A-Players - Build teams of top performers.

Hey everyone,This week on The Modern Recruiter, I had a great conversation with Benjamin Mena, host of The Elite Recruiter Podcast and Managing Partner at Select Source Solutions. Benjamin then interviewed me on his own podcast - give it a listen here. It was fun to do a crossover episode - and I know many of you are already big fans of Benjamin's! Benjamin shared a lot on his personal story from getting almost fired as a young, hungry recruiter, to launching his successful practice and scale his personal brand:* The power of consistent content creation Benjamin's journey with The Elite Recruiter Podcast shows how regular, valuable content can build strong relationships and generate business. He emphasized the importance of sharing others' stories and industry insights rather than always focusing on yourself.* Specializing in government contracting recruitment The virtues of niching are something I hear again and again on this podcast (most recently on episodes #73 and #74 with Diane and Clark). By focusing on this niche, Benjamin built a deep expertise that set him apart. He explained how understanding the unique challenges of government contracts has been crucial to his success. * Overcoming early career struggles Benjamin started at Aerotek and faced significant challenges in his first few months. He turned things around by learning from top performers, a strategy that helped him become a top biller within a year.* Evolving business models in recruitment We discussed how Select Source Solutions shifted from primarily direct placements to offering more consulting services, allowing them to better serve government contracting clients and diversify revenue streams.* Advice for recruiters at different career stages Benjamin offered targeted advice:* For newcomers: You can't help everyone. Just focus on helping clients find the best person.* For experienced recruiters: Go back to basics, hit your metrics, but also find ways to stand out in a crowded market.* For all recruiters: Don't neglect sales training, even if you prefer recruiting.This episode is packed with practical advice for recruiters at all stages, especially those interested in government contracting or looking to leverage content creation for business growth.What do you think about Benjamin's approach to content creation and specialization? Have you tried similar strategies in your own recruiting business?I'd love to hear your thoughts - just hit reply and let's chat!Until next time, Robin This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Hey everyone,This week on The Modern Recruiter, I had an amazing in-person conversation with Chris Bakke about his journey building and selling two successful recruiting companies - including one that was acquired by Elon Musk's Twitter/X!Chris shared some of his insights on:* Building a recruiting marketplace from scratchChris's company Laskie grew to $4.5 million in revenue in just 2.5 years by focusing on remote hiring during the pandemic boom. He shared their strategies for sourcing candidates and clients, including initially spending big on LinkedIn job slots and remote job boards.* Content marketing as a growth strategyChris revealed how "shitposting” and memes on Twitter helped double Laskie's revenue. His approach of posting humorous, non-recruiting content actually is very counter-intuitive to me, as I often advocate for high-value, educative content. However, this worked wonders to attract his target audience of startup founders and tech leaders - to the extent that he credits the strategy with DOUBLING his revenue. * The playbook for selling a recruiting companyChris walked me through how he positioned Laskie for acquisition, including keeping potential acquirers updated via a monthly newsletter (smart - never heard of that one but it makes so much sense). He also explained how a single tweet about Twitter's recruiting potential caught Elon Musk's attention and led to the acquisition.* Pricing and business model evolutionWe discussed Laskie's shift from contingency to recurring revenue, and the challenges of innovating on pricing in a crowded market. Of course this reminded me of The Modern Recruiter #70: A Pricing & Value Masterclass for Recruiters, with Jon Brooks, Founder @ The Value Advantage * Market analysis of the recruiting industryChris broke down the go-to-market strategies of major players like LinkedIn, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter, offering valuable insights for founders trying to carve out their niche - and how he did it himself. I liked his highly analytical and strategic approach. This episode is packed with great advice for founders building in the recruiting space, people looking to build a personal brand online in order to drive more revenue, as well as 2 different fascinating insider stories about an M&A process.What do you think about Chris's social media strategies? Have you tried any similar approaches in your own recruiting activity? I'd love to hear your thoughts - just hit reply and let's chat!By the way: you're now 1,000 people subscribed to this newsletter! Thanks so much for the support, keep sending good vibes and sharing your favorite episodes with your team and your friends! Robin This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Hey everybody! This week on The Modern Recruiter, I had a fantastic chat with Steve Bartel, founder of Gem, about a topic close to my heart: recruiting strategies for early-stage startups. Steve and I go a long way: We both started companies in the Recruiting space around the same time, we both have a very strong Recruiting CRM (though we're going after different audiences) and we both share the belief that recruiting should be closer to selling.What makes this episode special and so valuable is the preparation that