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TitlePub. DateDuration
EQ App CEO/Founder Marcus Sawyerr27 Nov 202400:37:54

How is AI reshaping the recruitment landscape, and what does it take to implement it effectively? Today, we sit down with returning guest Marcus Sawyerr to delve into the potential of AI-powered recruitment. Marcus is the Founder and CEO of EQ app, an AI-driven platform designed to connect people and knowledge to drive business growth. Marcus is a pioneer in leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance sales, marketing, and recruitment processes. Recognized as one of the top influential leaders in the staffing industry, Marcus has also served as an advisor to prominent venture capital firms and startups. In our conversation, we delve into the intricacies of deploying AI into an HR tech stack and how AI-powered recruitment strategies are shaking up the industry landscape. We discuss the reasons behind AI becoming front and center in the recruitment industry, explore the different use cases of AI in recruitment, and unpack the fundamentals of implementing AI in HR workflows. Marcus also explains the essential considerations of implementing AI, the paradigm shifts AI is creating in the industry, and what companies get wrong about it. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Recent trends in AI and why the recruitment industry is beginning to embrace it.

  • The different potential use cases of AI within the overall hiring workflow.

  • Common misconceptions of AI in recruitment and missed opportunities within the industry. 

  • How AI is disrupting traditional recruitment workflows and enhancing productivity.

  • Why AI is not a "silver bullet" for problems and why a deep understanding of it is vital. 

  • The hype cycle around AI and its role in connecting people to the technology.

  • Ways to distinguish between valuable AI solutions and overhyped tools.

  • Insight into the internal and external company aspects of implementing AI. 

  • Marcus' approach to identifying workflow gaps and building trust with teams and the C-suite.

  • The potential of AI to enhance workflows and help grow small businesses.

  • Recommendations for recruitment leaders to begin deploying AI strategies.

  • Final takeaways and an update on the EQ AI Community. 

 

Quotes:

 

"The difference now is that AI allows a new workflow and a new way of doing things, which you may not have considered [before]." — @Marcussawyerr [0:07:55]

 

"The way that we work and interact with machines — is evolving at a rapid pace that we haven't seen before." — @Marcussawyerr [0:15:46]

 

"It's really about thinking how you use AI technology to perform better in real life." — @Marcussawyerr [0:29:00]

 

"If you are inside of an organization, you've got to figure out how can you drive [AI] proactively or do something else on the side to help you do extra and do more." — @Marcussawyerr [0:32:14]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Marcus Sawyerr on LinkedIn

Marcus Sawyerr on X

EQ app

EQ AI Community

The Adecco Group

'EQ Community Founder Marcus Sawyerr'

LHH Recruitment Solutions

 

Quantum Motion Head of Talent & People Christine Ng15 Nov 202400:35:51

Christine shares how her background has enabled her to treat with the most technical talent in the market, and details her approach of developing young talent as well as luring niche talent away from academia.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • A bit about Christine's career and how she landed at Quantum Motion. 

  • Christine tells us about the engineering company she was part of. 

  • Her opinion on being a generalist versus specializing in something. 

  • A breakdown of Quantum Motion, what they do, and their hardware search. 

  • Christine tells us about the kinds of people they hire at Quantum Motion. 

  • The two very different ways of hiring for a startup (academia and industry). 

  • How they develop the talent that they need on their own as well. 

  • Christine tells us how she can tell if someone has used ChatGPT. 

  • Some advice for anyone wanting to apply for a role in quantum. 

  • What they are looking for when recruiting at Quantum Motion. 

 

Quotes:

 

"The reality is, if there's no hardware, there is no quantum computing." — @xtine08 [0:20:28]

 

"It's tricky to hire because we do get a lot of interest." — @xtine08 [0:31:06]

 

"Stay tuned! I think in the next two or three years there will be a lot more opportunities in the [quantum] space." — @xtine08 [0:32:06]

 

"If you're applying for a role in quantum, really think about what about quantum that excites you because there's so much hype around this area as well." — @xtine08 [0:33:09]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Christine Ng on LinkedIn

Christine Ng on X

Quantum Motion

 

Zephyr Head of Talent Nicolette Jackson25 Apr 202400:35:06

 

There's a saying that goes "Nothing grows in the comfort zone" and our guest today is a formidable example of success outside of comfort! We are thrilled to welcome to the Talk Talent to Me podcast, Nicolette Jackson, Head of Talent over at Zephyr. Nicolette shares more about what they do at Zephyr and her journey to becoming the Head of Talent. We dive into her inspiring and forward approach to negotiating her job offer at Zephyr, and she highlights what prompted her confidence to (always) ask for more! We then delve into the different facts of her mentor/mentee relationship with Lorraine Buhannic, and much more. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • The Nicolette of it all. More about Zephyr and Nicolette's background and journey.

  • Viewing another Chief People Officer's visible role at the table: how it was apparent to Nicolette.

  • She elaborates on the different types of things the board asked Lorraine (the CPO).

  • The sparks that influenced Nicolette's Chief People Officer aspirations.

  • Nicolette delves into her approach toward negotiating her job offer at Zephyr.

  • The inspiration that prompted her confidence to ask for more (from her job offer).

  • Nicolette sheds light on various facets of her mentorship dynamic with Lorraine.

  • She shares Lorraine's anti-imposter syndrome pep-talk/ concept.

  • Painting her own data journey and the impact it has had on her confidence. 

  • She explains the different ways she is currently quantifying the role.

  • Why owning your expertise is a beautiful thing to do for a business.

 

Quotes:

 

"When I realized that recruiting was — one side bringing people in but then also how to grow them and make them happy while they were there was the whole other side of the spectrum. And to truly be happy in recruiting — I feel like I also wanted a say-so on how people were treated once they were in the door." — Nicolette Jackson [0:08:40]



"Who gets the oil? The squeaky wheel, honestly the people that ask for the things they want." — Nicolette Jackson [0:14:44]

 

"Nothing that I've done in this life that has made me successful was ever comfortable. It's always been uncomfortable. It's always been a challenge." — Nicolette Jackson [0:25:20]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Nicolette Jackson on LinkedIn

Zephyr

Hippo Insurance

Lorraine Buhannic on LinkedIn

Episode: Juxtapose Head of Talent Lorraine Buhannic

Juxtapose

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

 

Billd Head of People Ops Francisco Michel14 Sep 202200:25:47

Billd's Head of People Ops, Francisco Michel, discusses the importance of goal setting and KPIs being tailored specifically to each individual employee while keeping the company's overall goals in mind. Francisco shares his plans to revamp the EMPS survey in the future. Next, Francisco shares his favorite 'hat' to wear, how he defines and manages his abundance of responsibilities, and his hopes for the future of Billd. He even delves into how his interview process at the company inspired him to make changes to it when he started, how he selects employees and the importance of having grit. Francisco also shares his belief that a start-up creates opportunities and implores listeners to work for one at least once in their career. So, tune in now to hear more and to find out why "Happy people produce and happy people stay!" 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Introducing today's guest, Francisco Michel.
  • An overview of Billd and Francisco's role in the company is. 
  • How much Francisco's job is changing with his new promotion. 
  • The issues he plans to tackle in the company right now. 
  • How Billd has created KPIs for the company by focusing on the company's goals. 
  • Francisco shares his KPIs with us based on the different hats he has to wear at work.
  • The one question Billd asks people when it comes to EMPS. 
  • How Francisco manages being the bearer of good or bad news in Billd. 
  • Francisco's long-term plan to revamp the EMPS survey and make it more robust. 
  • Why every individual person needs different KPIs and how Francisco goes about doing this.
  • Why Francisco pushes employees quite a bit. 
  • Francisco's favorite part of his job and what he hopes to focus on in the future. 
  • How Francisco defines and manages all of his responsibilities at work.
  • Why working at a start-up presents many opportunities. 
  • How Francisco figures out if someone actually wants to join his company.
  • The importance of finding the right personality to fit within your company. 
  • Why you need grit in Francisco's industry. 
  • What Francisco's interview process was like at Billd and how he subsequently changed it. 

 

Tweetables:

 

"I do think it's important to make [KPIs] simple but [focus on] what is really going to matter at the end of the day for this individual and what is going to show that they are a good performer." — Francisco Michel [0:12:48]

 

"When it comes time to review this person on their performance, how are you going to define what good performance looks like if you don't have something to measure it off of?" — Francisco Michel [0:14:00]

 

"At a startup, you really get to learn a lot not only about yourself but a lot about what other departments do, how everything works, how it needs to be built, and how to accept your failures because you don't know everything and you are trying to build the plane and fly it at the same time." — Francisco Michel [0:16:22]

 

"Take a chance on a startup at least once in your career, you'll learn a lot. Either you'll learn that startups are not for you or you'll learn that you can really do more things at a startup and discover new job opportunities." — Francisco Michel [0:17:32]

 

"If you can't take your façade down, you won't be successful at Billd". — Francisco Michel [0:21:48]

 

"Happy people produce and happy people stay." — Francisco Michel [0:23:30]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Francisco Michel on LinkedIn

Billd

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Hopscotch Health Head of TA Lisa Hyder23 Aug 202200:26:12

Does hyper-growth seem scary, unattainable, and destined for disaster? Well, today we are joined by Head of TA Lisa Hyder to tell us how she manages to successfully achieve hyper-growth within Hopscotch Health. While drawing on her 15 years of experience, Lisa tells us about her personally developed recruitment tactics, her holistic and strategic approach to talent, and why she believes in the power of having a whole company lending a hand in the hiring process. From interviews, reviewing resumes, and jotting notes, to personally messaging candidates, Lisa tells us how (and why) we need to create and use a thorough interview, recruitment, and vetting process to ensure our companies are destined for success. Plus, we hear all about Lisa's love for Excel spreadsheets and how she optimizes them to use for just about everything!

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Lisa's 'fun but frantic' approach to hyper-growth.
  • A look at the creation of De Novo clinics.
  • The recruitment culture at Hopscotch Health
  • Lisa's positive experience with the Hopscotch hiring process. 
  • How Lisa structures a strict vetting interview process (and the answers she wants to hear). 
  • The power of social recruiting.
  • Lisa's approach to talent and recruitment.
  • How recruiters can uplevel and develop themselves.
  • What hyper-growth means for a company.
  • The hyper-growth that has been taking place in Hopscotch Health.
  • The different trackers (spreadsheets) Hopscotch Health uses.
  • Hopscotch Health's new innovation, integration, and technology investments.
  • Why you should personal message candidates, rather than simply email.

 

Tweetables:

 

"Talent is marketing, it's business development, it's HR, it's sales."— Lisa Hyder [0:09:29]

 

"As [companies] grow, [they] need corporate positions to support that growth." — Lisa Hyder [0:13:10]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Lisa Hyder on LinkedIn

Hopscotch Health

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Mastercard Director of Talent Sam Sparks LIVE in London22 Aug 202200:34:14

Hello London! We are live! And we are thrilled to welcome you to this Talk Talent To Me special edition: the Nightclub Rave Recruiting podcast. Joining us today at the magnificent Steel Yard nightclub is the Director of Talent at MasterCard, Sam Sparks. We take a look at Sam's professional background and how she ended up at MasterCard, before diving into the complexities of acquiring a business, from a TA perspective. Our panelist gives us the makeup of her recruitment team while letting us know how she is able to ensure that they are getting involved with their clients and candidates. Sam prefers to silently observe interviews and meetings, and she lets us know what she wants to hear from her team in those situations. You'll learn about cross-department partnerships, what it's like to hire as a globally recognized organization, understanding what a candidate wants, the pros and cons of building a recruitment management team, and the importance of social media for big corporations. After getting an idea of Sam's future career prospects, Rob steps into the audience to give them the chance to ask our guest a few questions. The impromptu interviews help us understand Sam's views on how TA will evolve in the near future, the best ways to assess the technical skills of candidates, and how you can build a company culture in a remote-work world. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Welcoming our guest, Sam Sparks, and some thoughts on today's nightclub venue. 
  • A look at Sam's professional background and how she ended up at MasterCard. 
  • Understanding the complexities of acquiring a business, from a TA perspective. 
  • What her team looks like: hiring managers and heads of departments. 
  • How the other recruiters on her team go about their business. 
  • What Sam is on the lookout for when observing meetings and interviews. 
  • The other departments that she partners with to make sure that hers is not the last to know.
  • Whether it's a good thing that most prospective candidates already know MasterCard.
  • Understanding what candidates want and how to offer it to them. 
  • Localized marketing and building a recruitment marketing team. 
  • If it is important to have a specialized local marketer on the recruitment team: Sam thinks not. 
  • Why it's important for big corporations to make good use of social media. 
  • Sam's future career prospects. 
  • Rob goes into the audience to take some of their questions.
  • How Sam sees TA evolving over the next two years. 
  • The best way to assess the technical skills of candidates. 
  • How to build a company culture in a remote-work world. 
  • Whether it's possible to make TAs a business critical at the decision-making table, and how.

