Going out and coming back.
Eleven years of recruitment, a market that changed under his feet, and a deliberate move from agency owner back into an enterprise seat. Kamaal Watkins on what 'going internal' actually looks like in 2025, and what most operators get wrong about the trade.
I'm just looking to fly. I'm in a good position now. Continue to learn, continue to grow, and we'll see what happens next.
What we actually talked about.
Three to five themes per episode, written up after the conversation. If a section catches you, the full episode is where the unedited version lives.
- 01
The skill set most recruiters never realise they signed up for
Kamaal came into recruitment expecting an admin-and-conversations role. What he found was a full-blown sales job dressed up in the language of careers and matchmaking. The two-year scrape through, the late nights, the realisation that the people who survive year three are the ones who stop hoping the candidates will close the deal for them. Recruitment is sales. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you stop drowning.
- 02
COVID, AI, and the shift that changed the whole industry
Eleven years in means Kamaal has seen the market through three different shapes. He talks through the COVID inflection point as the biggest single shift in the industry, what disappeared and what didn't come back, and where AI now sits on the desk. His take: the tools change, the differentiation moves. What used to be 'I have the relationships' is now 'I have the relationships, the data, and a way to use them at speed.'
- 03
Why an enterprise seat made sense after running his own desk
The pivot most agency operators won't admit they think about. After winding down his own setup, Kamaal walked into an RPO seat supporting Google's software engineering hires across Europe. He talks about why the autonomy of agency life isn't always worth what people tell you it is, what enterprise actually frees you to do, and the parts of agency he still misses. Honest both ways.
- 04
What he's looking for next
The conversation closes with where Kamaal thinks the next jump in recruitment will come from: branding as a differentiator, AI as a leveller, and the operators who use both to claim the share that's getting freed up. Less prediction, more posture. He's positioning to be in the room when it lands.
TheSignallandsthisquarter.
We'll publish here first. Follow on LinkedIn for episode drops, behind-the-desk notes, and the briefs we write before each conversation.