went into it: literally years. We based our conversation on Steve's excellent guide, Startup Hiring 101, that he personally crafted and refined over time, based on his own experiences as well as the hundreds of companies they worked with at Gem.This episode is a bit different from the usual: it's tailored more for startup founders. However, I believe there's also a lot in it for first recruiters at startups, recruiters broadly involved in the startup ecosystem, and agency recruiters working with early-stage companies.We discussed the unique challenges of building a founding team head-on. How do you balance speed, quality, and process when you're just starting out? What strategies can you use when you have no employer brand to lean on? How do you compete with tech giants for top talent? How do you build a diverse team from the ground up?If you're working with early-stage founders, do them a favor and forward them this episode!Here are some key takeaways:* Recruiting = sales Steven emphasized the importance of viewing recruiting as a sales process. He shared, "Recruiting is very similar to sales. And I think that analogy is really helpful and it can be very clarifying because a lot of founders, while they haven't hired for a startup before, many of them have done sales." This mindset shift can help you approach hiring more strategically.* Focus on your network firstFor early-stage startups, leveraging your personal network is crucial. Steven explained, "Where small startups need to focus first and foremost is their network. And a lot of that what that's going to come down to is like the founders actually rolling up their sleeves and sourcing first degree connections." This approach can lead to higher conversion rates and better cultural fits.* Always be closing (and selling) Steven shared a great tip about closing candidates: "My number one recommendation for like the interview process is actually to always be closing and always be selling, and treat every single conversation with a candidate as an opportunity to get them more excited about your job and about your company." This constant engagement can make a huge difference in your success rate. On that topic, you can also listen to The Modern Recruiter #63: A masterclass to improve your candidates closing rates* Understand candidate motivations One of the biggest mistakes startups make is moving to offer too quickly. Steven uses one of the most valuable questions ever in recruiting: "Ask them, what would it take to get you to an eight or what would it take to get you to a nine or if they're even if they're a nine, ask them, what would it take to get you at a 10 out of 10?" This helps you address any concerns before shifting the conversation to compensation.* Build a diverse founding team We touched on the importance of diversity in your initial team. "Making sure that your initial team is diverse is going to make it much easier to then hire female engineers and a lot of more diversity. And if you don't do this, it'll get harder."There's so much more packed into this episode, including tips on sourcing strategies, common mistakes to avoid, and how to compete with larger companies for talent.So, what do you think? If you're a founder, do you already apply these strategies? Have you faced similar challenges? And if you're a recruiter, was it interesting for you to hear an episode aimed at a slightly different audience? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Just hit reply and let's chat!For those interested in learning more:* Check out Gem at https://gem.com/* Learn about HireSweet at https://www.hiresweet.com/* Follow Steven on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-bartel/* Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbchoy/Wishing you successful hiring, RobinP.S. Once more - if you found this helpful, don't forget to share it with your founder friends and clients. Valuable content for them! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Hello everyone,In this episode of The Modern Recruiter, I had a great conversation with Jared Watts, a former professional soccer player turned recruiter. I'm always a big fan of mixing different fields, so I was excited to learn how the skills and mindset from professional sport (in this case soccer or - as we like to call it in France - football) can be useful in recruiting.Here are some of the key takeaways from our discussion:1/ How to apply an athletic mindset to recruiting Jared emphasized the importance of the competitive nature and resilience developed as a professional athlete. He shared how these traits have translated into his recruiting career. As he put it, “You're never as good or as bad as you think you are,” emphasizing continuous improvement and adaptability.Here's what he recommends:* Competitive Spirit: Just like in sports, recruiting is competitive. Jared's story is a testament to the importance of a competitive spirit in achieving success.* Resilience: Failure is part of the journey. Jared emphasizes resilience and learning from every setback.* Data-Driven Decisions: Using data to back up your claims can make a significant difference, whether negotiating your contract or presenting a candidate to a client.2/ The importance of numbers and dataJust as in sports, where every move is analyzed and optimized, Jared applies a data-driven approach to recruiting. During his soccer career, he negotiated his contract using performance metrics. Today, he tells candidates' stories backed with data.He recommends to use data to tell a compelling story about the candidate's potential impact.3/ Balancing Multiple Roles Jared's journey is impressive not only because of his transition but also because of his ability to juggle multiple roles. He's currently the only internal recruiter at his company, where he's hired 65 people in the past 18 months. Simultaneously, he's building his own side agency, successfully placing executives for other companies and bringing in close to $400,000 - AS A SIDE GIG (!).Here's how he does it:* He builds systems. Use tools like LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, and Google Sheets to stay organized and efficient.