Welcome to The Hero 🗞️. This is approximately a 2.5-minute read.
😡 Why people stay in jobs they hate - and what that means for you
👻 The real reason candidates go quiet after a great conversation
😅 5 moves (and the exact words to use) to get your candidate off their butt
TL;DR
Most candidates don't ghost you for a better offer - they ghost you because doing nothing feels safer
82% of workers aren't happy at work, yet fewer people are quitting than ever.
These 5 questions make staying feel like the risky choice
👻 Why Candidates Go Dark After a Great Screen
You had a great conversation - genuine interest, real momentum.
You move them through the process.
Then silence.
No competing offer.
No counter.
Just an email that says:
"I think I'm going to stay put for now."
Most candidates don't decline because someone else won them over.
They decline because leaving felt scary and staying felt safe.
Only 18% of employees say they're extremely satisfied at work.
Yet quits dropped by 500,000 year-over-year.
People are miserable - yet staying put anyways…
The full breakdown is just below - don’t miss it! 😉
Links of the Day:
🔗 Best Links
Here are some of the best links I’ve found since last time I emailed you:
🧑💻 Onboarding
Onboarding: The New Hire Checklist (link)
Onboarding New Employees: How-To Guide and Best Practices from Day One (link)
🔎 Recruitment Marketing
5 Recruitment Marketing Strategies for 2026 (link)
Recruitment Marketing: Your Guide to Attracting Top Talent in 2026 (link)
👨💼 Passive Candidate Engagement
How to Engage Passive Candidates and Turn Interest into Action (link)
Mastering Cold Outreach: Best Practices for Engaging Passive Talent (link)
📰 News
Recruiting Trends for 2026: What Hiring Teams Need to Prepare For (link)
☹ You're Losing to the Default
The current job has a natural advantage:
Predictable paycheck
Familiar faces
A commute they've already made peace with
Even a mediocre job feels safer than a great one you don't know yet.
You're not competing against another company's pitch.
You're competing against the most powerful force in human decision-making:
comfort.
😎 5 Moves That Beat Comfort
These are the types of questions that get you over that mental hurdle:
1. Make staying expensive.
"Where do you want to be in two years? Does your current role get you there?"
If the answer is no, you've just put a price tag on comfort.
Don't pitch the new role - let them sell themselves on why they can't stay.
2. Name what they won't.
"It sounds like the role interests you, but leaving feels risky. What would need to be true for it to feel right?"
They won't volunteer the fear.
Your job is to surface it.
3. Sell the problem, not the title.
"The team is rebuilding the entire data pipeline from scratch" beats "Senior Data Engineer opening" every time.
Passive candidates don't move for job descriptions.
They move for challenges they can't get where they are.
4. Kill the doubt before it takes over.
First screen: "If you get to an offer and your gut says stay - what would that tell you?"
Plant it early.
By the time the fear kicks in, they've already answered their own objection.
5. Compress the timeline.
Every day between interest and offer is a day inertia works against you.
A candidate sitting in limbo for two weeks isn't evaluating the role - they're getting comfortable again.
Move fast.
To Sum It Up…
They're not choosing between you and a better offer.
They're choosing between you and doing nothing.
And To Wrap It Up…
Make nothing feel like the thing that costs them.
HOW WE CAN HELP?
There are a few ways:
Or you can just reply to this email.
I reply to absolutely everyone who writes me back 🙂
