The Recruitment Flex

This week on TRF: Taylor Swift swept the world away with 1 BILLION Spotify streams in 1 week, Shelley was one of them! And some other news you will need to listen to find out! IN THE NEWS The FTC proposal to ban non-competes is ruffling lots of feathers in the US. Just another day in the office here in Canada. Foreign job seeker interest in Canada is down 40% since mid-2023 Google fires employee who bring their politics to work & protest at the office, 48 people so far. More layoffs at Google, Nike and Tesla - all for very different reasons.  TIP OF THE WEEK Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Dumb question or legit. RECRUITING INSIGHTS War for AI talent has been declared. Shots fired from Meta, Google and Amazon have Elon Musk calling it ‘crazy’. $81,822 is the lowest pay to change jobs. The gap between what men will accept and what women will accept just got even bigger.

This week we welcome longtime TA practitioner Author of Hiring Humans Craig Fisher Craig brings a wealth of experience and passion to his new book, Hiring Humans.  Practical tips and key takeaways are written for HR and TA as deskside reference and refresher. The 5:1 content generation template gives you the cadence and consistency to build your personal brand as a recruiter.  Craig has built a community for TA with TalentNet events.Twice a year, the conference is a safe space with honest conversations, case studies and featured speakers.

This week on TRF we cover: 7 weeks to TATech, Should Serge wear a Bond Tux to MC the event at the International Spy Museum in Washington? Fun private client and friends dinner event with @Plum and coming up. In The News HiBob launches Bob Hiring Pandlogic and Broadbean become Veritone Hire Try getting a candidate to move cities when they're on a low rate mortgage? The data is showing that's it's nearly impossible. Kenya cracking down on recruitment agencies scamming job seekers Tip of The Week (Brought to you by Plum) We're not a "family" I think Netflix got it right: it's a professional team. One where colleagues earn a spot by being really good in their given position. Recruiting insights (Brought to you by Metova) CEO's turnover is huge right now, hitting a record high last year Which candidate attraction channels work best, we dig in HR has a lot of work to do for skills based hiring to succeed.

This week on TRF we welcome Adam Godson CEO at Paradox Freshly into his new promotion from President to CEO, Adam is confident this role is perfect for him and for Paradox.  With incredible growth, 90 to 600 employees and 1,000’s of clients, many prestigious brands. Adam shares the simple truth for their success.  Loaded with case studies showcasing outcomes of their clients,  Want fries with your AI? Macdonald’s took their days to hire ratio from 71 to 3 days. Staying true to their core values, Paradox listened to their clients to bring on their own ATS. Olivia, their chatbot, gets better with time.  And we finally understand why they called the company Paradox!

This week on TRF we cover: Blink and we missed it. From our part of the world, there wasn't much fanfare over the solar eclipse.  Fama’s newest product inspired a #MagiOfFit on several channels and gave us a chance to share how hiring the right fit will raise everyone’s game. Leah Sobering was Shelley’s Instant Fit. In the News Angela Hood named by Inc. as 106 out of the 250 top female founders. Big round of applause for Angela and This Way Global.  Canada’s unemployment rate jumps to 6.1% in March, yet the job numbers remain flat. US Economists are still shaking their heads as 303,000 jobs were added in March plus the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8% 109 young men for every 100 young women in Canada giving us the widest gap in nearly 50 years. Our liberal immigration policy is a key factor.  Tip of the Week The less talking from the recruiter, the better the interview. Favourite interview question: When were you happiest at work? What were you working on?  Your only job is to listen. Recruiting Insight New catch phrase alert: The Great Talent Grab. ZipRecruiter survey reveals incredible growth of new hires reporting they were recruited in. Speculation on why? VP of HR claims she was not moved forward in the hiring process because of her natural appearance, no make-up.  Internal mobility is a belief that the best new talent are those who already work for you. Hiring Managers struggle to get on board with letting their top performers move internally.

