27 years. One company. Dave Veres built the system that helped scale Aerotech into the largest privately held staffing firm in the US — and he's breaking down every piece of it here.
Most recruiters are trained to ask better discovery questions. Dave Veres says that's not enough. There's a level above question-based selling that almost nobody in this industry has figured out — and it's called diagnosis. The difference between a recruiter who fills reqs and a recruiter who becomes the trusted advisor clients call when everything is on the line comes down to whether you understand where your client sits in their product life cycle, what's coming before they know to ask for it, and how to position yourself ahead of that need.
Dave spent 27.5 years at Aerotech, rising from entry-level recruiter to leading national sales and enterprise accounts across automotive, defense, and government — including staffing operations in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He is now CSO of Spark Companies, building the next version of everything he learned.
This is the full breakdown.
00:00 Cold open — the stakes of getting hiring wrong
02:30 Who is Dave Veres — 30 years, one company, what that means
04:39 What is diagnosis-based selling and why it beats discovery questions
06:08 The real difference between question-based and diagnosis-based recruiters
08:41 Why relationships matter more than metrics — and what most recruiters miss
10:59 Baseball, Michigan State, and the life lessons that built his career
13:33 How Dave ended up in recruiting — the origin story
17:43 The "figure it out" DNA — where it comes from and how to build it
29:48 How a shipyard drive led to $500K/week in defense staffing spread
38:14 How to open enterprise accounts and make them want to do business with you
40:13 Scaling deep relationships across hundreds of clients simultaneously
41:42 Where recruiters get relationship selling wrong
43:09 The diagnosis framework — the first things Dave diagnoses with every prospect
45:57 The exact questions that surface what a client actually needs
47:11 How to find the real decision maker in an enterprise account
49:19 How to turn a one-off placement into a repeatable client
51:03 What is actually working in 2026 to get your foot in the door
53:56 Joining Aerotech at $300M — did he miss the rocket ship?
57:57 How to build a culture where people stay, grow, and bring their families in
01:01:01 Why Dave walked away after 27 years
01:03:39 Why he came back — and what excited him about Spark Companies
01:05:40 Thirty years in and still loves it. Why.
01:08:32 The sales systems he's building now that he wishes existed 15 years ago
01:13:51 The first 3 moves to shift to diagnosis-based selling in the next 30 days
01:14:50 How to move up the leadership ladder inside a recruiting firm
01:16:06 The question nobody ever asks Dave — but should
What you'll learn:
The difference between question-based and diagnosis-based selling
How to use product life cycle mapping to predict client needs before the req exists
How to break into new industries and become the subject matter expert
What enterprise account strategy actually looks like when no single person signs the deal
Why the candidates you place today are your most valuable future clients
How to build a culture of accountability without burning people out
What AI should and shouldn't do in a recruiting firm
The first 3 moves to change your sales approach starting this week
🎙️ Atlas — AI-first recruitment platform built to eliminate admin
Captures every conversation, surfaces candidates instantly with MagicSearch, drives 40%+ EBITDA growth and 80%+ billing increases for agencies.
https://recruitwithatlas.com
🎯 This Is Your Year — Recruiter Summit (April 27th, live sessions are FREE)
https://this-is-your-year-recruiter-summit.heysummit.com/
💼 Join the Elite Recruiter Community — $49/month, cancel anytime
https://elite-recruiters.circle.so/checkout/elite-recruiter-community
📬 Newsletter → https://eliterecruiterpodcast.beehiiv.com/subscribe
🔗 Connect with Dave → https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveveres/
🌐 Benjamin Mena → http://www.selectsourcesolutions.com/
🔗 Benjamin on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminmena/
📸 Benjamin on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/benlmena/
#recruiting #staffing #salesstrategy #recruitingtips #agencyrecruiting #talentacquisition #recruitingpodcast #eliterecruiterpodcast