* He manages his time (and works hard): He blocks out specific times for different tasks, including early mornings and late nights if needed.As Jared says, “The way you do anything is the way you're going to do everything. So, I've taken that mindset and made sure that I've translated that into the recruiting side.”Listen to the full episode to dive deeper and learn how to apply a competitive, data-driven mindset to your recruiting efforts!By the way! I love when people reply to these emails, and I read and reply to all of your messages. So I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode: How do you apply skills from other areas of your life to recruiting? What tools do you use to stay organized? Come on, just hit reply and let's chat!Have a great week!Robin This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Hello everyone,In this episode of The Modern Recruiter, I had a fantastic conversation with Clark Willcox, founder of The Digital Recruiter and host of the podcast with the same name. We dived into how to leverage LinkedIn effectively as a recruiter, offering insights valuable for both corporate and agency recruiters. Just after, he interviewed me as a guest on his podcast on the topic of Turning your LinkedIn brand into a sales machine, I would recommend giving it a listen too! Here are some of the key takeaways from our discussion:1/ How to optimize Your LinkedIn profile as a landing page (with lots of great tips)Clark emphasized the importance of making your LinkedIn profile a compelling landing page and shared a story about a client who revamped his LinkedIn profile and signed a new lead within only a week.Here's what he recommends:* Headline and About Section: Clearly state your value proposition and recent accomplishments. For example, “I build sales teams for industrial automation companies. Recently placed a Chief Marketing Officer at HireSweet”* Profile Picture and Banner: Use a professional and clear profile picture. Avoid AI-generated images.* Featured Section: Highlight your best posts, articles, or a call-to-action like booking a consultation. This section is crucial for showcasing your expertise.* + a few more snippets (listen to the conversation!)2/ The best outreach campaignsClark recommends to level up LinkedIn outreach by using a LinkedIn automation tool like Dripify + Sales Navigator (or Recruiter Lite/Recruiter). Here's the simplified approach Clark recommends:* No Invitation Note for Clients: Skip the note to increase acceptance rates. Once connected, engage with open-ended questions like, “How are your hiring efforts going in this challenging market?”. Play the long game, don't try to close them right away, because in Clark's words “Most of your outreach is sales is not going to work. Have that internal patience.”* Invitation Note for Candidates: Send a personalized message that highlights the role's benefits. For example, “I think you might be a potential fit for a remote software developer role that offers exciting projects.”3/ Follow-Up TacticsFollowing up is key to maintaining engagement:* For Clients: Use open-ended questions to uncover needs. If they say they aren't hiring, dig deeper by checking their job postings and asking targeted questions.* For Candidates: Tailor your follow-ups based on their engagement and responses.Final ThoughtsSuccessful recruiting isn't necessarily about grinding harder; it's about working smarter and being strategic in our approach - and LinkedIn can be a great channel to do just that. As Clark said, “It's about leveraging the tools of today to make your efforts more efficient and effective.” So if you're not active on LinkedIn yet, I hope this conversation was useful and will help you get started! Listen to the full episode to dive deeper and learn how to create a robust LinkedIn system that drives results! Byw the way! I love when people reply to these emails, and I read and reply to all of your messages. They keep me motivated to continue the podcast, even after 4 years! So I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode: What strategies have you found effective on LinkedIn? What tools do you use yourselves? Come on, just hit reply and let's chat! Have a great week!RobinPS: My next episode will be with Jared Watts and we'll be talking about how to apply professional sports (in Jared's case, soccer) to recruiting! It's been an awesome conversation, and I'm sure you'll love it too! See you in two weeks! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Good morning everybody!This week, we dropped an absolute masterclass on building a highly valuable recruiting/staffing agency to potentially sell for 8-figures. My guest was Diane Prince, who achieved that very goal by founding, growing, and exiting a company for $28 million! (several times actually)Diane walked me through her entire entrepreneurial journey, from deciding at age 27 to "build a business to retire in our 30s" to the specific strategies and numbers that enabled her to do exactly that just 6 years later. Here are some of the main takeways:The Fundamentals* Identify a niche and go deep (Diane started in title insurance staffing). That is something I keep hearing from successful agency owners/solopreneurs. * Build a recurring revenue model as soon as possible to increase valuation multiples. Easier said than done, so I really pushed Diane to give a few examples that would work even for low-volume recruiting with smaller recurrence. * Diversify with at least 3-5 major "anchor" clients accounting for