 

Tweetables:

 

"Agencies are very salesy and I love the interaction with people, but I hated the KPIs." —Sam Sparks [0:04:46]

 

"In order to truly sell what the team does, what the growth potential is, what the experience they can get being a part of that team, you really need to live and breathe it. I really encourage my teams to do that." —Sam Sparks [0:08:13]

 

"It's empowering my team to be able to have the confidence to push back, ask those questions, and manage those conversations. You have to do that in partnership with HR, rightly or wrongly, because these conversations are important." —Sam Sparks [0:11:08]

 

"What we're seeing in the economy now, MasterCard as a brand is not enough. It's all well and good working for a great brand, but you need more than that now." —Sam Sparks [0:13:53]

 

"I'm a firm believer in thinking outside of the box. I think sometimes recruitment can be so boring, and we don't make the most of what we can do." —Sam Sparks [0:18:28]

 

"That's the problem we had with our global approach to content. It was very professional. It was quite stilted. There was not a lot of personality coming through. It seemed too fake. It didn't really resonate. It didn't represent what we are in Europe." —Sam Sparks [0:019:49]

 

"We're trying to do a bit more and push the boundaries a bit. I'm a bit of a maverick. I like to do stuff and just annoy my manager and say that we should do it" —Sam Sparks [0:20:33]

 

"I mean, she loves me now. She probably secretly hates me, but she knows I'm like a dog with a bone. I just won't give up. I think you have to be a bit like that." —Sam Sparks [0:32:49]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Sam Sparks on LinkedIn

MasterCard

The Steel Yard

Mothercare

Essential

Codility

Vocalink

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Job Seeker Expectations vs. Reality with Tali Rapaport19 Aug 202200:33:48

Today we are joined by the Co-founder of Puck, Tali Rapaport. Tali is passionate about helping employees find the right work environment based on their specific stories. Tuning in, you'll hear all about Tali and what drove her to start Puck. She elaborates on the importance of transparency in the job application process, why you need to connect with each individual person's story, as well as the challenges she has encountered in her line of work. We also discuss the disconnect Tali sees in what employees hear and what they see about their roles as well as what she thinks people want to see when applying for a job. Next, we look into why day-to-day tasks are not selling points when searching for employees before diving into Puck's use of podcasts and audio to tell personal stories. Tali also talks us through the way today's work environment affects Puck, how candidates are matched with employees and vice-versa, along with why recruitment marketing is imperative. Finally, Tali explains what she sees as 'storytelling' in her line of work. 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • An introduction to today's guest, Tali Rapaport. 
  • A bit about Tali's background and what drove her to start her company, Puck.
  • The importance of being transparent about what a particular job requires of employees.
  • The challenges Tali saw while she was working with Lyft. 
  • The importance of connecting with employees and their specific 'stories.' 
  • How Tali figured out that there's a disconnect between what employees read about their roles and what they see.
  • What Tali thinks people want to see when applying for a job.
  • Why day-to-day tasks are a terrible thing to sell on in the job application process. 
  • When Tali realized that these application problems were significant enough to start a company that would address them.
  • The solution she envisions for these problems: audio rather than video. 
  • How Puck makes use of podcasts. 
  • Puck's goals for the audio they create: the use of personal story. 
  • Where Puck's innovative content is used. 
  • The current state of how people expect to do work and how it influences the way that Tali presents her company.
  • How Tali finds candidates that fit into a company's work-life approach and vice versa.
  • Why the fit on title and salary isn't enough. 
  • Tali explains the Puck interview process.
  • Why Tali thinks large companies should have a person dedicated to recruitment marketing. 
  • What Tali means when she talks about 'storytelling.' 
  • Where the name "Puck" comes from. 

 

Tweetables:

 

"You don't need to be communicating to a lot of people to communicate clearly and with specifics. I think that that's part of the storytelling that people are missing." — @TaliR [0:08:43]

 

"There's a difference between what people put in a job description and the questions candidates want answered when applying to the job." — @TaliR [0:10:14]

 

"It's so much easier to connect with a story about a person than it is to connect with a bullet point. That's a bullet that someone will read and forget. It helps you as a storyteller, as a company, as an individual make a lasting impression on the people that are considering joining you." — @TaliR [0:18:12]

 

"The right team for you is not the right team for me or the next person who comes in. So if you can sell on your team, that's, I think, the best." — @TaliR [0:24:45]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Tali Rapaport on LinkedIn

Tali Rapaport on Twitter

Puck

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

DotConnect Chief Conscious Connector Dom Farnan17 Aug 202200:32:47

 

Today, we welcome Dom Farnan back to the podcast! She is the Founder and Chief Conscious Connector at DotConnect.  Dom begins by giving us a rundown of who DotConnect is as a company and a breakdown of some of their recent projects. Then, she opens up about the introspection that led to her discovering that she'd been a toxic boss. That leads to Dom describing how she knew that she needed to shift her focus, how her personal development coach made her focus on the right things, and how her personal growth led to positive organizational changes at work, creating a healthier work culture. We find out why performance-based values alone are not enough for DotConnect, what the company's core values are, how our guest ensures that the company values and the work being done are interconnected, and the type of responsibilities that she places on her team leaders' shoulders. The change in values altered the way that Dom and DotConnect do business and she stresses the importance of only saying yes to healthy business propositions. In this information-packed episode, you'll learn how DotConnect differs from other RPOs, what scrum methodology is and how it applies to the talent space, and how Dom and her company made some changes after retrospective sessions with clients. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • A warm welcome to our returning guest and friend of the podcast, Dom Farnan. 
  • Who DotConnect is as a business and what they've been working on recently. 
  • When Dom shifted her focus and how she knew that it was the right time. 
  • What her personal coach directed her to focus on: herself.
  • Creating awareness around a toxic work culture and developing a healthier one. 
  • How she was able to introspect and find clarity on her toxic behaviors as a boss.
  • The organizational changes at work as a result of her personal triumphs. 
  • Why performance-based values were not enough for Dom and her company. 
  • How Dom ensures that the company's core values and the actual work being done are interconnected.  
  • How the change in values has altered the way she chooses business partners. 
  • The specifics of how DotConnect is different from other RPOs.
  • What 'scrum' looks like when applied to the talent space. 
  • An example of something Dom stopped doing after a retrospective session with a client. 
  • Why some recruiters lose their love for caring for and wanting to help people. 
  • How to regain a lost passion: go back to what brings you joy! 
  • Identifying the negative aspects of your job and calling them out.

 

Tweetables:

 

"We look at ourselves as conscious connectors who are excited to help build companies, through building meaningful relationships and actually making hiring enjoyable.." — Dom Farnan [0:02:54]

 

"It's been a couple of years of personal self-development work, but that inner work and healing has really transformed my business." — Dom Farnan [0:04:12]

 

"It's really hard to just have a set of values that's all about numbers, metrics, and performance when we have emotions, and we are highly irrational human beings in our human experience, and everybody has different things going on in their lives that impacts their ability to perform." — Dom Farnan [0:10:24]

 

A lot of our work still comes from my personal network of when I was recruiting. I actually love that, because we walk in and we have this solid level of trust and understanding with each other. We almost skipped to the really good part of a relationship." — Dom Farnan [0:15:08]

 

"Care and consideration. Literally, care and consideration. That's it. When they would ask me, 'How do you have all these clients?' or 'Where are you getting all this work?' I'm like, 'I don't know. It's magic. I guess I just care.'" — Dom Farnan [0:23:25]

 

"Whatever the situation is, it's always someone else's stuff. It's never your own stuff. All you can control is your response and your energy, not everybody else's. I think once you have that shift, recruiting is not that bad." — Dom Farnan [0:27:02]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Dom Farnan on LinkedIn

Dom Farnan on Instagram

Dom Farnan Website

DotConnect

The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

SVP of HR & TA Stephanie Cramer12 Aug 202200:27:55

Joining us today is the SVP of HR and Talent Acquisition at MGAC, Stephanie Cramer.  MGAC has recently branched out to the UK and our guest speaks about taking stock of talent within a global organization, how to formulate a practical action plan after a major acquisition, and the details of her particular approach to the tech stack. It is important to advertise the company culture from the perspectives of current employees and Stephanie gives examples of how she accomplishes this through in-house recruitment videos.  You'll learn of the difficult questions she receives from candidates, before giving her opinions on a real experience that rob had on LinkedIn. After debating whether salary information should be available to candidates upfront, we take a closer look at a member of Stephanie's team who made an extremely successful transition from admin to talent! Stephanie has an abundance of advice to give and if you've been looking for answers regarding all things HR and TA, tune in now!      

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • How our guest, Stephanie Cramer, took an accidental midday sabbatical, which ultimately helped her mental health. 
  • A brief discussion on the movie The Gray Man.
  • Stephanie breaks down what MGAC do as a company, 
  • What her role entails, and how she ended up working there. 
  • How she takes stock of the talent situation in a global organization. 
  • Formulating a practical action plan after a big acquisition. 
  • The specifications of her approach to the tech stack.
  • Why it's necessary to advertise company culture from the perspective of the current employees.  
  • How Stephanie ended up choosing Comparably for her company. 
  • What she would ask and say to employees, as a director, when filming promo videos. 
  • The tough questions that candidates ask in an interview that may be difficult to answer.
  • Rob shares a real experience he had on LinkedIn and Stephanie gives her thoughts on it.  
  • Taking a closer look at whether salary information should be available to candidates upfront. 
  • The hires our guest is currently making and the growth of her team. 
  • An MGAC staff member, based in LA, who successfully transitioned from admin to talent. 
  • Recruiting from the perspective of what makes the candidate happy.
  • Stephanie's advice to those who are looking to follow a similar career path to hers.  

 

Tweetables:

 

"I firmly believe that when you lead a people function, it's all about connecting with the people." — Stephanie Cramer [0:05:01]

 

"I can speak 'till I'm blue in the face about what it means to be an MGAC employee, but nothing is going to be better than actually listening to a firsthand account." — Stephanie Cramer [0:08:17]

 

"When my team starts talking to people, right off the bat, we try and answer those questions. But being able to provide any sort of transparency around [salary] is going to help us too." — Stephanie Cramer [0:13:33]

 

"Being able to have an HR presence, even if it is in recruiting and talent acquisition, was very beneficial." — Stephanie Cramer [0:20:45]

 

"One is slow down and the other is stop listening to the imposter syndrome. Believe in yourself." — Stephanie Cramer [0:26:27]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Stephanie Cramer on LinkedIn

MGAC

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Buf Head of TA Ben Caggia08 Aug 202200:26:58

Joining us today is the Head of Talent Acquisition at Buf, Ben Caggia. Ben started by studying medicine, even going as far as taking the MCAT, before realizing that he is actually more passionate about talent acquisition. We get an understanding of Ben's love for the trenches, why you should find a job aligned with your passions and interests, how to make the shift from individual contributors to management, and what he believes are the attributes of a great manager. As a bonus, Ben tells us why it's important to ask the right questions at interviews and how you should trust your gut to guide you towards the right company. This conversation goes against the grain compared to previous episodes, in the best way possible!

 

Key Points From This Episode:

  • How he is spending his office time: hands-on with roles. 
  • What recruiters struggle with when not completely backed by the company. 
  • A combination of building the pipeline and understanding exactly who you are looking for.
  • How he is grateful for all the support he received at Buf. 
  • What Buf as a company does, and Ben's role in it.
  • Buf as a utopia for engineers. 
  • Ben's professional background and how he ended up in talent. 
  • His love for being in the trenches.
  • How he made the decision that medicine wasn't for him.
  • Finding a job that aligns with your passions and interests. 
  • Making the shift from individual contributor to management.
  • Wanting to help people as the cornerstone to the decisions he's made. 
  • The attributes of a good manager, according to Ben. 
  • Whether there's a cap on being the IC if you don't want to pursue management.   
  • How to know if you are speaking to the right companies: trust your gut. 
  • Why it's important to do the research and ask the right questions at interviews. 

 

Tweetables:

 

"I'm a little bit spoiled at Buf. The team is incredibly involved in recruiting. They recognize how valuable it is as a function." —@BeNYCtech [0:01:50]

 

"There's elements of it that just aren't fun. That's why you get paid to do the job. But it's about finding the job that you're most excited in that aligns with your passions and interests, where it doesn't actually feel like work. Even the bad parts are bearable." —@BeNYCtech [0:16:54]

 

"I knew pretty early on that I had my sights set on management. I think it's the hardest leap to take in your career." —@BeNYCtech [0:18:11]

 

"I think a good manager is ultimately one that's a servant to their reports, and somebody that's a shield, and is constantly looking at ways to improve their workflows and make their lives a little bit easier." —@BeNYCtech [0:19:32]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Ben Caggia on Twitter

Ben Caggia on Instagram

Ben Caggia on LinkedIn

Buf

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Instacart's Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Belonging Jennifer Sutton05 Aug 202200:38:31

Today's guest is Jennifer Sutton, the Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Belonging at Instacart, a grocery delivery and pick-up service in the United States. Jennifer originally worked in finance but made the transition to HR and diversity over 14 years ago. Jennifer's approach is to couple diversity hire strategies with genuine mental frameworks to reach an organization's diversity goals. In today's show we find out about Jennifer's background in finance, her transition to HR, the benefits of diversity to an organization, common mistakes organizations make regarding inclusion strategies, the importance of identifying root causes, and much more.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • We find out about Jennifer's professional background and her current role.
  • Her professional journey from finance to HR and diversity.
  • The benefits of non-recruiting qualifications to HR.
  • Why mixing competencies is a key part of diversity hiring. 
  • How to change career paths if your current role is not fulfilling.
  • The type of team you should surround yourself with.
  • Jennifer's approach to her role at Instacart and her system design.
  • Making the systems already in place for diversity hiring sustainable.
  • The organizational mindset needed to make a genuine impact on diversity.
  • The importance of identifying the root cause of the lack of diversity.

