Best Hire Ever – Details, episodes & analysis

In Episode 64 of BEST HIRE EVER, Kris Dunn talks with Stephen Ivany of Marriott International on his path to becoming a world class trombonist (prior to his Learning career at Marriott) The hot buttons hit include:

1. What the 10,000 hour rule means in relationship to becoming world class at anything (in his case, music).
2. The power of intentional practice.
3. The importance of having feedback and access to a coach when shooting for mastery.
4. The importance of family in relationshp to a career in music.
5. How mastery in music set him up for a transition to the business world when he was ready.

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In Episode 63 of BEST HIRE EVER, Kris Dunn talks with Simon Mullins (former Microsoft Exec Search leader) of ESIX about the state of Executive Search in the Talent Industry.  The hot buttons hit include:

1. How the landscape has changed as Simon benchmarks Exec Search over the last 2 years, since the pandemic, etc.
2. Changes in reported priorities from internal Exec Search teams in 2025
3. Retained Search Firm usage vs directly sourced (by internal Exec Search teams)
4. Does CRM Management work in Exec Search – based off Simon's data? 
5. Where Exec search teams see growing usage of AI

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---------Simon Mullins

Simon on LinkedIn

ESIX (Executive Search Exchange)

------------Kris Dunn

Kris Dunn on LinkedIn

Kris Dunn on X

Kris Dunn on Instagram

In Episode 54 of BEST HIRE EVER, Kris Dunn talks to Pillar CEO Mark Simpson on all things AI in the space of Talent Acquisition, including the following nuggets:

1. How COVID created critical mass related to remote interviewing that gave rise to a company like Pillar.hr.

2. Why the first job of any recruiting AI should be to give time back to the recruiter or hiring manager via automated interview summaries, making collection of interview feedback easier, etc.

3. Why the right AI can help a hiring manager understand when they are talking too much among other awareness items (can you guess what the target benchmark is for a hiring manager vs a candidate talking in an interview?) - a great piece of feedback almost no hiring manager gets today.

4. How AI can measure candidate sentiment in an interview (do they hate you?  i kid... sort of), leading to helping the hiring manager get better at interviewing.

These are just a few of the things Mark and KD talked about.  Take a listen and check out Pillar.ai when you get a chance. This is a tech company creating AI tools that really matter to TA and recruiting departments looking to get better.

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------------Kris Dunn

Kris Dunn on LinkedIn

Kris Dunn on Twitter

Kris Dunn on Instagram

-----------Mark Simpson

Mark Simpson on LinkedIn

Pillar.hr Website

In Episode 53 of BEST HIRE EVER, Kris Dunn goes solo for 12 minutes of goodness and talks about Three Positive Vibes Hiring Managers Can Give Candidates (to get better info) including the following:

Make the candidate feel great and you get better info!!

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------------Kris Dunn

Kris Dunn on LinkedIn

Kris Dunn on Twitter

Kris Dunn on Instagram

In Episode 52 of BEST HIRE EVER, Kris Dunn talks with Tyler Weeks, VP of Talent Analytics at Marriott International, about all things related to the the state of Talent Anlytics in the corporate world (and his life in the world of data), including the following:

1. What it is like being a talent analytics leader at a F200 company
2. The best thing about Tyler's job
3. The most challenging thing about Tyler's job
4. Where does TA usually fall short related to how they view TA Analytics
5. What are the biggest areas of opportunity in TA related to the coming wave of AI

Come for the data talk, stay for the KD's review of Tyler's workspace, which includes fine art and pull up bars - both aspirational signs of greatness. :)

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---------Andrew Flowers

Tyler Weeks on LinkedIn

------------Kris Dunn

Kris Dunn on LinkedIn

Kris Dunn on Twitter

Kris Dunn on Instagram

In Episode 51 of BEST HIRE EVER, Kris Dunn talks with Andrew Flowers, Labor Economist for job programmatic provider Appcast, about all things related to the 2024 job market, including the following:

     --Current probablity of a 2024 Recession as seen through labor stats,

     --The interaction between unemployment, labor market participation, and quick quits, 

     --Did we have a recession in the techonology space in 2023, and

     --Trends in job posting volume  (it's down) and what it means for 2024.