TRF feat Tracey Lovejoy and Shannon Lucas CoAuthors of Move Fast Break Shit Burn Out Coined in an outdated phrase as Positive Troublemaker Tracey and Shannon have long known they didn't fit the already sized work style categories. The Catalyst is the dot-connector who sees what needs to change and moves into action.   They share their research and inspiration for writing this self help book for the Catalyst. Complete with charts, graphs, real life stories and lots of breadcrumbs to identify and support those who bring change into the world.  Great advice for recruiters who need to attract and recruit Catalysts (formerly known as Change Makers) Hiring Managers who need to find the Catalyst in their organization and how to tips in supporting them.  Tracey and Shannon have become co-CEOs of their own company & support systems called Catalyst Constellations. Check it out!

This week on TRF we cover: Will Serge jump 829ft into the Las Vegas Skyline? In the News Statistics Canada says population growth rate in 2023 was highest since 1957 Indeed Launches Smart Sourcing tool Employ names Steve Cox as CEO LinkedIn testing new TikTok style video feed. Tip of the Week To determine a candidate’s level of business acumen, simply ask: “How does the company you last worked for make money?” Recruiting Insights A recent survey with over 11,000 participants calls out there's still a "Boys Club" in recruitment. Zuck putting on his recruitment hat on to go after AI talent Automation in recruitment ‘humiliates and alienates young people’

This week we welcome Nancy Tavares Senior Director, P&C at Paladin Security With a non-traditional entry into HR, Nancy brings business acumen and operational experience to her decision to pursue a Masters in HR Management.  A life long learner, she also shares her knowledge as an Instructor at George Brown College in Toronto delivering the Intro to HR course.  Nancy shares some of the assessment techniques Paladin uses to evaluate a candidate’s skills during the recruitment process and some of the challenges they are facing now.  The intersection of L&D in HR is her deepest expertise. The role of HR plays in supporting the business by creating front line training with very clear pathways of employee development.  Understanding your talent pool and creative thinking in how to partner with provincial entities shows innovative thinking.

This week on TRF we cover: When your Linked In post gets hi-jacked, it can be a complement or just annoying. What was Barry thinking, his //bit.ly would create an avalanche of qualified candidates? Congrats to one of the OG's of HR podcasting, Matt Alder hits 600 episodes.  In the news Federal minimum wage in Canada jumps to $17.30. Sad to see the US federal minimum wage still sits at $7.25 per hour. Realtors in the US are facing some drastic changes that will hit their commissions. There should be an app for this! No one ever felt good about paying $25,000 to someone for selling their biggest investment - your home.  NASA vs SpaceX. It all comes down to hiring and perhaps keeping costs in line. Consider their spending habits over the last 10 years, NASA clocked in at $21.2 BILLION and SpaceX at $500-750 million.  Tip of the Week Recruiters being interviewed by a Recruiter for a recruiting role, feels like jedi mind trick.  Showing up isn't what you wear, it's asking great questions.  Recruiting Insights Glassdoor controversy this week. Adding the Fishbowl means you give your identifying information sparks fear into the hearts of some users that employers will someone find you out for the nasty review you left.  Global Trends Report 2024 from HireVue uses an impressive survey size of 6,000 leaders. 2 things stood out, skills based hiring to identify transferable skills and getting comfortable with using AI. Boomerang employees have risen by more than 30% since Covid with half of them returning within 2 years of leaving.

This week on TRF we welcome Mark Chaffey CEO Hackajob Every company is a tech firm.  Based in London and New York, Mark along with his co-founder spent the last 10 years building a 2 way marketplace specifically for engineering talent.  Their laser focus on their audience and to provide a first class experience that includes a human Talent Success Manager to coach the candidate has paid off.  Building the skills taxonomy was essential and using Ai to do it.  Their own growth from 75 to 150 employees in one year, Mark talks about his ‘Swiss Army Knife’ and their internal TA tech stack Breaking into the US for Hackajob it was a serendipitous chain of events

