Be real: How to build trust in a recruiting relationship

But here’s the paradox: you don’t build trust by being perfect. You build it by being real.

Working professionals — the same people graduate schools are trying to reach in our recruiting conversations — have strong instincts for authenticity. They’ve sat through enough polished pitches and overproduced messages to know when something doesn’t add up. When everything sounds too good, it triggers skepticism. Because real life isn’t flawless. And neither is grad school.

When you try to present perfection, you break trust.

Trust grows when you’re willing to show the whole picture — the excitement and the struggle. It means saying things like:

• “There’s going to be a classmate you can’t stand.”
• “The first six months will feel like too much.”
• “You’ll question whether you belong — and then one day you’ll realize you do.”

That’s the honest truth of the grad school journey. The stress curve is steep at the beginning, and for a while, everything feels overwhelming. But what follows is confidence, capability, and community. By naming that upfront, you’re not discouraging anyone — you’re giving them a roadmap for what’s ahead.

Authenticity creates a pull. It signals to the prospect that you’re not selling; you’re guiding. You’re not trying to convince; you’re trying to prepare. And that’s what the best admissions professionals understand: the goal isn’t to sound perfect, it’s to sound human.

The best salespeople don’t “sell.” They have real conversations — without the fear that honesty will scare someone away. Because fear competes directly with genuine connection. When you’re afraid of losing a prospect, you start operating from anxiety and pressure. You start talking at people instead of with them.

But when you drop the script, let go of perfection, and lead with truth, something remarkable happens: prospects lean in. They listen more closely. They trust you more deeply.

Authenticity doesn’t just build trust; it builds confidence — in you, in the program, and ultimately, in themselves.

So if “connect first” is the mantra for starting the conversation, “be real” is how you keep it going. Because in a world of overpromises and automation, the most powerful way to earn trust is not by being flawless — it’s by being real, honest, and unmistakably human.