A full-circle talent partner: How Bindiya shapes relationship-centric recruiting at Freshworks
For Bindiya Surya, a national-level cycling champion and talent acquisition lead at Freshworks, crafting a compassionate candidate experience is all about going beyond the staples of hiring.
I like to think of myself as not just a recruiting partner but a full-circle talent partner who helps onboard, engage and retain brilliant employees to drive our growing organization forward.
With more than eight years of experience straddling strategic resource planning, project sprints, and team management, Bindiya recognizes that a business organization’s growth depends on the work culture and quality of the hiring process.
Hiring with a heart
Bindiya joined Freshworks as a talent acquisition specialist in 2018 and worked her way up to lead recruitment strategy for an entire business unit. A fervent champion of building meaningful relationships, she explains that “recruiting is not just filling open positions.” Instead, it’s about striking the perfect balance between understanding business needs and candidate expectations—and creating a pathway between them.
“When it comes to relationship-centric recruiting, it’s not just about what a candidate can do for your company, but what your company can do for the candidate. By prioritizing relationships, recruiters can understand candidates’ strengths, skills, and motivations and make informed hiring decisions,” she says.
My three tips for relationship-centric hiring:
✅ Empathize with candidates and understand their aspirations.
✅ Research new hiring trends to reward potential hires with a stellar candidate experience.
✅ Act like a talent partner and not just a recruiter.
Growing with pride
An often overlooked—but extremely valuable—aspect of relationship-centric recruiting is nurturing a pipeline of potential candidates for future opportunities. Bindiya says, “Instead of searching for candidates that meet an immediate need, this approach empowers you to build relationships with prospective employees. That way, when the time is right, you can reach out to candidates whose aspirations meet and even enhance your business.”
Bindiya’s proudest moment at Freshworks has been growing the Freshservice team from fifty to 250 in less than two years. What sets her apart is her passion for “building trust” and “understanding the urgency and scope of the roles” so that she can then “ensure our offer adds value to candidates—not just in terms of perks, benefits, and a competitive salary, but also opportunities for growth.”
In an economy where companies are quick to lay people off by the thousands and treat “candidates like a stack of resumes or statistics,” she thrives on finding purpose in her work—by valuing potential hires, building meaningful relationships, and making work more human.
Editors: Shivani Ramakrishnan, Sanjay Gupta