This week on TRF we cover: Love the new car smell. Car manufacturers offer fewer options in the post chip shortage car buying market.   Just a little FOMO about Transform held in Las Vegas last week. DuoLingo wins the top spot for employer brand.  In the News Paradox names Adam Godson as the new CEO. Big congratulations to Adam who started his career as an HR professional and climbed all the way to the top! Employers are optimistic about hiring according to the Q2 US net employment outlook.  Clear winners in revenue increases are Upwork and Fivvr as the traditional job board world all report losses.  Tip of the Week The flat boring resume dates back to the 1930’s - its time to up our game with more visual documents from the likes of Canva and Enhancv.  Recruiting Insights With all the concerns of AI threatening to replace workers, we review the list of Top 5’s. Blue collar and white collar jobs that are AI-Proof. Video continues to dominate with over 80% of global internet traffic. TikTok has become the goto platform for younger demographics who crave unique and entertaining ways to communicate your employer brand.  2024 Edelman Trust Barometer global report proves the power of the Influencer is equal to the trust we have in scientists for telling the truth!

This week we welcome Peter Weddle CEO at TATech From North Virginia, arguably the most beautiful part of the USA. With 26 books written and a columnist for the Wall Street Journal Peter’s insight into the world of work, he shares sage advice to those considering what AI will do for the Recruiter. The early days of TATech the foundation was to create a trade organization and Code of Ethics. Creating a trust source for buyer and TA Tech vendors. The one and only TATech Buyers guide was born. Peter and his team have created the incredible opportunity for TA Tech to come together with investors & analysts to make deals happen.  Mic drop, TA should manage HR, makes perfect sense.

This week on TRF we cover: HiringBranch challenged Shelley’s 30 years of recruiting experience against their AI tool, Serge believes the Robot won. Vastly different responses to a Hotel fire alarm at midnight.  The twins turn 5 - HBD! In the news Canada’s economy added 41,000 jobs and unemployment rose to 5.8% TikTok ban in the US - Influencers & content provider are panicked. 42% of companies with RTO mandates have higher turnover than expected. Tip Of The Week Nurture your relationship with Hiring Managers, prepare for your intake meeting with data such as: Time to Find, Time to Engage, Competitors recruiting for the same role to have meaningful conversations and set realistic expectations. Recruiting Insights OpenAI’s ChatGPT dream solution or opening up a nightmare? Is it even legal? Singing their own praises, Coinbase CEO and COO now must approve every hire. We debate the claim of being ground breaking.

TRF feat: Sarah Reynolds CMO at HiBob We just had to know the story behind the name of the company. It all makes perfect sense.  A simple answer to Improving onboarding, make good on the recruitment experience and throughout the life cycle of the employee.   The biggest hurdle with any HR system is getting employees to use the system; 85% of users access it at least twice a week.  Sarah confesses they are an HR nerd at heart and gives their best advice, ‘Best to be true than perfect.  We talked about influencer marketing and how its can be a real thing using your employees  Best prediction, Sarah shares their perspective on the changing landscape of pay transparency and opportunity transparency.

Happy International Women’s Day!  After several attempts to invite women leaders in TA to be a guest on the podcast, we are asking for your help. Please send us nominations or referrals, we promise it will be fun! In the News Vice.com lays off employees on a town hall zoom call with no preparation and a 2019 understanding of zoom features, like how to disable the emoji feature.  Taking a page out of her own playbook as a Product Manager, Marta Puerto’s video goes viral on Linked In. Tip of the Week The resourceful recruiter, follow layoff trackers and strict return to office mandates to know where talent will be more likely to depart.   https://www.warntracker.com/ https://talentedgeweekly.com/p/talent-edge-weekly-issue-226 Recruiting Insight LazyApply lives up to its name. Aki Ito test drives the bot who will apply for 750 jobs a day for you. It will be chaos for recruiters and for Aki Ito too! EY sets the pace for how to nurture a talent pool, by using their rejection email. Recruiting 101, exhaust the local market first before you undertake the expensive and time consuming task of relocation, immigration and 8 weeks to start.