 

Tweetables:

 

"It's not necessarily about how the role is designed but what is needed to succeed in that role." — Jennifer Sutton [0:06:37]

 

"It should be people that potentially, not only can mentor you but also sponsor you. And I use those words very intentionally because they're different when done right." — Jennifer Sutton [0:11:07]

 

"It's a level of trust and vulnerability that I've been able to leverage and I celebrate being able to have those conversations." — Jennifer Sutton [0:15:59]

 

"If that belief system is flawed and if that belief system might be giving advantages unintentionally, but still giving advantages to some and not others, you will never have a healthy process." — Jennifer Sutton [0:18:31]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Jennifer Sutton on LinkedIn

Hired

Talk Talent to Me

Socotra Head of TA Dubi Ben-Shoham03 Aug 202200:30:58

Dubi tells us of his three most recent hires and how he goes about ensuring that diverse candidates are being brought into the company. He explains the pressures that hiring managers place on him and how he is able to navigate through scheduling conflicts between candidates and his team. There is a growing trend for on-demand interviews and our guest breaks down some of the issues that arise therein, as well as a close examination of the mistakes being made by companies when they hire technical engineers.  In our conversation, you'll learn how tech companies are contradicting their ingenuity, what the ideal number of interviews should be, what Socotra's interview process is like, and how and why the cultural interview is a good way of assessing how a candidate will fit into the company. Dubi explains how other companies are lazy not to send rejection letters, before leaving us with an inspirational story of how he gave a second chance which led to incredible success. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Introducing our guest, Dubi Ben-Shoham, and 
  • A quick look at his current work week: he made three key hires. 
  • How Dubi makes sure that diverse candidates are being hired. 
  • The pressure placed on him by hiring managers. 
  • What he does to set realistic expectations for his managers. 
  • How he balances the calendars of his execs. 
  • Scheduling conflicts that arise between candidates and hiring managers. 
  • The growing precedent of on-demand interviews. 
  • Breaking down the problems surrounding the hiring of engineers.
  • Whether the technical interview activities are relative to the job itself.  
  • How, for all their ingenuity, tech companies are still hiring in a dated way. 
  • What the ideal number is from Dubi's perspective. 
  • A sneak peek at Socotra's interview process.
  • The culture interview as a good assessment of how the candidate will fit in at the company.
  • How candidates 'fake it' more at skills interviews rather than cultural ones.  
  • What Socotra does differently to be more respectful to candidates. 
  • Why other companies do not send rejection letters: Dubi thinks it's laziness.  
  • An inspirational story of success gained through a second chance. 

 

Tweetables:

 

"One of my strong suits is, I know that I'm the expert in the relationship and the hiring managers are not. So I just set realistic expectations from the onset." — Dubi Ben-Shoham [0:04:23]

 

"If you ever want to have another podcast about how I want to revolutionize the technical recruiting process, I've spent a lot of time trying to figure that out." — Dubi Ben-Shoham [0:11:30]

 

"Tech companies are supposed to be the most forward-thinking companies but they're still interviewing engineers like it's 1999, and it doesn't make any sense." — Dubi Ben-Shoham [0:15:33]

 

"The time it takes usually to interview candidates, the process, it all should be reviewed on a regular basis, just to make sure we are doing the right thing and candidates are feeling good about it." — Dubi Ben-Shoham [0:17:50]

 

"I applied to 300 jobs, seriously. I got to be a candidate for so long and it just showed me everything bad about recruiting." — Dubi Ben-Shoham [0:21:53]

 

"Managing expectations was the first thing I learned as a recruiter. If you're good at that, then you'll be good at what you do." — Dubi Ben-Shoham [0:23:52]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Dubi Ben-Shoham on LinkedIn

Socotra

Karat

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Hired

Oshkosh Director of TA DJ Braemer29 Jul 202200:27:36

Director of Talent Acquisition at Oshkosh Corporation, DJ Braemer gives us a rundown of the good work that Oshkosh does and how he ended up in his current role. Working in the agency setup gave our guest invaluable experience, but he also reveals why he would never go back. You'll learn about why he chose to go into management, how he discovered his leadership skills through sport, whether he misses the hustle and bustle of recruiting, and why his time in the dark side of HR was a major moment in his career. DJ believes that Oshkosh is an industry leader in diversity hiring and he tells us all about his company's willingness to provide flexible job opportunities. Do you think that the hybrid module of talent acquisition is one we should aspire to? Find out what DJ Braener thinks by tuning into this episode!  

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Introducing today's guest, DJ Braemer, and ascertaining his current headspace. 
  • DJ's professional background, how he ended up at Oshkosh, and what his role entails. 
  • Why he would never go back to an agency setup. 
  • What made our guest want to pursue a role in management.
  • Learning about leadership through sports. 
  • Whether DJ misses the hustle of actual recruiting. 
  • The medium long-term projects and big campaigns that he is currently working on.
  • Why Oshkosh are champions of diversity hiring: walking the walk. 
  • An explanation of his time in the dark side of HR. 
  • How to bridge the gap between being the leader and requiring more industry knowledge. 
  • Deciding if HR is a necessary stop on the way to higher leadership levels in the talent space.
  • Oshkosh's ability to provide flexible opportunities. 
  • TA as a necessary leadership role in today's market. 
  • How DJ's company is able to contribute talent in meaningful ways to each different team/brand. 
  • Choosing the hybrid model of TA and the circumstances under which it should be used. 
  • Our guest's advice to prospective employees: work hard, put in the time, and find a company that promotes from within. 

 

Tweetables:

 

"I would never go back and start my career in a different place. I just got so much good experience from that." — DJ Braemer [0:04:31]

 

 

"The first one is around diversity hiring. This continues to be a major topic, for good reason. I'm proud of Oshkosh because we're really walking the walk." — DJ Braemer [0:10:05]

 

"I had never led any type of core HR team or work before. I grew as a leader because it was the first time I had to lead work that I had never done myself. That was a really big moment in my career." — DJ Braemer [0:14:34]

 

"It is surrounding yourself with the people that do know. It is asking a lot of questions. It is admitting to not knowing the answer all the time, and just being humble." — DJ Braemer [0:16:15]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

DJ Braemer on LinkedIn

Oshkosh Corporation

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Hired

Northwestern Mutual VP HR Kara Hughes23 Apr 202400:33:48

 

Sometimes, life is all about taking leaps of faith. And when it comes to talent and talent management, a leap of faith can open doors that you never even considered walking through. Today we are joined by Kara Hughes, the VP, HR Business Partner of Tech & Digital, as well as the Head of Workforce Planning, People Insights, and Analytics at Northwestern Mutual – a financial firm focused on making their clients feel more confident and secure so that they can sleep better, breathe easier, and feel happier. Kara begins the conversation by answering an important recruiting question from one of Rob's friends about how to approach problematic intake interviews. Then, we get to know more about Kara: how she ended up at Northwestern Mutual and what her job entails. We also discuss the importance of workforce planning, the departments that are responsible for it, and the role of recruiters in becoming part of business strategy and workforce planning conversations. To close off, we explore how the evolution of HR has added to the pains of the industry. Be sure to listen until the very end for some helpful advice on how to send an email in French. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Welcoming Kara Hughes as she answers a recruiting question from one of Rob's friends.

  • Advice for candidates on how to approach intake interviews. 

  • The leaps of faith that led Kara to Northwestern Mutual and what her title and role entails.  

  • Exploring the role of recruiters in workforce planning. 

  • The departments that initiate and prioritize workforce planning, according to Kara. 

  • How recruiters can involve themselves in business strategy and planning conversations. 

  • Why many people (incorrectly) believe that HR should not have a seat at the strategy table.

  • How the evolution of HR helps to explain the modern challenges of the role. 

  • Some multicultural advice to end today's episode. 

 

Quotes:

 

"Recruiters and hiring managers, you hope they have a really good intake meeting and are really, really clear on requirements but signals get crossed. So, advocate for yourself and cover all those important bases at the outset and don't feel bad about doing it." — Kara Hughes [0:03:51]

 

"Show gratitude and know who has gotten you to where you are and who's helped you along the way because if you really sit back and take stock, [you'll realize that] it's many, many people." — Kara Hughes [0:09:49]

 

"There's been such a radical shift in the value that [HR] is expected to provide." — Kara Hughes [0:28:28]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Kara Hughes on LinkedIn

Northwestern Mutual 

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

 

Redpoint Ventures VP of Talent Network Atli Thorkelsson27 Jul 202200:31:21

Our guest today is VP of Talent Network at Redpoint Ventures, Atli Thorkelsson. In our conversation, he gives us a bit of background on Redpoint as a company, how he ended up there in his current role, and what his day-to-day job entails. Atli tells us how he adds value to the founders he speaks to and shows us some of the blind spots that many of them encounter. We get an understanding of his hiring process and why he and Redpoint place relationships at the pinnacle of importance. You'll learn about making your hiring process deliberate, how to quantify your talent acquisition, what the common trends in current talent acquisition are, and how a company benefits differently from hiring executives as opposed to other staff.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Introducing today's guest, Atli Thorkelsson, and what his venture capital firm does. 
  • What Atli's role entails as VP of Talent Network. 
  • How he manages to be valuable when offering advice to founders. 
  • Why many founders encounter blind spots.
  • Atli's process when someone comes to him looking to step up their talent function.
  • The importance of starting with your own network. 
  • Why it's necessary to keep track of relationships.
  • How Atli ended up at his current company, Redpoint Ventures.
  • How a steppingstone turned into a path.
  • What the interview process was like when he was being hired. 
  • How Redpoint evolved to prioritize the Talent Network. 
  • Operationalizing the hiring process so that it's deliberate. 
  • How Atli and his team can measure their hiring processes. 
  • Leaning further into the relationship aspect of talent acquisition. 
  • The different possible company outcomes when hiring executives versus other staff. 
  • Common themes he has seen in the talent acquisition environment. 
  • Atli's reasons for the current trend of prospective employees preferring to enter a company at ground-level as opposed to chasing a 'sure thing'.
  • How candidates, on the talent side, should approach the equity conversation.
  • The questions to ask when assessing whether your stake in the company is meaningful. 
  • Knowing the difference between the strike price and the current valuation. 
  • Atli's parting words of advice for those looking to forge a career in talent. 

 

Tweetables:

 

"We think of talent as a network function. I think that's the reason that we're distinguished." —@AThorkelsson [0:01:37]

 

"We're really just looking for, 'How do we help you see around corners? How do we prescribe or help you think about things that maybe you wouldn't ordinarily be thinking about?'" —@AThorkelsson [0:03:31]

 

"Track those relationships and keep those people in mind as your company builds, because maybe somebody that's not right, right now, is going to be right down the future." —@AThorkelsson [0:06:29]

 

"I wanted to work a little bit more closely with the founders, be a little bit more both emotionally, and literally, invested in the success of the people that I was placing." —@AThorkelsson [0:09:09]

 

"Now's a really good time to push for more equity and take a little bit more risk on the cash side, because a lot of really great companies get built-in recessions." —@AThorkelsson [0:24:22]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Atli Thorkelsson on Twitter 

Atli Thorkelsson on LinkedIn

Redpoint Ventures

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Hired

Hillsdale VP TA & Development Elizabeth Goncalves25 Jul 202200:19:58

VP of TA and Development at Hillsdale, Elizabeth Goncalves explains how to execute and build trust and the importance of defining priorities, leadership development, and structuring and delivering individualized leadership programs within your business. She also shares her advice for how to structure your career, skillset, and drive in order to find and secure your dream job.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Elizabeth's background and how she ended up in her current role.
  • How she decided on Hillsdale and grew in her role there.
  • Executing and building trust
  • How her work priorities shifted as she built up trust for the function of her role.
  • Her approach to taking the temperature of what the organization needed.
  • Leadership development: how she plans to approach the project and deliver it to their team.
  • How Elizabeth is going about figuring out what a leader needs to grow and how to deliver it.
  • Her advice for how to structure your career, upskill yourself, and then go out and find your dream job: always raise your hand!

