on open roles, I invested time in strengthening relationships with founders, VPs, and other talent leaders, even when they weren’t hiring immediately. I also became much clearer about my positioning - what problems I solve best, the environments I add the most value in, and the impact I’ve delivered - so conversations were grounded in outcomes rather than availability.

I also treated job searching itself as a structured project. I reviewed patterns in feedback, refined my narrative, and adjusted how I communicated my experience depending on the audience. Importantly, I kept my skills sharp during those periods by consulting, advising informally, and staying close to real hiring challenges so there were no gaps in relevance or confidence.

The biggest lesson for me was separating self-worth from market conditions. Talent acquisition is cyclical, and even strong performers will face disruption. Resilience comes from knowing your craft, being clear about your value, and staying visible in your network even when things are quiet.

My advice to others facing similar hurdles would be:

• Don’t go silent when you’re between roles - visibility and relationships matter more than applications.

• Be specific about your value; “experienced recruiter” is not a compelling story.

• Use slower periods intentionally to sharpen your positioning, not just wait them out.

• And finally, be kind to yourself - market challenges are rarely personal, but how you respond to them can shape the next stage of your career.

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?

For me, work–life balance has evolved into work–life integration. In recruiting - especially in fast-growth environments - there will always be periods of intensity, so I focus less on rigid boundaries and more on building sustainable rhythms.

One of the biggest shifts I made was being intentional about how I structure my time. I’m very disciplined with prioritisation and calendar management - protecting deep-work time for sourcing, strategy, or stakeholder prep, and batching meetings where possible. That reduces context switching and prevents work from bleeding unnecessarily into personal time.

I also set clear expectations with stakeholders early. When people understand how and when I work best, it actually builds trust rather than friction. I’ve found that being reliable and outcome-focused matters far more than being constantly available.

On a personal level, I rely on a few simple but consistent rituals. Physical activity is non-negotiable for me - it helps reset my head after high-pressure days. I also deliberately disconnect in the evenings where possible, even if it’s just for a short window, to create mental separation from work. Reflection is another habit I value: at the end of busy weeks, I’ll review what went well, what created stress, and what I can adjust next time.

Finally, experience has taught me that burnout often comes from a lack of control rather than workload alone. By owning my schedule, being selective about what truly needs my energy, and allowing flexibility during quieter periods, I’m able to stay engaged, effective, and present both professionally and personally.

The goal for me isn’t perfect balance every day - it’s longevity, consistency, and showing up at a high level without sacrificing well-being over the long term.

As someone involved in talent acquisition, you've likely witnessed various technology and trend shifts. Which technologies or trends do you believe have had the most significant impact on the industry, and how have they influenced your role?

Over the past decade, the most significant impact on talent acquisition hasn’t come from a single tool, but from a combination of technology shifts and broader changes in how companies think about hiring.

One major shift has been the move from reactive recruiting to data-informed hiring. Modern ATS platforms, talent intelligence tools, and analytics have made it possible to diagnose bottlenecks, bias, and drop-off points in a way that simply wasn’t possible earlier in my career. This has changed my role from “filling roles” to advising leaders on hiring strategy, prioritisation, and trade-offs based on real evidence.

Another major trend has been the rise of proactive, outbound sourcing as a core capability rather than a niche skill. With fewer high-quality candidates actively applying, tools that support deep technical sourcing, market mapping, and competitor intelligence have elevated the recruiter’s role into something closer to a talent researcher and strategist. My work now involves understanding where talent sits, how mobile it is, and how to engage it credibly - often before a role even opens.

Remote and distributed work has also been transformative. It has expanded talent pools dramatically but raised the bar on assessment, onboarding, and employer branding. As a result, my role has become more consultative - helping companies redesign roles, rethink location strategy, and assess candidates more consistently without relying on in-person signals.

From an organisational perspective, there’s been a clear shift toward structured hiring: defined competencies, scorecards, interviewer training, and fairer processes. This trend has reduced reliance on gut feel and made recruitment more defensible and scalable. Much of my impact in recent years has come from building these frameworks rather than just running processes.

Finally, AI and automation are starting to influence the operational side of recruiting, particularly in sourcing, screening, and scheduling. While I see clear efficiency gains, the biggest change for me has been where I add value. As routine tasks become automated, my focus has moved even further toward judgment, stakeholder influence, market insight, and candidate experience - areas where human context still matters most.

Overall, these technologies and trends have shifted my role from executor to partner. The more the industry automates, the more valuable strategic thinking, credibility, and decision-making become in talent acquisition.

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?

If I had to give one piece of practical advice, it would be this: be intentional about how you position your value, not just your experience.

Talent acquisition is crowded, especially during slower markets, and saying “I’m a recruiter with X years’ experience” isn’t enough. What makes the difference is being able to clearly articulate what problems you solve and in what environments you’re most effective. That clarity shapes everything - from how you network, to how you interview, to which roles you even pursue.

For someone actively job-seeking, that means treating the search itself like a strategic project:

• Be selective rather than reactive. Not every open role is worth your energy.

• Tailor your narrative to outcomes: what you built, scaled, fixed, or influenced - not just roles you filled.

• Invest time in relationships, not just applications. Many of the best opportunities come through conversations before a job is ever posted.

If you’re entering the field or pivoting within it, focus on building real, transferable skills early - sourcing depth, stakeholder management, and market understanding. Tools can be learned quickly; judgment and credibility take time.

Above all, don’t let the market define your confidence. Hiring cycles change, but recruiters who understand their craft, communicate their value clearly, and stay visible will always find a way to thrive.