TRF feat Bas Van de Haterd Co - Author of Talent Acquisition Excellence. Get it now on Amazon or anywhere you get your books! We welcome back our favorite Dutchman, Bas.  With 5 books published under his belt, Bas shares his inspiration for a truly global perspective on the TA profession and how partnering with the OG of TA, Kevin Wheeler was the perfect match. Spoiler Alert: There is no connection between formal credentials & on the job performance. RPO is a North American thing Don't bother advertising your job in the Middle East.  The Netherland’s solution to paid job advertising and how they have simplified the background check. An inspirational example of digital recruitment marketing.  Perspective check, Bas debunks the myth that AI will harm hiring.

This week on TRF we cover: Hear what Serge did with a room of over 100 Recruiters at the Canadian Recruiters Networking Group. All good fun. Tim Sackett composes a hilarious list of HR’s results of Dating at Work, there is always truth in jest.  Events March 11 Hiring Branch presents, Demystifying Ai and Skills Based Hiring Workshop; send us a DM if you are interested! June 6-9 TA Tech Conference in Washington, DC where we will be the MC’s! In the News Big acquisitions going down this week, Workday acquires HiredScore and Deel acquires Zavvy.  Canada picks up the pace on post-graduation work permits offering Masters and PhD graduate 3 years to work and hopefully stay. Tip of the Week Saying NO is a good thing. Never leave candidates hanging, if they are not getting the job, we have a responsibility and professional courtesy to let them know. Recruiting Insights Harvard & Burning Glass Institute release their findings on the impact of removing degree requirements in job postings. We highlight their key findings.  Centralized vs Decentralized - the Global Candidate Experience Benchmark Report; we deep dive into what TA Teams from around the world are doing and how they are changing.

This week Serge (Sans Shelley) interviews Richard Collins, CEO of CVWallet, Richard shares insights from his career in recruitment and advertising, including the sale of ClickIQ to Indeed in 2019. CVWallet was founded to help job seekers prove their credentials, but shifted focus towards solving the recruiter paradox due to generative AI's rise. Some challenges generative AI, including an increase in applications and the need for verification to ensure candidate data reliability. He advises talent acquisition leaders to adopt scalable solutions capable of handling increased application volumes due to AI advancements. Some disappointment over Google discontinuing its job ads product, seeing it as a missed opportunity to shake up the recruitment advertising market.

This week on TRF we cover: We may need to call for a security escort after Serge presents at the CRNG event in Calgary. On one hand for the riots that may ensue and on the other hand, the ladies who will be storming the stage.  Work assignments gone wild. We rip into Eight Sleep for thinking getting hired by them is like an audition for SNL - Saturday Night Live is notorious for stealing comic’s material in their auditions.  In The News Air Canada tries to blame their own chatbot for giving out the wrong information to a customer. The ruling was watched around the world and is a clear indication that companies will be held accountable for their rogue chatbots! Indeed will be the headline partner for RecFest UK and RecFest USA. A little late to the party but the wallet is open. CRA clarifies how employers must determine the province of employment for remote workers. Tip Of The Week If your interview process is greater than 3, take this as your warning, the company you are recruiting for is dysfunctional . Recruiting Insights Mercer gives us the measuring stick for how big your TA team should be.  We arent making this up, job search is rigged. We pull back the covers on how companies are behaving badly.

TRF welcomes Chano Fernandez Co-CEO of Eightfold Chano brings an impressive track record with his career built in the HR Tech world and his incredible depth of knowledge from industry giants like SAP and Workday We tackle the topic of how Eightfold, by design, has 2 CEOs. Chano shares his expertise on how AI is being applied for the betterment of HR within organizations.  Internal mobility is the top trend in our space, identifying skills development opportunities and how generative AI, like Chatbots can help co-pilot the HR professional and Leaders.  Advice for organizations considering Talent Intelligence platforms; ask yourself, “Am I ready for this?”