 

Tweetables:

 

"One thing that I've learned in my career thus far: If something scares you, you walk through it. You don't back away from it." — Elizabeth Goncalves [0:06:48]

 

"It took someone like me, who understands what it takes to have a successful firm and to have successful relationships, to come in and asked questions, and then to determine where that would fit in under our priorities." — Elizabeth Goncalves [0:13:52]

 

"It doesn't matter how many years of leadership you have under your belt. There are always things that we can be doing better." — Elizabeth Goncalves [0:21:07]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Elizabeth Goncalves on LinkedIn

Hillsdale

Talk Talent to Me

Holistic Workforce Planning with Tresha Moreland22 Jul 202200:28:40

Tresha Moreland has over 30 years of experience in HR leadership, serving as CHRO for a slew of big-name organizations. Tresha defines 'meaningful workplaces' for us before giving us an in-depth analysis of what it means to be a workforce planning specialist. It is better to have a holistic approach to workforce planning and Tresha tells us how it could be beneficial to delegate important conversations, how to go about doing it, and laying out the importance of having a mentorship program. We finish off with an educational conversation about creating a culture of great communication and good practices in the workplace, highlighting the importance of knowing your employee's hearts and minds before they hand in their resignation. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • What Tresha's current role is and what her job entails. 
  • Why she switched from an internal role to a consulting position. 
  • How her motivation shifted to wanting to impact as many lives as possible.
  • What a 'meaningful workplace' is: a space with a meaningful purpose. 
  • Characterizing the scope of Tresha's offerings. 
  • What workforce planning is and what it means to be a workforce planning specialist. 
  • Taking a look at a holistic approach to workforce planning. 
  • How to start the retirement conversation with lower-level employees and candidates.   
  • The benefits of having a mentorship program. 
  • Why it's a good idea to delegate important conversations and how to do it. 
  • How to create understanding and a sense of community in a remote-work world. 
  • Creating a culture of great communication and good daily practices.
  • Why you should fully understand the hearts and minds of your employees before their resignation.  
  • Tresha's example of 'stay interview' questions.
  • Her words of advice for those looking to follow her trajectory and forge a career in HR.

 

Tweetables:

 

"I'm among millions of other workforce members who are now reassessing their priorities. We've seen through the pandemic that life is short. We knew that intuitively, but now we're seeing it firsthand." —@HRCSuite [0:02:52]

 

"I've reassessed my priorities, and I see now that I want to make a bigger difference in the world. I want to be a part of something where I'm making an impact and having some meaning or purpose that goes beyond just the daily grind." —@HRCSuite [0:03:14]

 

"People are looking for purpose over popcorn. They want to be a part of something where they're making a difference, something bigger than themselves." —@HRCSuite [0:04:43]

 

"I don't know about you, Rob. But I'm not liking surprises much anymore. I'm pretty sure leaders and HR professionals throughout the nation are feeling the same way." —@HRCSuite [0:06:02]

 

"I'm a workforce planning specialist, and I'm a data nerd." —@HRCSuite [0:06:41]

 

"What you want to do, getting into the career, take a look at your values and what makes you tick, and then look for organizations that might align and support you in that way." —@HRCSuite [0:26:28]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

Tresha Moreland on Twitter

Tresha Moreland on LinkedIn

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Hired

Axle Head of TA Alicia Kortmeyer21 Jul 202200:33:20

Head of Talent at Axle, Alicia Kortmeyer breaks down the changes she made to the redundant processes when she first arrived at Axle, the importance of operationalizing the hiring process, and the reasons why a company must allow room for mistakes. We end the conversation by trying to figure out if it is indeed possible to avoid involuntary churn. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Introducing our guest, Alicia Kortmeyer, and a brief family history. 
  • What she misses most about being home in Kansas.
  • Axle as a company: who they are and what they do.
  • Logistics as a recession-proof industry. 
  • Alicia's professional background and how she ended up working at Axle.
  • How she knew that Axle was the real deal. 
  • Thriving in chaos. 
  • What her company said about hiring and growth that convinced her to want to succeed. 
  • Finding motivation from a relationship between two best friends. 
  • The things Alicia put in place to make an impact at Axle when she first arrived.
  • Redundant steps in Axle's interview process that she made changes to.  
  • The importance of operationalizing the hiring process and how she was able to do it. 
  • Why it's necessary to allow room for mistakes. 
  • Paying more attention to the candidates than the job position. 
  • Seeing candidates not just as a transaction but as human beings.  
  • Whether there's a formula to avoiding involuntary churn and if it's at all possible.  

 

Tweetables:

 

"Logistics isn't going anywhere. We're all Amazon Prime people. We all order things online, especially when the world shut down." — Alicia Kortmeyer [0:05:22]

 

"I literally love who I work for and what I do. I love my team. I love the people. I'm so lucky to do what I do every single day. It's chaotic. It's crazy. It's never the same." — Alicia Kortmeyer [0:08:06]

 

"I knew it wouldn't be easy. But who wants easy, right? That's so boring. I thrive in chaos. Even though I pound a bottle of wine often, I wouldn't have it any other way. Water is so boring." —Alicia Kortmeyer [0:11:07]

 

"I love coming into that chaos, where it's like, 'You are the smartest person in the room, go take this, and don't mess this up for us'. I love having that pressure under me. I love coming in and making things better and fixing things, and building people around me." — Alicia Kortmeyer [0:12:33]

 

"I think it's so important to keep getting that feedback from candidates or in the industry, and seeing how we can evolve and how we can change and how we can improve because once you stand still, you're already behind the game." — Alicia Kortmeyer [0:21:51]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

Alicia Kortmeyer on LinkedIn

Axle

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Hired

EyCrowd Head of TA Matt Bonitt15 Jul 202200:20:16

 Head of Talent Acquisition at EyCrowd, Matt Bonitt, shares how he ended up at EyCrowd and how their unique work culture cemented his decision to stay. We find out what recruitment policies Matt found in place when he arrived at the company, and what he chose to focus on as his first orders of business. EyCrowd prioritizes aptitude and attitude over skill and Matt gives us examples of the character traits he is looking for in prospective employees. You'll get a close look at his interview process as he tells us of the most difficult aspects of hiring executives. For Matt, it's all relationship-based and his interview format is loose and almost informal, to put the interviewee at ease so that they can feel comfortable enough to portray their true selves.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Introducing our guest, Matt Bonitt and his guitar-themed room.
  • Matt's professional background and how he ended up at EyCrowd. 
  • What EyCrowd, as a business, does. 
  • The state of EyCrowd's recruitment policy when Matt joined the company. 
  • What he prioritized as the first points of business in his new position as Head TA. 
  • EyCrowd as a remote-work organization. 
  • An exercise in company culture when determining prospective employee characteristics. 
  • Examples of character traits that Matt is looking for when hiring: humility is number one. 
  • Exploring the finer details of his interview process. 
  • Having a loose interview structure to put the interviewee at ease. 
  • Whether the current means of assessment in the interview process is fundamentally flawed. 
  • The possibility of replicating paired coding for other functions. 
  • Matt's background in interviewing and hiring executives. 
  • Searching for and placing executives: a relationship-based game. 
  • What the most difficult part about looking for executives to hire is. 
  • How executives are able to skip the interview process entirely. 
  • Matt's future career prospects.  

 

Tweetables:

 

"I love the people aspect but I was a little bit getting sick of the corporate structure." — Matt Bonitt [0:02:24]

 

"You don't have to speak formally to be professional, you can just be real with people." — Matt Bonitt [0:02:33]

 

"We place aptitude and attitude over skill. We have an excellent training and development program so we just want smart people with good hearts." — Matt Bonitt [0:04:54]

 

"It's a very nerve-wracking situation when you're going in an interview with somebody. So, one way that I augmented that was telling them all the questions I'm going to ask them upfront, and not having them answer them right away." — Matt Bonitt [0:08:50]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Matt Bonitt on LinkedIn

EyCrowd

EyCrowd App

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Hired

TCW VP Talent Acquisition Manager Doreen Goldman13 Jul 202200:26:23

Doreen Goldman, VP TA at TCW guides us on how to draw parallels from our own experiences and empower candidates to explore their different directions and potential trajectories. We go on to look at how to foster positive relationships to allow a candidate to connect with their potential employers, all while remembering the power of authenticity, growing your strengths, and acknowledging your areas of growth potential. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Doreen's background and how she came to work in TCW.
  • The talent acquisition department in TWC.
  • The nature of competition in the industry.
  • Understanding Doreen's industry experience with developing technical and functional roles.
  • Chatting about Doreen's passion for her job: helping candidates build relationships.
  • Doreen's lack of regrets for her beginning hustles in her career.
  • TWCs screening for the interviewing process. 
  • The balance between balancing growth potential and proving your capabilities.
  • The campaigns that Doreen is running in TWC.
  • The most impactful approach that a recruiter can take to learn and develop.
  • Doreen charts her personal growth trajectory as a VP.
  • The importance of budgeting your time and prioritization.
  • The balance between criticism and appreciation.

 

Tweetables:

 

"The hard skills, the technical skills, are what we look for and are the hardest to satisfy." — @reenyg926 [0:04:11]

 

"That's the key. It's being able to differentiate the candidates that are saying they're willing to learn and whether they are capable and willing to put the time in." — @reenyg926 [0:04:36]

 

"Speed is everything. If you're not getting to the candidate first, somebody else is." — @reenyg926 [0:07:33]

 

"You're only as good as the last role you filled." — @reenyg926 [0:08:37]

 

"With Talent Acquisition, it's all about the reputation that you have, and the way you treat people." — @reenyg926 [0:10:25]

 

"People stay when they feel appreciated, people stay when they feel valued, and when they're acknowledged for their hard work." — @reenyg926 [0:23:39]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

Doreen Goldman on Twitter

Doreen Goldman on LinkedIn

TCW

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Hired

LIVE in San Francisco with Emil Yeargin, Justin McKenna11 Jul 202201:00:26

Talk Talent To Me travels to the Shelton Theatre in San Francisco, CA for a LIVE recording with Gusto's VP of TA, Emil Yeargin, and Dropbox's Head of Global Commercial Recruiting, Justin McKenna. The panel discusses how to resource large talent teams, maintain the human touch while automating processes, and how to make sure the Talent team has a seat at the table when big decisions are being made.

Metaview CEO & Co-Founder Siadhal Magos29 Jun 202200:26:11

Today on Talk Talent To Me, we are joined by the founder of Metaview, Siadhal Magos. Metaview trains their clients to become better interviewers through providing transcripts of the interviews and giving feedback on their skills. Tuning in, you'll hear some examples of the feedback they will give, their 'gold standard' of interviewing, why the average employee is not very good at conducting interviews, and how Metaview helps their clients identify their best interviewers and use them as an example for other employees. We also discuss some unique ways clients have used Metaview's tools and why the highest performing employees aren't always the best interviewers. Next, look into why employees should run the same interview and how to prevent burnout. Lastly, Siadhal gives us some tips on what leaders can do to improve their interviewing process. Join us to find out more!

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Introducing today's guest, Siadhal Magos. 
  • Siadhal explains what Metaview does. 
  • Some examples of the feedback the company will give clients. 
  • Metaview's 'gold standard' of interviewing. 
  • Why the average employee is most likely not good at conducting interviews. 
  • How Metaview's clients identify their good interviewers and how the company assists them. 
  • Who Metaview aims their training at; the interviewer. 
  • How customers have used Metaview's tool in a way Siadhal didn't expect them to. 
  • How people are finding that their highest performing employees aren't necessarily their best interviewers.
  • Why employees shouldn't run too many interviews as it risks burnout. 
  • Why interviewing for one specific role increases efficiency over interviewing for many different roles. 
  • What leaders can do to ensure that their companies are conducting good quality interviews. 

 

Tweetables:

 

"What we don't want is for everyone who adopts Metaview to end up interviewing exactly the same. What you want people to do is use this ability - to coach more of their interviewers to be - what they consider their best interviewers." — @smagos [0:08:59]

 

"We're staunch believers in the power of the data within interviews." — @smagos [0:15:31]

 

"We are just trying to augment people's ability to run great interviews and make great decisions." — @smagos [0:16:23]

 

"The most important thing as an interviewer - is to understand the competencies you want to know about by the time you leave that interview." — @smagos [0:25:23]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

Siadhal Magos on Linkedln

Siadhal Magos on Twitter

Metaview

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Hired

Fiserv VP of Talent Acquisition Bryan Schreiber27 Jun 202200:36:47

Today, we chat with VP of Talent Acquisition for Global Business Solutions at Fiserv, Bryan Schreiber. Bryan walks us through how recruitment has changed over the years, whilst still remaining true to a single core philosophy: Building relationships. We get to understand that the more honest a company is and the more they work on building that initial relationship with a potential employee, the more likely they are to find the right candidates and indeed keep them. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Engagement and company culture is what will keep retention numbers up.
  • Many companies are attractive so job seekers are looking at many places at the same time; a big problem for recruiters.
  • It's important to make prospective employees aware of your company's ethos. 
  • Successful recruitment can happen in any industry, as long as you know how to engage. 
  • In executive recruiting, people generally know exactly what they want. 
  • As a recruiter, you should know what you're selling, and keep selling it. 
  • It's all about relationship
  • Recruiters and hiring managers should have a great relationship with one another.
  • Behavioral stacks are great indicators for recruiters. 
  • It's not a bad idea to stay at one company for a while and build those relationships. 

 

Tweetables:

 

"To be able to explain that in a way that a candidate can understand and connect the dots back to their own life, that's engagement." — Bryan Schreiber [0:17:33]

 

"Gain a real understanding of the environment and the people—those relationships will support you for life, even if you leave." — Bryan Schreiber [0:36:51]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

LIVE in NYC: NBCUniversal VP Global TA Suzan Vulaj & Shutterstock VP Valerie Vadala24 Jun 202200:48:28

NBCUniversal's VP of Global TA Suzan Vulaj & Shutterstock's VP of TA Valerie Vadala join Rob LIVE from the Canary Club in New York City to kick off Talk Talent To Me's 2022 Roadshow.

