What Snowstorms Can Teach Us About Recruiting

When it snows, everything slows down.

Commutes take longer. Plans change. Priorities shift. And suddenly, the things that felt urgent yesterday don’t look quite as critical today.

Recruiting works the same way.

When conditions are ideal, hiring feels straightforward. Candidates move. Decisions get made. Teams stay ahead. But when the “weather” changes — tighter labor markets, seasonal slowdowns, unexpected turnover — the cracks in your hiring process become much easier to see.

Snow doesn’t create problems. It reveals them.

Visibility Matters More Than Speed

During a storm, you don’t drive faster — you drive clearer.

You pay attention. You leave more space. You adjust expectations.

In recruiting, the instinct during tough stretches is often to push harder: More outreach. More postings. More urgency.

But the teams that perform best slow down just enough to regain visibility:

• Are hiring managers aligned on what they actually need?

• Are candidates getting timely updates?

• Are open roles truly urgent — or just loud?

  
  

Clarity prevents spinouts.

Preparation Beats Panic

The worst time to realize you need snow tires is when you’re already stuck.

Strong recruiting teams prepare before the storm:

• They build pipelines even when roles are filled

• They document processes instead of relying on tribal knowledge

• They communicate early, not react late

  
  

When hiring pressure hits, these teams don’t scramble — they adjust.

That preparation doesn’t eliminate challenges, but it keeps small issues from turning into full stoppages.

Communication Is What Keeps Things Moving

In bad weather, silence creates anxiety.

The same is true in hiring.

Candidates don’t expect perfection — they expect communication. A short update, even without new information, builds trust and keeps momentum alive. Silence, on the other hand, makes people assume the worst.

The organizations that continue hiring successfully through tough conditions are the ones that treat communication as part of the job — not an afterthought.

Support Makes the Difference

When roads are bad, people help each other: Sharing information. Adjusting schedules. Offering flexibility.

Recruiting is no different.

The strongest hiring teams recognize when internal bandwidth is stretched and ask for support early — not as a last resort. That support might look like process help, extra sourcing power, or simply an outside perspective to keep things moving calmly.

I lead recruiting at BTGHR, a firm I founded to help hospitality organizations move faster and hire smarter.

The goal isn’t to replace internal teams — it’s to help them stay steady when conditions aren’t ideal.

A Final Thought

Snowstorms don’t last forever. But how you handle them matters.

Recruiting during challenging moments is less about pushing harder and more about staying thoughtful, aligned, and prepared. The teams that do that don’t just get through the storm — they come out stronger on the other side.

Sometimes, slowing down is exactly what keeps things moving