I didn’t start this newsletter because I wanted another content channel. I started it because I kept noticing the same pattern repeat itself quietly, consistently, and a little too often to ignore.
My entry into recruitment wasn’t planned. It wasn’t even desired. I was an NYSC corps member, posted to a recruitment agency, and at the time it felt like a wrong turn. I didn’t want to work for anyone. I wanted to build my own talent—specifically in sound engineering. I saw myself creating, not screening CVs or coordinating interviews.
But life has a habit of teaching sideways.
Somewhere between job descriptions and candidate calls, something unexpected happened. I helped a few people around me get jobs. Nothing dramatic—just placing the right person in the right role. But the feeling stayed with me. There was something quietly powerful about knowing you played a part in someone getting stability, dignity, momentum. It wasn’t loud fulfillment. It was the kind that settles in your chest and asks you to pay attention.
That was the first shift.
The second shift came through frustration.
I once recruited repeatedly for a business owner while i was in Port Harcourt. Same role. Different candidates. Same outcome. Staff barely lasted two months—sometimes less. At first, it looked like a talent problem. Maybe the candidates weren’t committed. Maybe expectations weren’t clear. But patterns don’t lie for long.
Eventually, the candidates started talking.
What emerged wasn’t about salary. It wasn’t about skill gaps. It was culture. The environment. The manner of communication. How people were spoken to. How they were made to feel small, disposable, constantly on edge. That’s when it became clear: this wasn’t a people problem. It was a system problem wearing a human mask.
That experience permanently changed how I see retention.
Employers play a far bigger role in staff longevity than most are willing to admit. Sometimes, people don’t leave jobs—they leave environments. They leave tone. They leave unmanaged ego.
The next evolution happened when I moved into operations.
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https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-i-stopped-blaming-people-what-hiring-systems-taught-samuel-eg0sf