SeatGeek Sr. Director of HR & TA Frank Cebek19 Apr 202400:27:35

In this episode, you will hear about Frank's wealth of experience, recruiting for SeatGeek and the challenges it has brought, and their amazing finance and HR business partner team We then delve into what Frank is currently working on at SeatGeek before discussing the importance of foresight and being proactive when bringing talent into a large company. Finally, our guest shares advice for anyone in the talent recruitment space who is looking to move into bigger roles. You don't want to miss this so be sure to tune in now! 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • A brief overview of Frank's career and a bit about SeatGeek. 

  • Overseeing the recruitment period at SeatGeek during COVID and the challenges it brought. 

  • Frank tells us about their new finance team and HR business partner team. 

  • Why they place focus on planning in their business while remaining agile. 

  • How Frank's experience has helped him participate in the moving parts within SeatGeek. 
  • What Frank is working on right now at SeatGeek. 

  • The importance of being proactive about bringing talent into a large company. 

  • Frank shares advice for anyone wanting to climb the talent recruitment ladder. 

 

Quotes:

 

"As you – become a more mature and bigger organization, you have to have better foresight just because there are a lot more moving parts." — Frank Cebek [0:10:46]

 

"Always try to bring value to the company you're working at." — Frank Cebek [0:26:04]

 

"At the end of the day, recruiting is a support function." — Frank Cebek [0:26:19]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Frank Cebek on LinkedIn

Frank Cebek on Instagram

SeatGeek

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

 

Robust Intelligence VP of People & Talent Riffat Jaffer17 Jun 202200:26:34

 

Today we are joined by VP of People and Talent at Robust Intelligence, Riffat Jaffer. Listening to Riffat tell the story of her career journey and her 15 years of experience in the industry, we begin to understand what has cultivated her immense passion for talent acquisition and employee experience.  Along the way, we hear all about her challenges, triumphs, and experiences in companies that shaped the path she is on today. This episode is full of advice, stories, and takeaways that will change your perspective on hypergrowth within a business, the normalization of internal hiring processes, and the importance of growth potential.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • A look into the HR role Riffat plays in Robust Intelligence. 
  • Looking at Riffat's career background in the talent acquisition industry. 
  • The journey Riffat has followed to end up at Robust Intelligence. 
  • Understanding why Riffat prefers working within smaller, rather than larger, companies.
  • The ways Riffat solves problems at smaller companies with fewer resources. 
  • The functioning, working, and scaling of recruiting in different sized businesses.
  • Understanding when and how to normalize processes within your business. 
  • The technical debt of not having a uniform and normalized interview process.
  • Looking at a company's potential for successful hypergrowth. 
  • How to assess a company's potential for hypergrowth.
  • The elements of Riffat's job that she is passionate about.
  • Looking at characterizing people, their motivations, and their love for their jobs. 
  • An important reminder to remember growth potential when hiring.

Tweetables:

 

"We hire people that want to do more than their core job. So, at startups, the mindset is always, we can do anything, and we can do it better." — @staffingqueen [0:08:13]

 

"Think about diversity and make sure that your positions are being looked at and applied to by a diverse group of candidates." — @staffingqueen [0:12:19]

 

"Integrating both employee experience as well as the recruiting cycle is really critical and essential." — @staffingqueen [0:20:03]

 

"Figuring out where each candidate is in [their] journey really helps make them successful once they're in the job." — @staffingqueen [0:22:44]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Riffat Jaffer Email

Riffat Jaffer on LinkedIn

Riffat Jaffer on Twitter

Robust Intelligence

Robust Intelligence on LinkedIn

Sequoia Capital

Wealthfront

Google

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Sysco Labs TA Manager Erica Schroen13 Jun 202200:33:09

TA Manager Erica Schroen joins to discuss her role at Sysco Labs, how the larger Sysco ecosystem supports her talent team, and how she's charting her recruiting career growth.

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • A welcome to today's guest, Erica Schroen
  • COVID-created work dynamics and tips on making friends in your 30s.
  • The background story behind how Erica ended up in recruitment at Sysco Labs.
  • How Erica's instinctual competitive nature saw her forge a successful career. 
  • The satisfaction and fulfillment of giving a job offer letter. 
  • The connection between Sysco Labs and the greater Sysco Technologies.
  • Understanding Erica's team's focus within Sysco's customer experience division.
  • The agility of a small team with the resources, tools, and support of a big company.
  • Examples of campaigns, partnerships, and changes Erica has cultivated.
  • The need for honest, transparent communication when advising on hiring processes.
  • The next steps in Erica's career journey.

 

Tweetables:

"It was selling them why they needed to work with me, why was I the industry leader, and why were they going to pay me a percentage of someone's salary to find them." — Erica Schroen [0:07:37]

 

"For me, it was about placing the person where they wanted to grow and learn and see their next step." — Erica Schroen [0:11:23]

 

"What I've learned the most is that it's those constant check-ins. Whether you like it or not, you got to do it and you got to let them know the progress and the pulse of what's going on." — Erica Schroen [0:27:07]

 

"I have realized it is better to speak up sooner rather than later." — Erica Schroen [0:27:26]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Erica Schroen on LinkedIn

Erica Schroen on Instagram

Sysco Labs

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Full Career Coaching Session: Sarah Baker Andrus & Tessa Groll31 May 202201:01:34

Come See TT2M LIVE! Register below:

New York City - The Canary Club - June 1st

San Francisco - Shelton Theatre - June 8th

London - The Steel Yard - June 16th

 

Kin Insurance Recruiter (and formerly Rob's boss) Tessa Groll sits down with returning champion & Career Coach, Sarah Baker Andrus for a full career coaching session. Sarah asks Tessa leading questions about what fulfills her in her work, how she approaches her role, and gives advice on how she can stay in the driver's seat of her newfound career in the talent space.

Gusto VP of Talent Emil Yeargin30 May 202200:30:43

Register for TT2M Roadshow Here:

New York City - The Canary Club - June 1st

San Francisco - Shelton Theatre - June 8th

London - The Steel Yard - June 16th

 

Today we are joined by the VP of Talent at Gusto, Emil Yeargin. Emil has a tech background and an extensive career in talent and recruitment. We discuss Emil's recruitment goals for Gusto and tap into how leaders respond to the feedback he gives. Emil also explains what makes recruitment successful before diving into his background and an overview of his career up to this point. Emil then dismisses stereotypes surrounding his role and explains why the new generation will be passionate about recruitment. We discuss the new generation's relationship with technology and how it has evolved over the last few years. Finally, Emil gives advice to those who want to pursue recruitment as their career.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Introducing today's guest, Emil Yeargin.
  • How things are going at Gusto.
  • How Emil prepares for the meetings at the end of the year so the team gets what it needs.
  • Emil's goal for reinventing recruitment in Gusto.
  • How leaders take Emil's feedback about their recruitment skills. 
  • Emil explains good recruitment on a very basic level – knowing your organization.
  • An arc of Emil's extensive career and how he ended up in his current role at Gusto. 
  • How he realized that recruitment is about more than just placing someone in a job position.
  • Why the new generation will be very passionate about recruitment as a career. 
  • The new generation's interaction with technology. 
  • How Emil thinks HR tech has evolved over the last few years. 
  • Advice Emil would give for people who want to have a similar career to his.

 

Tweetables:

 

"How are you going to be impactful in really driving this company to its optimal greatness?" — Emil Yeargin [0:04:43]

 

"I think the next generation unlike us are going to grow up wanting to be recruiters." — Emil Yeargin [0:17:47]

 

"Drive impact, drive high-level philosophy and drive a culture where you can tie business objectives to your work, so that you feel attached to it." — Emil Yeargin [0:26:26]

 

"Recruiting is all about narrative. It's all about being able to tell a holistic cohesive story." — Emil Yeargin [0:27:33]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Emil Yeargin on Linkedln

Gusto

 

Comcast Director of TA Keith Friant26 May 202200:32:29

New York City - The Canary Club - June 1st

San Francisco - Shelton Theatre - June 8th

London - The Steel Yard - June 16th

 

We are so excited to welcome the Director of TA at Comcast, Keith Friant. Our chat starts by exploring the humble beginnings of Keith's career, and the importance of embracing all potential job opportunities. Keith goes on to crack open his business model to help us understand the ins and outs of a successful recruitment company. While doing this, he highlights methods Comcast uses, such as the forecasting processes and bottom-up approach, to emphasize the importance of customer experience. We are lucky enough to end off the podcast with a personal nugget of career-driven wisdom from Keith.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Looking at how Keith's career background led him to recruitment.
  • How Keith organically moved up within Comcast.
  • The growing popularity and success of recruiting as a profession. 
  • The evolution of necessary skills, tools, and technology needed to be a recruiter. 
  • The importance of focusing on the operational and production side of businesses.
  • The forecasting of growth, hiring, and potential job opportunities.
  • A bottom-up approach to running your company: focusing on customer experiences. 
  • Understanding NPS and how Comcast utilizes its survey information and feedback.
  • How Comcast helps its employees grow and move within the business.
  • The importance of skill and competency-based interviewing in the hiring process. 
  • Keith's guide to forging a successful career.

 

Tweetables:

 

"Strategy and being strategic are such overused terminology — the business thinks we're strategic if we help save them time, help deliver great talent, and help drive diversity." — @keithfriant [0:06:32]

 

"I don't think much has changed about what we should be doing but more about how we go about doing it, how are you saving time, how are you adopting best practices, how are you really understanding and listening and consulting with the business." — @keithfriant [0:07:28]

 

"Having an engaging, succinct, and meaningful candidate experience is so critical." — @keithfriant [0:14:19]

 

"It is good as a leader to know if you have people on your team looking, so you can either plan for the growth on their team or prepare for the "What's next?"" — @keithfriant [0:25:06]

 

"Being able to foster an environment of trust, understanding, and empathy in tandem with driving excellent results, understanding your business, and really being able to collaborate with all of your talent partners, I personally think has been the key to my success so far." — @keithfriant [0:28:11]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Keith Friant on Twitter

Keith Friant on LinkedIn

Keith Friant on Instagram

Comcast

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Insider SVP of People & Culture Nailah Banks-Embden25 May 202200:20:32

Talk Talent To Me LIVE RSVP:

New York City - The Canary Club - June 1st

San Francisco - Shelton Theatre - June 8th

London - The Steel Yard - June 16th

Today on Talk Talent To Me, we are joined by Nailah Banks-Embden, SVP of People and Culture at Insider. Nailah explains how she was able to introduce a culture of inclusivity and diversity at Insider and how she was able to make culture a priority for the company. Nailah also delves into how Insider is going to focus on career development this year before giving us an overview of how they will help employees use their abundance of resources effectively. She tells us how she knew that Insider was ready for a change and what that entails as well as who will be responsible for their future plans. Finally, Nailah tells us what her hopes are for the future of the company and gives a word of advice to people who aspire to forge their career in the same direction she has.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Introducing the guest Nailah Banks-Embden. 
  • An overview of Nailah's background and how she ended up in her current role at Insider.
  • Why experience in recruiting and connecting with experts in the field is imperative. 
  • Nailah explains the process of interviewing for her current job. 
  • What Nailah was looking for at the time of interviewing for her current job with Insider. 
  • How she reflected and figured out what she wants in her career. 
  • The importance of allowing employees to be themselves in company culture.
  • How she was able to ensure that Insider was ready for a culture of inclusivity. 
  • How she went about turning that culture into policy for the company. 
  • How Insider is going to invest in career development this year. 
  • The strategy at Insider is to help employees use their resources most effectively. 
  • How Nailah knew that the company had outgrown its previous systems.
  • Nailah explains who will be responsible for all the content Insider plans to create. 
  • What her ideal outcome of all these changes is. 
  • Nailah's opinion of Slack as a source of communication. 
  • Discussing the abundance of software used today.
  • Advice Nailah would give to people aspiring to have roles such as hers.

 

Tweetables:

 

"One of my number one values is authenticity and bringing my whole self to work and not having to compartmentalize who I am when I'm at work." —Nailah Banks-Embden [0:09:23]

 

"Don't be afraid to take a risk. Take that leap and if it doesn't work out, you gain experience, you learn from it, and you're better the next time you embark on a new role." —Nailah Banks-Embden [0:22:36]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

Talk Talent To Me

Nailah Banks-Embden on Linkedln

Insider

Hired

Criteria CEO & Co-Founder Josh Millet20 May 202200:32:15

Josh Millet, CEO & Co-Founder of Criteria, breaks down our old, outdated ideas of standard hiring processes and explains the importance of using newer and improved science-based assessment tools. Josh founded his company, Criteria, 15 years ago and uses his experience in software development and organizational psychology to delve into the flaws of our hiring systems. Josh highlights the gap between the scientific evidence and the indexing measures that organizations are using to hire their employees and gives some insight into how to minimize this gap. We gain an understanding that, although experience and academic achievement seem related to success, they should not be the only factors influencing your ability to get hired. In order to implement this process, organizations need to rethink the boundaries of their talent pool and use new methods to filter potential employees. This episode is helpful for both the employee and employer, delving into how to be better prepared for the hiring process and how to implement this process for better business outcomes!

