Evolving the Recruiting Coordinator Role from Scheduling to Strategy
About this Episode
In this episode of Offer Accepted, Dan Seifert, VP of Talent at Marqeta, shares how his team evolved the recruiting coordinator role into a data-driven, experience-focused function. With nearly 20 years in talent acquisition across industries including tech, biotech, and nonprofit sectors, Dan has built lean, high-performing teams that thrive as AI reshapes recruiting. At Marqeta, his focus is on helping people adapt and grow with the tools of the future rather than be replaced by them.
Dan walks through how Marqeta reimagined the coordinator position into a Candidate Experience Coordinator role that combines human connection with data fluency. He explains how automation supports scheduling, how AI helps analyze feedback, and how coordinators now act as storytellers who translate candidate insights into business improvement. The result is a culture rooted in curiosity and continuous learning, one that strengthens hiring outcomes while preparing coordinators with career-long skills that can be applied anywhere in the people function.
Topics
This Episode's Guest
Dan Seifert
Senior Director, Talent Acquisition and Experience @ Marqeta
Dan Seifert has nearly 20 years of experience leading recruiting teams across tech, biotech, and nonprofit sectors. As VP of Talent at Marqeta, he oversees global talent acquisition and experience, focusing on building lean, high-performing teams designed to thrive as AI reshapes the recruiting landscape. His team’s work combines technology and human connection to create scalable, data-informed hiring practices.
Takeaway 1
Candidate Experience is the New Core Function 🎯
Marqeta rebranded its “recruiting coordinator” role to “candidate experience coordinator,” reframing it as an ambassador role responsible for curating exceptional experiences. While automation now handles much of the scheduling “calendar Tetris,” human connection remains irreplaceable.
Why It Matters:
AI can automate logistics, but it cannot replace empathy, tone, or care. Candidates notice when processes feel thoughtful and efficient, and they notice even more when they do not. Coordinators who ensure seamless, respectful experiences elevate both brand perception and offer acceptance rates.
Quick Tips
- Shift focus from scheduling to curation. Use automation to manage calendars so coordinators can focus on communication quality, timeliness, and personalization.
- Rebrand the role internally. Update titles and team language to emphasize candidate experience, not administration.
- **Equip coordinators with data access.**Equip coordinators with data access. Give them visibility into candidate feedback and NPS trends so they can act as early detectors for process friction.
Takeaway 2
Upskilling Coordinators into Data Storytellers 📊
Marqeta’s coordinators now analyze candidate experience data and share monthly and quarterly insights across recruiting and HR. Using in-house large language models (LLMs), they process open-text survey responses to surface the top positive and constructive themes.
Why It Matters:
By empowering coordinators to interpret feedback rather than just collect it, teams build a richer understanding of how candidates experience the process. This helps recruiters, hiring managers, and interviewers identify where they can improve, creating alignment and accountability.
Quick Tips
- Teach coordinators to analyze feedback. Review qualitative comments and group them into categories such as timeliness, communication tone, and clarity of next steps.
- Introduce AI responsibly. Use secure, in-house tools to summarize feedback themes. For example, coordinators at Marqeta prompt their internal LLM model to identify top five positive and constructive trends, then verify them manually before sharing insights.
- Make feedback part of the rhythm. Create recurring “CX Week” meetings and quarterly business reviews so recruiters and HR partners anticipate feedback and come ready to act on it.
Takeaway 3
Build the Role Around Curiosity and Continuous Improvement 🔁
For Marqeta, evolving the coordinator role means more than adjusting responsibilities. It required rethinking how the team hires, develops, and empowers people to drive meaningful progress in how recruiting operates.
Dan and his team look for coordinators who are curious, data-minded, and eager to make things better. Once in role, they’re encouraged to analyze candidate feedback, identify patterns, and share insights that help recruiters, hiring managers, and HR partners refine and elevate the way they hire and engage candidates.
Why It Matters:
The coordinator role shapes how candidates experience the company, but it also shapes how the company learns from its candidates. By hiring people who question, analyze, and act on feedback, Marqeta has created a team built for evolution. These skills extend far beyond recruiting. Coordinators are building data fluency, storytelling ability, and business awareness that position them for long-term success across any career path.
Quick Tips
- Hire for curiosity. Look for people who naturally ask “why” and “what could be better” when they see a process in motion.
- Assess for problem-solving. Use interviews to uncover how candidates translate feedback into action, not just how they manage logistics.
- Create space for influence. Encourage coordinators to share trends and insights that help recruiters and hiring managers make better decisions.
What Hiring Excellence Means to Dan
For Dan, Hiring Excellence means delivering a candidate experience that reflects the company’s best self. It is about consistency, care, and collaboration. He believes that when teams treat recruiting as a shared effort, everyone from coordinators to executives contributes to success.
Dan's Recruiting Hot Take 🔥
“You’re not at risk of being replaced by AI. You’re at risk of being replaced by someone who’s better at using AI than you.”
Dan emphasizes that the future of recruiting is not about replacement but about amplification. Professionals who learn to leverage AI while maintaining human judgment and empathy will lead the next generation of talent teams.
Timestamps
(00:00) Introduction
(00:18) Meet Dan Seifert
(01:58) Why AI won’t replace talent teams
(03:10) Evolving the recruiting coordinator role
(05:19) What changed at Marqeta to spark this shift
(06:07) Aligning recruiters and coordinators to the business
(07:24) Coordinators as analysts of candidate experience data
(08:41) How to hire for strategic CX roles
(10:56) Coaching recruiters with monthly CX reports
(13:46) Quarterly updates for people business partners
(18:38) Upskilling coordinators with LLMs for feedback themes
(21:00) Building influence with straightforward data storytelling
(23:50) Offer acceptance rates and what’s driving them
(27:11) What hiring excellence really means
(28:58) Dan’s hot take: You don’t need to fear AI
(32:01) Advice for recruiters navigating an industry ebb
(34:10) Stay curious to grow with your business
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