This conversation includes the story of how Andrew's time at the the Federal Reserve made him into one of the world's most approachable economists. Pure gold.

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---------Andrew Flowers

Andrew Flowers on LinkedIn

------------Kris Dunn

Kris Dunn on LinkedIn

Kris Dunn on Twitter

Kris Dunn on Instagram

In Episode 50 of BEST HIRE EVER, Kris Dunn talks with Sarah D'Angelo, Director of University Recruiting at Marriott International, in a wide ranging discussion about the state of campus recruiting, including the following:

     --How campus recruiting is recovering from the COVID era, 

     --What students are looking for in employers in 2024 (spolier alert - it's changed!), and

     --How smart university recruiting teams can listen, engage, and get the best talent that fits their needs.

Sarah breaks down the rebuild from the lost year of 2020 in campus recruiting, and along the way shares her strategy to ensure she serves students as a leader representing Marriott International.  A great conversation, be sure to check it out!

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---------Sarah D'Angelo

Sarah D'Angelo on LinkedIn

------------Kris Dunn

Kris Dunn on LinkedIn

Kris Dunn on Twitter

Kris Dunn on Instagram

In Episode 49 of BEST HIRE EVER, Kris Dunn talks with Tim Sackett (TA industry analyst, HRU Tech, The Tim Sackett Project) on the Three Big TA Tech Trends for 2024.  Tim shares what he learned in 2023 HR Tech conference season and outlines the biggest trends for 2024, including the following:

--AI and LLMs as they apply to Talent Acquisition

--The Skills Revolution

--CRM

Tim and KD break each area down and talk about what they love about each trend, the challenges they see.

Come for the broad trends, stay for jaded discussion of whether each trend is more vapor than real for 2024.

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---------Tim Sackett

Tim Sackett on LinkedIn

HRU Tech

The Tim Sackett Project

------------Kris Dunn

Kris Dunn on LinkedIn

Kris Dunn on Twitter

Kris Dunn on Instagram

In Episode 48 of BEST HIRE EVER, Kris Dunn talks with Tim Sackett (TA industry analyst, HRU Tech, The Tim Sackett Project) on the 5 Biggest TA/Recruiting Questions to Answer in a Post-Pandemic World.  We're well over a year since recruiting ramped back up in April 2021, and it looks like this is the new normal and the old environment is not coming back.

That means we've got some things to figure out. KD and Tim each bring their 5 biggest things and react in real time since they didn't share with each other beforehand.  Among the topics covered:

--Does your tech stack need to change?

--What's a good recruiter in a post-pandemic world?

--Is the candidate expectation of immediate response fair?

--How can we limit quick quits by being better recruiters?

--Are we ready to use AI in selection?

--How do we get more candidates to recruit?

--Will Indeed ever be replaced in the top of the funnel market?

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---------Tim Sackett

Tim Sackett on LinkedIn

HRU Tech

Fistful of Talent

The Tim Sackett Project

------------Kris Dunn

Kris Dunn on LinkedIn

Kris Dunn on Twitter

Kris Dunn on Instagram

In Episode 47 of BEST HIRE EVER, Kris Dunn talks with Phil North (VP of Customer Experience at Kinetix) on the challenges of disagreeing and resolving subsequent conflict (or perceived conflict) on REMOTE TEAMS, where visual cues and informal, in-person connection is rare. From a new hire perspective, this is a big topic to properly onboard and not lose a new hire to the "quick quit" trend that's happening more often in a tight labor market.

In their conversation, Phil and KD hit the following:

1. The tools available to remote teams to resolve conflict – text, voice calls, more Zoom or MS Teams calls.
2. How quickly to go back/reach out once you battled with someone.
3. The potential for setting rules for how tension reduction can happen on remote teams.
4. Does the teammate feel the same way?  How do you know?
5. The danger of letting it roll for days without attempting to resolve it/.
6. Phil's love for Mini-Coopers and ability to spin life situations from a Mini-Cooper lens.

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---------Phil North

Phil North on LinkedIn

------------Kris Dunn

Kris Dunn on LinkedIn

Kinetix

Kris Dunn on Twitter

Kris Dunn on Instagram