LeadingAge Illinois
Handling Hiring Objections: To Recruit the Best Talent — Chris Sund worked with senior services leaders on the resistance that shows up in every hiring conversation, and what to do about it.
Where aging services
leaders convene.
LeadingAge Illinois represents nonprofit and mission-driven organizations providing aging services across the state. Its Annual Conference brings together leaders in senior living, skilled nursing, home health, and community-based care to work through workforce, operations, policy, and the future of aging services.
Workforce sits near the top of that list every year. Long-term care competes for the same clinicians as hospitals and travel agencies, often without the same budget, which made a session on hiring objections a practical fit for the room.
Chris Sund is President and COO of Uniti Med and GQR Healthcare, so the material came from running healthcare staffing rather than from theory.
Handling Hiring Objections
To Recruit the Best Talent
Every hiring conversation runs into resistance. It arrives as candidate hesitation, as a competing offer, or as an internal budget constraint that stalls a req before it ever reaches an interview.
The session gave leaders a framework for turning those objections into productive conversations rather than dead ends. An objection is information. It tells you what the person actually needs to hear next.
Candidate Hesitation
Find the real concern under the stated one.
Competing Offers
Respond without starting a bidding war.
Budget Constraints
Make the internal case before the req stalls.
Listen First
The fastest answer is rarely the right one.
Close With Clarity
Interested is not the same as committed.
What Attendees Took Away
A framework for working through the objections that stall hiring conversations.
Language for responding to competing offers without defaulting to money.
Ways to address internal budget resistance before a req goes cold.
A closing approach that moves strong candidates from interested to committed.
Feedback from healthcare leaders.
His topics are well researched, and he weaves in practical tips and real-life examples that make every session realistic and relatable.
Chris consistently brings knowledge, insight, and practical advice to every presentation, elevating the value he brings to every engagement.
I always have takeaways to put into action after Chris’ sessions. He cares deeply about uplifting the entire profession.
You Are Capable of More.
Chris is the author of the bestselling You Are Capable of More. Copies can be bundled for attendees, and Chris can run a signing table in the exhibit hall — which drives traffic for your sponsors.
About the Book →How to Handle Hiring Objections to Recruit the Best Talent
LeadingAge Illinois published the session in its printed conference program with formal learning objectives, including the LAARC method — Listen, Acknowledge, Ask, Respond, Confirm. Scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, 2026, 1:00 to 2:00 PM.
LeadingAge Illinois.
LeadingAge Illinois represents not-for-profit and mission-driven providers of aging services across the state, from life plan communities and assisted living to skilled nursing and home and community-based care. The association advocates for its members in Springfield and Washington, and builds the education and professional development that keeps their teams sharp.
Its Annual Conference draws providers from across Illinois for two days of learning and connection. The 2026 program carried the theme Changemakers, built around innovation and meaningful change in aging services.
Bring This to Your ConferenceBook Chris for your event.
Chris speaks on healthcare talent acquisition, objection handling, retention, and workforce strategy for association conferences nationwide. Check availability and receive a customized proposal.