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • A welcome to today's guest, Josh Millet.
  • A look at Josh's career background and the origin of his company, Criteria. 
  • Exploring different jobs Josh had before he discovered his ideal place in the working world. 
  • The influence of organizational psychology on his business plan. 
  • Exploring the business's goals while understanding the needs of its target market.
  • Understanding the gap between scientific research and organizations' hiring practices.
  • How hiring based on resumes and interviews recognizes the wrong talent signals. 
  • How Criteria creates objective and standardized assessments for measuring talent signals.
  • A brief history of why companies are indexing incorrectly, leading to inaccurate evaluation.
  • Shifting the interview process from hypothetical problem-solving to work-based situations.
  • The ineffective, non-diversifying, and problematic outcomes of focusing on resumes.
  • The importance of hiring adaptable, problem-solving, and versatile employees for the evolving business world.
  • How Josh created effective, bias-reduced, and objective assessments as a tool to funnel a talent pool of candidates.
  • The importance of intentionality in all aspects of the talent-acquisition process. 

 

Tweetables:

 

"Demanding experience, especially for entry and mid-level type roles, is really systematically excluding early career folks." — @joshmillet [0:06:47]

 

"A better way to predict performance and measure potential is to look for stronger talent signals rather than indexing heavily off the weaker ones like years of experience and educational pedigree." — @joshmillet [0:10:40]

 

"The more complex the role is, the more important learning ability is." — @joshmillet [0:16:32]

 

"Assessments and structured interviews essentially establish rules and objectivity that allow you to make more informed talent decisions that aren't swayed by things that really aren't predictive of success." — @joshmillet [0:23:31]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Josh Millet on Twitter

Josh Millet on LinkedIn

Criteria

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

LandTech Chief People Officer Sarah Wasif17 May 202200:25:06

Joining us on Talk Talent To Me today is Sarah Wasif, Chief People Officer at LandTech. Today Sarah outlines what scaling looks like for the company and how she plans on executing growth. Next, she outlines the important things to be considered when a company grows and how you can be adaptable to things that may not work on a larger scale. Sarah then tells us how and what elements of a business should be localized when moving into different areas and what should remain as is. Sarah discusses some of the tricks she has found helpful when trying to keep original employees happy and maintain the company's original value system before telling us how she ensures that new employees align with those values and are a good fit. Lastly, Sarah discusses how the world has changed to incorporate an emphasis on personal behavior in the workplace. Tune in to find out how to expand a company globally and stay true to its values.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Introducing today's guest, Sarah Wasif.
  • Sarah explains her background and how she landed up working at LandTech.
  • What scaling looks like for Sarah over the next few years. 
  • How Sarah plans on executing her growth plans for the company. 
  • How she will see what will work and what won't in a company of a larger scale than before.
  • Sarah outlines the pillars used in her strategies. 
  • Pillar one: the way you attract people. 
  • Pillar two: how you retain them.
  • Pillar three: sustainability.
  • How elements will have to be localized as the company expands globally. 
  • Why Sarah thinks Americans index more on equity in a company. 
  • Examples of areas LandTech are going to focus on before they expand.
  • How the company keeps the original team members happy as the team expands.
  • How maintaining the values of the company will keep employees happy for years. 
  • How to ensure new employees align with company values. 
  • Sarah explains the safe conversations she wants to have with potential employees. 
  • The importance of teaching people about how the world works. 
  • Sarah outlines how business has changed to emphasize employee behavior. 

 

Tweetables:

 

"I haven't joined and worked in a business where some of those early individuals are still A, here, and B, as passionate as the first day I landed eyes on them nearly four years ago." — @Sarah_Wasif [0:15:12]

 

"I think I would have paid really good money, not even in my early career, even in school, [for someone to teach me] how the world operates." — @Sarah_Wasif [0:22:27]

 

"The concept of emotional intelligence is no longer a soft, fluffy, nice to have. I think companies and successful companies are really honing in into it." — @Sarah_Wasif [0:23:40]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Talk Talent to Me

Sarah Wasif on LinkedIn

Sarah Wasif on Twitter

LandTech

Tag

Omnicom

BBC

SwiftKey

Hired

Worksome VP TA Anabel Morales13 May 202200:21:20

 

Bigger and better are aspirations that most companies hold, but scaling a business is complicated and requires a range of expertise to ensure that the culture and values are sustained as the company grows. In today's episode, we speak to Anabel Morales, who is in charge of VP talent acquisitions at Worksome. Worksome is a Danish-based company that offers an end-to-end solution for companies to manage their external workforce. Anabel's approach to her role is centered on forming interpersonal relationships, and upholding company culture and values. In this episode, we learn more about Anabel's role at Worksome, the services that Worksome provides, recruiting in different marketplaces, challenges in the current marketplace, the importance of company values, and much more!

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • An introduction to today's show and some background information on Anabel's career.
  • The journey to Anabel's current role as VP of talent acquisition at Worksome.
  • How income tax works for Americans working and living in Denmark.
  • We find out about the work that Worksome does and Anabel's approach to her role.
  • Current challenges that Anabel sees as a priority within the recruitment sector.
  • Problems that Anabel experienced during the Series A funding round.
  • Hiring capacity of Worksome during the early stages of growth.
  • The importance of hiring local expertise when working in unique markets.
  • The steps that Anabel took to increase capacity at Worksome.
  • How Anabel ensured recruitment was quick and effective.
  • Motivation behind Anabel's idea to change to another ATS for data.
  • The values that Worksome cultivates and how these benefit them as a hiring brand.
  • Why Anabel thinks it is essential for companies to establish a value system.
  • The link between company culture and values, and what the culture at Worksome is like.
  • How Anabel conveys Worksome's values and culture to candidates.
  • Anabel's approach to sustaining company values and culture while scaling.
  • Why Anabel thinks cultivating psychological safety during the interview process is important.
  • Anabel shares some practical examples of how to cultivate psychological safety.

 

Tweetables:

 

"My approach was about finding great recruiters in both of those markets that could promote our brand, build relationships and also be cultural ambassadors in those offices." — Anabel Morales [0:07:08]

 

"Being a startup, you want to make sure that early on you are able to build a great experience and a good brand in the market, especially for entering new markets." — Anabel Morales [0:08:22]

 

"We recognize that the key to scaling successfully, or at least scaling our culture successfully, is going to be to equip our leaders with some tools to really scale this trust, transparency, and inclusion." — Anabel Morales [0:17:46]

 

"It's really not possible to expect people to feel comfortable talking about their mistakes if you don't have the leadership to support it." — Anabel Morales [0:21:29]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Anabel Morales on LinkedIn

Anabel Morales on Instagram

Worksome

Greenhouse

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

PepsiCo SVP of Global Talent Acquisition Blair Bennett10 May 202200:43:40

Talk Talent To Me LIVE RSVP:

New York City - The Canary Club - June 1st

San Francisco - Shelton Theatre - June 8th

London - The Steel Yard - June 16th

 

We are so excited to welcome the Senior Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition at PepsiCo, Blair Bennett. Blair shares her background in politics & executive recruiting, and how her career prepared her to lead the talent function at PepsiCo. You'll also hear about diversity goals within leadership at PepsiCo, and the strategies the team has implemented in order to achieve them. We talk priorities, and chat about Blair's day-to-day life at PepsiCo, with a focus on her amazing team, partnerships, and leadership. Blair believes that there is no better career than talent acquisition. Tune in today to hear why. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Welcome to today's guest, Blair Bennett.
  • Her career background, getting her start in politics, with a common theme of networking.
  • The story of how she came to work for Korn Ferry and met her husband there.
  • Her move to Arkansas following her husband's transfer to Walmart.
  • Why having curiosity is such a powerful motivation to learn new things.
  • How everything they do is driving a bigger function than just filling roles.
  • The responsibility she feels to bring what is happening in the company to her team. 
  • Diversity goals in recruitment leadership and inclusive culture.
  • Strategies they have adopted to reach those goals including partnering internally with our employee resource groups.
  • Priority and focus within Talent Acquisition at PepsiCo including, and prioritizing diversity.
  • The broader responsibility that guides how she goes about each day.
  • How her team is structured and how she has made diversity a priority within that structure. 
  • Partnerships and collaboration at PepsiCo.

 

  • Why Blair believes that there is no better career than talent acquisition.

 

 

Tweetables:

 

"I fell in love with the executive recruiting and at Korn Ferry, and I met my future husband, so I found two loves out of the deal." — @searchblair [0:06:12]

 

"I'm constantly learning. I learn something new every day, whether it's something about the business, or something about talent, or something about another company, or something about an industry. Keeping that sense of curiosity is something that has been very important to me." — @searchblair [0:10:30]

 

"Because I'm somebody who likes to learn and, because I'm somebody who continues to have a curiosity about what's happening in our industry, I try to find ways to bring that to the teams as well. I hope that people get some takeaways from it that they may not otherwise get in their day-to-day experiences." — @searchblair [0:14:22]


Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

Blair Bennett on LinkedIn

Blair Bennett on Twitter

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Riceland Foods CHRO Lionel Riley17 Apr 202400:32:42

Doubling up throughout most of his career, my guest today has both maintained his rank and activity in the Air Force while being a C-level HR professional at a large, well-established company. I'm joined on the show today by Lieutenant Colonel and Chief Human Resource Officer at Riceland Foods Inc., Lionel Riley. Join the conversation as we learn how he managed his parallel careers, his thoughts on the journey of transition from the armed forces to the corporate world, and how his leadership overlaps from being Lieutenant Colonel to CHRO. He unpacks why he strives to maintain mindfulness while managing his team, his responsibility as CHRO for a multi-billion dollar company, including the journey of how he wound up there. We learn about his big move from a long and stable position at Walmart, and Lionel shares three key pieces of advice for those looking at forging a career in this space. 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • How Lionel maintains his rank and activity in the army while being a C-level HR professional.

  • We delve into the journey of transition from the armed forces to the corporate world.

  • His overlap in leadership from Lieutenant Colonel to CHRO Lionel.

  • All eyes on him: Lionel recounts first realizing that people were starting to pay attention to what he was doing. 

  • How he strives to implement mindfulness when managing his team and their lives. 

  • He expands on the responsibilities of the CHRO of a multi-billion dollar company.

  • Lionel shares the journey of how he wound up in his role as CHRO at Riceland Foods Inc.  

  • Questions he asked in his interview process when deciding to leave a stable position at Walmart.

  • He describes the words that settled him into taking a new position.

  • Lionel shares three key pieces of advice for those forging their career in this space. 

 

Quotes:

 

"The struggle [to transition from the armed forces to the corporate world] is relative." — Lionel Riley [0:04:03]

 

"It's not that, from corporation to the military is so one-to-one, but there's so many transferable skills: discipline, exposure, cultural experiences that military members who have had the privilege of servicing oversees; they'd be able to bring immense value to your corporation." — Lionel Riley [0:06:01]

 

"HR, I tell this to everybody, is a thankless job." — Lionel Riley [0:11:57]

 

"Never stop learning — relationships are key and always know that you can receive a nugget or two from anyone, on anything. Never stop learning!" — Lionel Riley [0:29:51]

 

"Complacency kills." — Lionel Riley [0:30:17]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Lionel Riley on LinkedIn

Riceland Foods Inc.

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

 

Transparent Comp with Rune Labs Head of People Natalie Cleaver29 Apr 202200:39:08

Today's guest is Natalie Cleaver, the Head of People at Rune Labs, a software and data platform company focusing on neuromodulation. In today's episode we learn about some of the challenges startups face during recruitment drives, the development of interpersonal relationships between team members, diversity and inclusion for startups, the importance of empathy from management, Natalie's revolutionary compensation strategy, and much more.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Challenges for startups during the onboarding of new employees.
  • The recruitment team's role in sustaining the onboarding process.
  • What Natalie is prioritizing regarding the onboarding process.
  • Approaches Natalie has to soft skills and culture-norming.
  • Risks an organization faces if it does not prioritize soft skills.
  • Examples of resources that conflict within an organization uses.
  • How much should you expect from your co-workers.
  • Significance of forming interpersonal relationships with co-workers.
  • Details about Natalie's revolutionary transparent compensation strategy.
  • Discussion about negotiating power with regards to salary.
  • Reasons for why transparent compensation is not standard.
  • Challenges faced during the roll-out of the transparent compensation strategy.

 

Tweetables:

 

"It doesn't matter what kind of rock star you are, it doesn't matter how great you are or what experience you came from, if you cannot work with other people there is no space for you in our organization." — Natalie Cleaver [0:07:04]

 

"It doesn't have to be this deep profound engagements but it does have to be respectful and collegial." — Natalie Cleaver [0:12:49]

 

"Instead, you really want to think about how it is affecting people that you might have just been outside of your sphere of consideration before." — Natalie Cleaver [0:20:02]

 

"Compensation is an indispensable building block in my mind. I think there is absolutely no way that you can be fair and equitable to the people who work for you in any way, shape or form if you cannot promise them that their compensation is equitable." — Natalie Cleaver [0:21:56]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Natalie Cleaver on LinkedIn

Rune Labs

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Fastly VP Talent Danielle Clark28 Apr 202200:33:52

Today's guest is Danielle Clark, VP Talent at Fastly. Danielle has experience as both a consultant and working in-house within the tech industry, and has a pragmatic and people-focused approach to solving problems within a business. In today's show we find out what work Danielle is currently involved with, how businesses are beginning to recognize the value of people-based solutions, the differences between working as a consultant and in-house, how to best advocate for yourself as an employee, advice for getting that promotion, and much more! 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Danielle explains what overhauling performance management entails.
  • Motivation behind the decision to overhaul management.
  • What the ultimate goal of overhauling management is.
  • We find out what Fastly is and what Danielle's current role there entails.
  • Frequency of scaling and hyper-growth after the initial public offering.
  • Responsibilities Danielle had when she was a consultant.
  • Common threads that companies have regarding talent and leaders.
  • Danielle's decision to leave consulting and begin working in-house.
  • How to become a real consultant and partner and not just take orders.
  • Advice for juggling different jobs and responsibilities as a consultant.
  • The importance of leaders acknowledging the role and potential of recruitment.
  • A discussion about the contribution of individuals to an organization.
  • Why clear expectations are so important during recruitment drives.
  • Advocating for yourself to help you grow in the organization.

