--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Recruiting is hard. It's just finding the…" description: "\"Recruiting is hard. It's just finding the needles in the haystack. You can't know enough in a one-hour interview. So, in the end, it's ultimately based..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/steve-jobs-307_answers_recruiting-is-hard-it-s-just-finding-the_1063117.jpg" --- # Recruiting is hard. It's just finding the needles in the… ![“Recruiting is hard. It's just finding the needles in the haystack. You can't know enough in a one-hour interview. So, in the end, it's ultimately based on your gut. How do I feel about this person? What are they like when they're challenged? I ask everybody that: 'Why are you here?' The answers…” quote by Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/steve-jobs-307_answers_recruiting-is-hard-it-s-just-finding-the_1063117.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/steve-jobs-307_answers_recruiting-is-hard-it-s-just-finding-the_1063117.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/steve-jobs-307_answers_recruiting-is-hard-it-s-just-finding-the_1063117.jpg) > “Recruiting is hard. It's just finding the needles in the haystack. You can't know enough in a one-hour interview. So, in the end, it's ultimately based on your gut. How do I feel about this person? What are they like when they're challenged? I ask everybody that: 'Why are you here?' The answers themselves are not what you're looking for. It's the meta-data.” [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Hiring is likened to searching for rare items in a vast pool; intuition and deeper questions reveal true fit beyond surface answers. **In simple terms:** Finding the right person needs intuition and deeper insight. Key Takeaway Trust gut, ask probing questions. Themes recruitment intuition assessment human resources Mood analytical thoughtful Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - interviewing - team building - leadership decisions - talent acquisition Key Concepts cognitive bias meta‑analysis Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate intuition from bias? - What deeper questions reveal character under pressure? A Different Perspective Gut feelings can be biased; must balance data and intuition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Answers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/answers/) [Asks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asks/) [Data](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Findings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/findings/) [Guts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guts/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Hour Interview](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hour-interview-771740/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Interview](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interview/) [Interview End](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interview-end-2608276/) [Interviews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interviews/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Needles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needles/) [One hour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-hour/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Recruiting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recruiting/) [Recruiting Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recruiting-hard-771739/) ## Related quotes > [Recruiting is hard. It's just finding the needles in the haystack. You can't know enough in a one-hour interview.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/recruiting-is-hard-it-s-just-finding-the-needles-in-the-haystack-you-2/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [ “\[The doctor\] asked if I knew what might be causing my headaches. I looked her squarely in the face and said to her directly:… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-crawford/the-doctor-asked-if-i-knew-what-might-be-causing-my-headaches-i/) [Christina Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-crawford/) > [“Missing this interview? It's not the end of the world. It is the beginning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-fletcher/missing-this-interview-it-s-not-the-end-of-the-world-it-is-the/) [Erin Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-fletcher/) > [I once did a three-hour interview with Radio Oxford only to be told the microphone hadn't picked me up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-once-did-a-three-hour-interview-with-radio-oxford-only-to-be-told/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [If somebody wants to sit down with me for an hour and interview me and ask me any question about my record, my policies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kasich/if-somebody-wants-to-sit-down-with-me-for-an-hour-and-interview-me/) [John Kasich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kasich/) > [All we are is our ideas, or people. That's what keeps us going to work in the morning, to hang around these great bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/all-we-are-is-our-ideas-or-people-that-s-what-keeps-us-going-to-work/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/when-you-are-courting-a-nice-girl-an-hour-seems-like-a-second/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I walk out of the room, lurching under the weight of the lesson I've learned less than one hour into wifehood: How quickly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chitra-banerjee-divakaruni/i-walk-out-of-the-room-lurching-under-the-weight-of-the-lesson-i-ve/) [Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chitra-banerjee-divakaruni/) > [We are what we must And not what we would be. I know that one hour Assures not another. 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Each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-blobel/i-have-always-used-rather-large-execution-squads-since-i-declined-to/) [Paul Blobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-blobel/) > [Better three hours too soon, than one hour to late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/better-three-hours-too-soon-than-one-hour-to-late/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Proust's tea cake has nothing on one hour in a college dorm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/proust-s-tea-cake-has-nothing-on-one-hour-in-a-college-dorm/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Whoever can weep over himself for one hour is greater than the one who is able to teach the whole world; whoever recognizes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-of-nineveh/whoever-can-weep-over-himself-for-one-hour-is-greater-than-the-one/) [Isaac of Nineveh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-of-nineveh/) > [Give me but one hour of Scotland, Let me see it ere I die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-edmondstoune-aytoun/give-me-but-one-hour-of-scotland-let-me-see-it-ere-i-die/) [William Edmondstoune Aytoun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-edmondstoune-aytoun/) > [I spend around one hour per day on physical exercise. Exercise is a must for every chess player. As the proverb says, 'A sound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/humpy-koneru/i-spend-around-one-hour-per-day-on-physical-exercise-exercise-is-a/) [Humpy Koneru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/humpy-koneru/) ## More by Steve Jobs > [Who wants a stylus. You have to get em and put em away, and you lose em. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/who-wants-a-stylus-you-have-to-get-em-and-put-em-away-and-you-lose-em/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I admire Mark Zuckerberg... for not selling out, for wanting to make a company. I admire that a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/i-admire-mark-zuckerberg-for-not-selling-out-for-wanting-to-make-a/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [If you want to hire great people and have them stay, you have to be run by ideas, not hierarchy. The best ideas have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/if-you-want-to-hire-great-people-and-have-them-stay-you-have-to-be/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/everything-around-you-that-you-call-life-was-made-up-by-people-that/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [“Innovation is not about saying yes to everything. It's about saying NO to all but the most crucial features.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/innovation-is-not-about-saying-yes-to-everything-it-s-about-saying-no/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/i-have-always-said-if-there-ever-came-a-day-when-i-could-no-longer/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/when-you-first-start-off-trying-to-solve-a-problem-the-first/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I'm not dismissing the value of higher education; I'm simply saying it comes at the expense of experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/i-m-not-dismissing-the-value-of-higher-education-i-m-simply-saying-it/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [“To YoYo Ma: "You playing is the best argument I've ever heard for the existence of God, because I don't really believe a human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/to-yoyo-ma-you-playing-is-the-best-argument-i-ve-ever-heard-for-the/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [The most important thing is a person. 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I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [Sometimes a question can hurt more than an answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/sometimes-a-question-can-hurt-more-than-an-answer/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I have long felt that the way to keep children out of trouble is to keep them interested in things. Lecturing to children is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/i-have-long-felt-that-the-way-to-keep-children-out-of-trouble-is-to/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [“As long as you keep searching,the answers will come.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-kynock/as-long-as-you-keep-searching-the-answers-will-come/) [Mitch Kynock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-kynock/) > [The answer to deep anxiety is the deep adoration of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/the-answer-to-deep-anxiety-is-the-deep-adoration-of-god/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [A dialogue is very important. 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