 

Tweetables:

 

"You also have to be prepared to embrace a lot of different backgrounds and different kinds of business principles and operational rigor that maybe you hadn't had to do when you're a private company." — Danielle Clark [0:07:42]

 

"Consulting gives you so much exposure to so many things so quickly. There's no way I would have got the experience I had if I'd worked those eight years in-house, it's just impossible." — Danielle Clark [0:13:51]

 

"Take stock of what the purpose is, really think about how that fits into the bigger business and the value that you are adding to that." — Danielle Clark [0:19:23]

 

"Everyone listening to this should have a perspective on the role of talent in their organization, which is not just putting bodies into seats or in front of screens but really bringing in new ideas." — Danielle Clark [0:21:35]

 

"It doesn't mean you need to be extroverted, it doesn't mean that you need to take up all the air in the room but it does mean that you need to advocate for yourself and know that that's part of it." — Danielle Clark [0:30:18]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Danielle Clark on LinkedIn

Fastly

Hired

Talk Talent to Me

Storable VP Talent Sam Baber26 Apr 202200:34:52

Today's guest is Sam Baber, the VP Talent at Storable. Sam explains how to foster personal relationships within the workplace, warning signs to look out for when recruiting, lessons Sam has learned over his professional career, what makes a successful recruitment strategy, and much more. Tune in today to hear why empathy, compassion, and leadership are the keys to becoming successful in the executive recruitment space with today's expert, Sam Baber!

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • We find out what Sam is currently working on.
  • What Sam's team does in between recruiting people for new hires.
  • Background about Storable and the services they offer.
  • Current recruitment strategies and goals of Storable.
  • Discussion about when people accept a job offer and don't show up for work.
  • If someone delaying their starting date is a warning sign.
  • Sam's approach to building a rapport with candidates.
  • Reasons why Sam's recent recruitment campaign was so successful.
  • Details about the 'hidden cheques' that Storable gives to their teams.
  • How helping your employees to grow is beneficial for a company.
  • Examples of books that have helped Sam in his professional career.
  • The approach Sam takes to recruiting.
  • The top tip that Sam has for new employees at a company.
  • Advice for people seeking to enter leadership roles in the recruiting sector.

 

Tweetables:

 

"I think one of the key things for us is we put our large priority and investment of time in the relationship that the recruiters build with the candidates." — Sam Baber [0:11:12]

 

"I just think it does fall on leaders to make sure you are providing an environment for folks to be creative, make mistakes but also get out of their way because they'll surprise you almost every time." — Sam Baber [0:19:52]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Sam Baber on LinkedIn

Storable

Storable on LinkedIn

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management

Remembrance of Things Past: Volume I - Swann's Way & Within a Budding Grove (Vintage)

The Scarlet Letter

The Great Gatsby

East of Eden

Project Hail Mary

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynast

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Dick's Sporting Goods Senior Dir. TA Rick Jordan22 Apr 202200:40:57

Joining us in conversation today is Rick Jordan, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition over at DICK'S Sporting Goods. You'll hear the story of how DICK'S was started and how Rick landed his current role with them with a background in hospitality and talent. DICK'S is a pandemic success story, and Rick tells us about the unexpected turn of events that resulted in the business thriving despite the restrictions. You'll also hear about the exciting projects that DICK'S is working on at the moment, and why, in the current market, we need to think more like marketers and less like human resource people.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Meet today's guest, Rick Jordan, with DICK'S Sporting Goods.
  • The story of how DICK'S started in New York before opening corporate campus in Pittsburgh.
  • Why Pittsburgh is called the Steel City and how it has evolved over the last 15 years.
  • Rick's background in hospitality and talent and how he ended up in his current role.
  • Why nothing beats Resorts World Las Vegas.
  • How DICK'S navigated the pandemic and what they are doing today to reach their goal of $15 million by 2025 (plus the role that talent plays).
  • The natural upswing in interest in golf thanks to its natural social distancing.
  • The new store where you can buy big brands: Going, Going, Gone! 
  • DICK'S House of Sport stores that have opened in Rochester and Knoxville.
  • Why brick and mortar stores are far from dead.
  • The leaders that Rick works with across his company and their team dynamic.
  • The role of the TA Focus Project Manager 
  • Why we need to think more like marketers in the current market and less like HR people.
  • The difference that having been funded to tell the story has made.
  • Why Rick believes that the war on talent is over, and that talent won!
  • Why people no longer settle for a job, but seek opportunities they are excited about.
  • The mini war that is going on within HR talent and the power of investing in a strong team.



Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Rick Jordan on LinkedIn

DICK'S Sporting Goods

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

AvantStay VP Talent Uyen Hua20 Apr 202200:36:07

Joining me today is the VP of talent acquisition at AvantStay, Uyen Hua. In today's conversation, you will hear about Uyen's unconventional professional journey which led to her current role at AvantStay, and the important lessons she learned along the way. We also discuss the limitations and benefits of working remotely, and why companies should be careful to force their employees back to the traditional office workspace. We learn about Uyen's pragmatic approach to developing her team to ensure the long-term needs of the organization. You will also learn about the difference between a specialist and generalist recruiter, the importance of personal relationships, how to have a constructive conversation with management, insider tips, and much more.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • What Uyen thinks going back to the office will involve for AvantStay.
  • We discuss how remote working has altered employees perception of the office.
  • The possible reasons why some companies are aggressively motivating people to go back to the office.
  • How forcing employees' back to the office can backfire on a company.
  • Issues for companies ensuring that in-person and remote workers are equitable.
  • Other factors that may cause people to go back to the office full-time.
  • Uyen's current role and details about her professional journey.
  • The steps Uyen takes to reconcile the numbers needed to what is predicted.
  • Approach that Uyen takes when having difficult conversations regarding recruiting needs.
  • How to deal with individual roles once the long-term goals have been decided.
  • Where Uyen starts when building her team.
  • Whether Uyen prefers a specialized recruiter or a generalist.
  • Limitations that are associated with a generalist recruiter.
  • Problems that people face when seeking a career in talent acquisition and management.
  • How Uyen thinks about development for herself and her team.
  • Significance of personal connections in the recruitment industry.
  • Finding a role that suits you and your future aspirations.

 

Tweetables:

 

"We don't need to be beholden to something that is essentially just moot or no longer relevant for our needs but let's make sure we're doing that sense check on a regular basis if nothing else." — Uyen Hua [0:17:04]

 

"It is amazing in series A to have people who are pinch hitters and kind of can lead in anywhere and have the attitude and the ability to do that but you're really not doing yourself the company or them any favors by continuing to push for that mindset." — Uyen Hua [0:23:39]

 

"As I'm scaling a team as I've done so many different times before, starting with a team of a couple of people who have kind of just put their blood, sweat and tears, it is really important to me as I build further on that organization, that one thing I am keeping in mind apart from the needs of the business itself is the passions of those respective recruiters." — Uyen Hua [0:27:09]

 

"It's a relationship driven industry and role and so go where you feel that synergy and that connection and you won't be steered wrong." — Uyen Hua [0:29:15]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Uyen Hua on LinkedIn

AvantStay

Hired

Talk Talent to Me

Talent Brand Through Rich Storytelling-- Mullings Group CEO Joe Mullings15 Apr 202200:32:38

Joe Mullings is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of the world's leading search firm in the medical advice industry, the Mullings Group. Joe explains how long term investments in building a talent brand through rich content & storytelling is a crucial part of an effective hiring strategy,.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Joe tells us what he is currently working on and what it's like to run several companies.
  • Context about what the Mullings Group is and what their key offerings are.
  • The shift Joe made to producing content as an additional service.
  • The trends that Joe has noticed in the industry.
  • The advantages of using media for recruitment of talent.
  • Limitations of traditional recruitment strategies.
  • How alternative recruitment methods allows access to the 'passive' market.
  • What Joe regards as deficiency in job postings.
  • Identifying who your employees will become in the long-term.
  • The gaps between traditional recruitment strategies and effective content strategy.
  • Example of an impactful recruitment campaign strategy.
  • The difference between a hiring brand and hiring video.
  • The importance of considering long-term recruitment strategies.
  • Who should be responsible for the long-term recruitment strategies.
  • Why prioritizing recruitments is important.
  • Measuring the success of a recruitment program.

 

Tweetables:

 

"It's a series of demands and it has nothing to do with explaining to people who they might become when they went to work at your company." — @joemullings [0:05:21]

 

"It's a chorus of efforts in order to access and constantly have on a slow drip, the best talent in your domain." — @joemullings [0:07:53]

 

"Inability and incompetency is not a fair excuse and I do believe in the next 24 months, we'll have an enormous reckoning in those organizations that do not create an ongoing committed multimillion dollar per year hiring brand because conventional job postings and conventional recruiting do not work as effectively any longer." — @joemullings [0:23:13]

 

"Your goal should be to that talent access producer who is going to be getting the best people showing up for you to interview." — @joemullings [0:27:44]

 

"People will not shut you off because they won't feel like they're the product. They will feel like that they are learning or experiencing something from watching your content." — @joemullings [0:31:36]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Joe Mullings on LinkedIn

Joe Mullings on Twitter

Joe Mullings on Facebook

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

The Mullings Group

The Mullings Group on LinkedIn

The Problem with Counter-Offers: AlertMedia VPTA Christine Redd12 Apr 202200:36:43

 

Hello and welcome to a brand new episode of Talk Talent to Me, featuring Christine Redd, vice president of talent acquisition at AlertMedia. During today's conversation, she shares the story of how she learned the art of recruitment after getting her start in traditional HR. You'll learn how her HR background has enriched her knowledge of talent acquisition, and why she finds her work at Alert Media to be particularly meaningful. We explore what it means to work in high-growth spaces and why Christine prefers this kind of environment, before discussing the movement towards choosing a career path in recruitment rather than stumbling into it after working elsewhere. Her goal is to offer every candidate the ultimate experience, and she reveals why asking open-ended questions is such a beneficial tool. We talk about counter-offers and employee happiness, before Christine offers some practical advice to listeners who are interested in roles in high-growth companies. Thanks for listening! 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Meet today's guest, vice president of talent acquisition at Alert Media, Christine Redd.
  • Why working remotely was not an adjustment for Christine: she had already been doing it!
  • Finding peers online through networking and why it is necessary to be deliberate.
  • Why you have to be willing to give back in order to get back. 
  • Christine's career background in hight-growth Saas, leading up to VP of talent acquisition.
  • What makes Alert Media different: the work makes a difference!
  • Why she believes that today's market enables you to choose work you believe in.
  • What she loves about working in hight-growth spaces. 
  • How she has drawn on her HR background to understand elements of talent acquisition.
  • The movement towards recognizing the art of recruitment as a career path.
  • What sparked her movement from general HR to specializing in recruitment.
  • Her focus on offering candidates the ultimate experience.
  • Finding the balance between assessing a candidate and showing what you offer.
  • Why asking open-ended questions is a powerful tool.
  • Establishing the profile of what is needed to complete a team with career pathing in mind.
  • What is meant by the counter-offer notion.
  • How communication can resolve the issues that arise when employees become unhappy.
  • Why it is so important to have regular touchpoints instead of having to do a counter-offer.
  • What advice she would give to someone who is looking for a role in a hight-growth company.

 

Tweetables:

 

"I think it's a balance, if you give back, you get back." — Christine Redd [0:05:20]

 

"Alert Media is doing important work. It's not just some random product, it's to save lives and minimize loss by facilitating that two-way communication when emergency situations threaten employee safety." — Christine Redd [0:07:10]

 

"I want to do something that is impactful and I have always said I think that's why I enjoy working for hight-growth companies because your work is so impactful. When you're not there, people know this, right? The work that you do can be seen for years down the road." — Christine Redd [0:08:50]

 

"Making people feel needed and wanted is super important and being genuine about that. People need to hear it, I just don't think they are hearing it enough. Even though their manager might feel that way, it is not being verbalized." — Christine Redd [0:34:00]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Alert Media

Christine Redd on LinkedIn

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Handsome Head of People Stephanie Maillet07 Apr 202200:33:28

 

Joining me today is Stephanie Maillet, who is not your typically trained human resources pro. Stephanie originally found her passion for working with people managing bands and musicians in the Boston area. Stephanie is currently based at Handsome as Head of People where she helps foster an inclusive, nurturing, and communicative environment for employees through career coaching. In today's episode we find out about Stephanie's diverse career background, what career coaching is, the difference career coaching can make to a company, challenges surrounding distributed workforces, and so much more. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Details about Stephanie's career journey.
  • What made Stephanie pursue a career in career coaching.
  • Differences between traditional coaching and career coaching.
  • How the changing work environment is leading to a need for career coaches.
  • Stephanie and Rob discuss issues surrounding traditional management of the workforce.
  • The first steps Stephanie takes when coaching someone.
  • Homework for employees and what it entails.
  • Experiences Stephanie has had working as a life coach.
  • Homework assignments and how they are beneficial.
  • The value that a life coach can make to your workforce.
  • Company culture and why it is important.
  • What Stephanie regards as the biggest challenge for remote-working.
  • Examples of Stephanie's methods to ensure the mental well-being of employees.
  • Stephanie tells us how to keep your workforce connected.

 

Tweetables:

"Retention is really important but I never want to feel like people are leaving because they didn't get the most out of the organization and that people feel supported and cared for in everything that we do." — @stephaniemz1 [0:21:29]

 

"In a remote culture like the one that we have at Handsome, there isn't that, so you have to create your own rituals and we're working on ways in which to connect people to each other beyond the projects that they're on." — @stephaniemz1 [0:24:20]

 

"Everything has to be so scheduled and if you are not careful, it can only be transactional. That is not as rewarding of an experience as people tend to want, whether they know they want it or not." — @stephaniemz1 [0:25:50]

 

"We are also trying to find ways to get people together in person because I still don't know a better way to really get to know each other than actually meeting each other in person." — @stephaniemz1 [0:29:50]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Stephanie Maillet on LinkedIn

Stephanie Maillet on Twitter

Talk Talent to Me

Talend VP TA Lance Sapera31 Mar 202200:26:37

Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Talend, Lance Sapera, shares the work of transforming the data space for talent acquisition to streamline processes and make it easier for businesses to find the people they need.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Lance outlines the work Talend is involved in.
  • We learn about Lance's professional journey.
  • Details about the talent department at Talend.
  • The approach Talend takes to talent acquisition. 
  • Lance clarifies what the "hiring manager plus one interview" is.
  • Importance of company culture for retaining employees.
  • Steps to start standardizing the talent acquisition process.
  • One tool that Lance thinks would be a game-changer.
  • The importance and frequency of updates on capacity.
  • Lance's experience working with contract recruiters.
  • Whether contract recruiters are suitable for established teams.
  • How Lance ensures the talent department is respected.
  • Some advice for people thinking about working in talent acquisition.

 

Tweetables:

 

" The competitiveness of the market I think is probably what's keeping everyone on at night now." — @LSapP3C [0:02:44]

 

"I haven't verified it but the rumor is that there are more recruiter jobs on LinkedIn now than there are developer roles. That's how important hiring is across the globe." — @LSapP3C [0:15:27]

 

"I think there is a real mix there and again, just like any team, the things you learn sometimes even unexpectedly from the mix of your team helps you move forward in a more effective way." — @LSapP3C [0:20:51]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Talk Talent to Me

Lance Sapera on LinkedIn

Lance Sapera on Twitter

Talend

Blue Cross Blue Shield VPTA & Chief Diversity Officer Stephanie Browne28 Mar 202200:27:22

Joining me today is the Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield, Stephanie Browne. Stephanie is responsible for recruiting, retaining, and developing high-performing staff, as well as guiding diversity and inclusion strategies. Unique to Stephanie is her background in technology which has allowed her to streamline and automate processes regarding talent management and acquisition. In today's episode, we hear about Stephanie's background and discuss topics such as using technology in talent management processes, and diversity and inclusion goals. We also discuss her two roles in the company, how diversity is a strength, how technology can remove bias, what the pillar strategy is, and so much more.

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • A background into Stephanie and her work at Blue Cross Blue Shield.
  • How Stephanie's experience in technology has been benefitted her talent acquisition work.
  • Examples of using technology for automation of talent acquisition processes.
  • The removal of bias when sourcing processes are automated.
  • The importance of sourcing from a wide candidate pool.
  • Stephanie tells us more about her two roles in the company.
  • The Pillar strategy regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion is explained.
  • How building technology and services feed into overall diversity goals.
  • Influence versus accountability regarding diversity and inclusion.
  • Rob and Stephanie discuss the influence of a talent professional within an organization.
  • What Stephanie enjoys most about her job.
  • Highlights of Stephanie's experiences within talent acquisition.

 

Tweetables:

 

"Between the sourcing team and the interviewing strategy and the goal for my team to actually bring a diverse candidate pool to the table day one, we were able to begin to move the needle around increasing the diversity of our organization." — Stephanie Browne [0:08:04]

 

"You just need to have that candidate pool be very wide and varied so that they can find that fit." — Stephanie Browne [0:10:46]

 

"It's good to have different experiences at the table so that we can then, in turn, have a better innovative outcome on how we build those engagements and strategies." — Stephanie Browne [0:18:33]

 

"I work with my peers across the organization to help them understand what their organizations look like, what do they need and how experiences can shape the outcomes of the work that they do." — Stephanie Browne [0:19:46]

 

"You are very valuable but you're only as valuable as the relationships and the influence you have in those relationships." — Stephanie Browne [0:24:40]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Stephanie Browne on LinkedIn

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Multiverse Senior Director of Global Talent Veronica Salcido11 Apr 202400:36:49

Veronica Salcido is the Senior Director of Global Talent at Multiverse, and she joins us to share the defining moment in her life when she chose to decline a string of amazing job offers to sell her possessions and climb Machu Pichu. While acknowledging the privileged position she found herself in, Veronica urges listeners to take the plunge and reset their lives if the opportunity arises. Tune in to hear her story of starting a business and getting 21 clients within 30 days before eventually taking on a full-time opportunity where she was able to make a greater social impact. We also explore the influence of AI on talent acquisition and the capacity it holds to create the freedom to do more meaningful work. Join us today to hear all this and more!

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Welcoming Veronica Salcido, Senior Director of Global Talent at Multiverse.

  • Parallels between working in talent and Veronica's passion for mountaineering.

  • How she selects opportunities that are value-aligned. 

  • The pivotal moment in Veronica's career and the spreadsheet that changed everything.

  • Traveling to Machu Pichu during a promising moment in her career.

  • How her experience exceeded all of her expectations.

  • Launching her own business and getting 21 clients within 30 days.

  • Acknowledging the privilege necessary to reset your life.

  • How her internal reality differed from external perceptions of the life Veronica was leading. 

  • Recapping why choosing herself was the best thing she could have done.

  • The two services she offered in her newly started business and how she started to work with founders. 

  • Making the decision to climb the career 'jungle gym' and seek out a full-time role.

  • The concept of a double or triple line.

  • Weighing in on the reset happening in talent acquisition.

  • Upskilling yourself to embrace Artificial Intelligence.

  • The power of automation to create the freedom to do more meaningful work. 

 

Quotes:

 

"I ended up having no inbox, no plan, I hiked Machu Pichu, I went off the grid, I had a total reset, and I launched my own business after that." — Veronica Salcido [0:14:26] 

 

"I had 26 clients within the first 30 days of launching my business." — Veronica Salcido [0:14:30]

 

"I chose to get in the driver's seat of defining my career and how my life and the opportunities that I was signing up for were going to support that." — Veronica Salcido [0:14:36]

 

"That is the juicy part of why we do what we do especially as leaders in talent acquisition - innovation." — Veronica Salcido [0:36:52]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Veronica Salcido on LinkedIn

Multiverse

The Infinite Game

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

 

Chipotle VP People Partner Apple Musni25 Mar 202200:31:30

Apple Musni, Chipotle's VP People partner, shares her experience with tech-enabled nurturing, purpose-driven employment, employee retention strategies and much more for Chipotle's vast retail workforce.

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Apple tells us about her background and how she ended up in her current role.
  • The current focus of Apple's recruitment work.
  • Differences in recruiting for the corporate and retail side of businesses.
  • Why it is critical for tech-enabled nurturing of candidates for high-volume operations.
  • Some of the tools that Apple uses for her tech-enabled nurturing, such as an AI powered hiring platform.
  • The importance of understanding the next generation of work-force, for example millennials and Gen Z's.
  • What effect the drop in labor participation rates has had on Chipotle.
  • Definition of what purpose-driven work ethic is and how this translates to modern recruitment strategies.
  • The resources that Apple thinks is important to make available to employees to ensure a nurturing environment and retention.
  • What is a four-by-four question with some examples.
  • The parallels that exist between corporate and retail recruiting.
  • Apple explains how she deals with retention of employees for the retail side of the business.
  • What the economic reality is of a long-term employee.
  • Apple shares how one can get involved in her line of work and what to expect.

 

Tweetables:

 

"Experience has to be relevant, fast and simple but especially for the high-volume side of the house and so, making that experience automated and tech-enabled is really critical." — @AppleMusni [0:07:08]

 

"I think it's, how do you ensure that although technology enables, when they engage with that technology and/or a human being that their experience is connecting to our purpose of cultivating a better world." — @AppleMusni [0:09:26]

 

"It's understanding what that workforce needs today, whether it's from how we recruit them such as social media, how we retain them through our employee value proposition and then how we continue to grow them through our leadership programs." — @AppleMusni [0:11:15]

 

"There is always a synergy between the workforces in the restaurant as well as the support center because of our values." — @AppleMusni [0:23:02]

 

"I think it starts with hiring employees who believe in what we do and then our purpose and then engaging them along the way." — @AppleMusni [0:23:53]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Apple Musni on LinkedIn

Apple Musni on Twitter

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Octane VP Talent Acquisition Adam Redlich23 Mar 202200:33:29

Joining us today is Adam Redlich, Vice President and Talent Acquisition at Octane. Adam shares the difference between time to fill and time to hire, why if a candidate is a maybe, they're a no, and why if a company pushes you to sign quickly, there's usually something they don't want you to find out.

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • An introduction to today's guest, Adam Redlich, at Octane.
  • The state of things at Octane, having moved from hybrid to remote working.
  • Expectations and predictions on how the remote and hybrid systems will evolve.
  • Adam's role at Octane and what the business focuses on within the Fintech space.
  • How the growth they have experienced was not part of any particular plan. 
  • Why they have chosen to be conservative with growth.
  • Distinguishing between when it is time to fill and when it is time to hire.
  • Why he works according to the mantra that if somebody is a maybe, they are a no.
  • What you should do as a candidate if an employer tries to keep you on the line.
  • Why he believes that transparency is key to the hiring process.
  • How working in a bigger more established company might not be the best place to start.
  • Diversity inclusion at Octane and how Adam was involved in the process.
  • How, if a company is pushing you to sign quickly, there is usually something they don't want you to find out.
  • How upfront you should be with your current employer when you are looking for a new role.

 

Tweetable:

 

"One of the engineering leaders made the comment, if somebody is a maybe, they are no and for me, that's been a mantra that I've had since, because, especially at a growth stage company, we need to hire people that we're excited about." — Adam Redlich [0:13:28]

 

"I believe that transparency is key throughout the process. I let candidates know, early on, during my very first conversation with them." — Adam Redlich [0:15:50]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Adam Redlich on LinkedIn

Talk Talent to Me

Hired

Canada Life Director of TA Dax Sardinha18 Mar 202200:32:06

Dax Sardinha is a human resources expert and talent acquisition specialist who has been helping businesses recruit the most suitable talent for over 19 years. Dax is also director of talent at of Canada Life, which is Canada's largest insurance provider for groups and individuals across the country. In today's episode we hear about Dax's personal journey from talent expert to leader, and some of the most valuable lessons he learnt along the way. Our conversation also covers workplace culture, how to best manage your employees, and the importance of succession planning. 

 

Key Points From This Episode:

 

  • Brief highlights about what Dax is currently working on.
  • Dax tells us about his company, Canada Life, and his role in the company.
  • The various types of roles within a company are discussed.
  • Dax and Rob discuss the culture of constant promotion seeking.
  • Why businesses should not promote certain personality types into leadership roles.
  • Dax's personal journey from talent acquisition expert to a leadership role.
  • What one should expect when working in a leadership role.
  • The importance of empowering employees and allowing them not to 'burn-out'.
  • Burn-out and other challenges that employees commonly face. 
  • How ensuring that your employees are tasked with balanced workloads leads to improved overall activity.
  • Changes in work-life balance as a result of the COVID pandemic.
  • The advantages of using technology for planning in the workplace.
  • Dax tells us about succession planning, and why it is important for the productivity of a company.
  • What the next generation of VP and C-level talent will look like.
  • We find out if there are any additional skill sets Dan would like to learn in the future.

 

Tweetables:

 

"It's encouraging them to speak up, empowering them to really understand that you don't have to do that. You can work your regular shift, there will always be work, work will still come, there always be more." — Dax Sardinha [0:12:48]

 

"I've never been a title chaser. For me, it's about the work itself. I love the ability to come in and I said this before is to be able to impact and influence an organization in a positive way." — Dax Sardinha [0:28:31]

 

"As long as you're focusing on those values, on that development, you're going to find the job title and the role in the organization that fits you, ultimately at the end of the day." — Dax Sardinha [0:31:56]

 

"If you're not passionate about the work that you're doing, you're never going to exceed, you're never going to excel, you'll just get bored and burn out and go somewhere else." — Dax Sardinha [0:32:23]

 

Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:

 

Dax Sardinha

Dax Sardinha on LinkedIn

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