Hey everyone,With the job market changing so rapidly over the past few years, I try to keep up. That means lots of chats with folks from various sectors. One person I've been talking with is Josh, the CEO at Hired.com. Josh has access to tons of proprietary data because Hired has been at it for a decade, generating 3 million interviews and helping 30,000 people find jobs. During one of our conversations, Josh brought up their latest report, "The Future of Tech Hiring: 8 Bold Predictions for 2024" based on a survey of 250 companies and 1,000 job seekers. We dived deep into it.We figured, why not share this conversation with you all? I'm sure many of you would appreciate a closer look at Hired's data, whether you're searching for new opportunities or just curious about the future of the tech industry.So, we decided to record a new conversation and dive into what's happening in tech hiring, backed by all that data Hired.com has. Here's what we covered:A Shift Back Towards an Employer-Driven MarketThe past 18 months have been a rollercoaster, marked by hiring freezes, layoffs, and uncertainty. The dynamics between employers and candidates are always shifting, and it seems we're indeed moving back towards an employer-driven market, something many of us have felt.Yet, Josh advises, "Companies need to be really transparent and admit where things did not go as well as they should have gone," especially regarding layoffs and rehiring.AI's Impact on Junior Tech TalentOne key trend is the pivot towards mid-senior level talent, reducing junior roles' availability. This shift is partly due to AI's growing influence, automating tasks once reserved for entry-level positions. However, Josh notes, "There's always more jobs that get created because of these technological advances than there are the jobs that do get lost."Pulling Back from Fully RemoteThe remote work landscape is also changing. What was once a necessity has now become a choice, with companies gradually retracting their fully remote positions. "During the peak of post-pandemic hiring, 70% of roles were open to remote. Now, that's dropped to below 50%," observes Josh.A Changing Focus on DE&IAlthough the active pursuit of diversity and inclusion goals may have seen a dip, the actual hiring of underrepresented talent hasn't declined. This hints at a more organic integration of DE&I principles into hiring practices.And so much more…As we navigate 2024, it's evident that agility, continuous learning, and openness to remote opportunities will be key for successful job seekers and recruiters. AI continues to transform the landscape, bringing new roles and challenges. We discussed all this and more, yet the outlook for 2024 remains uncertain!What's your take on this discussion? What are your predictions? Just hit reply and let's chat!Robin This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Hey everyone!Just wrapped up an amazing chat with Melissa Grabiner about something we all care about: how to get a better job. We talked about strategies to implement during the job search of course, but also before. We hope this will help some of you as listeners, but also your friends, family. Even if you're not looking for a job right now, and if you probably know everything about recruiting (as you should if you're interested in this podcast), we're confident you'll learn a few nuggets.Melissa is a pro when it comes to job-seeking advice, and she's built an audience on that topic of an impressive 266,000 followers on LinkedIn. That's 10X myself! She's been in talent acquisition and HR for 14 years, and she has more recently taken LinkedIn to share tips for job seekers. There's a lot of BS advice on job search out there - Melissa is legit.Seriously, this episode's a keeper. Here's the summary on what we dived into:1/ Melissa's BackstoryMelissa's been in the HR and talent game for years, making big moves and helping companies hire by the thousands. She's seen it all, from big pharma to biotech startups. And now, she's using her voice to help job seekers navigate the tricky waters of finding work, especially in a tough market like 2024.2/ Job Hunting Like a ProWe talked about everything from making sure your LinkedIn and resume are spot-on to navigating the often confusing advice out there. Melissa shared her top strategies for not just finding any job, but landing one that really fits what you're looking for. We also discussed how the best time to prepare is BEFORE actually looking for a job. 3/ Optimizing Your LinkedIn ProfileFirst impressions count, especially online. Melissa walked us through how to make your LinkedIn profile pop, from a professional photo to crafting a headline that tells a story beyond just your job title.4/ Networking That WorksMelissa stressed the importance of networking, not just as a way to find opportunities but as a two-way street. It's about building relationships, giving as much as you take, and leveraging those connections for mutual benefit. I really liked that part and this reminded me of a book that I often quote (Give and Take by Adam Grant). 5/ Working With Recruiters and AgenciesRecruiters can be a big help, but of course, they're working for the companies, not for you. Melissa gave us a few tips on how to make these relationships work to your advantage, and how to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket.Wherever you are, we're sending you good vibes and strength for your job search, and really hope that this discussion will be helpful! What do you think? Just hit reply and let's get the conversation going!Wishing you a week full of opportunities,– Robin Choy This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Hey everybody!In a special episode that I've been teasing for a bit, Jon and I unpack the art and science of pricing for agencies and recruiters. Even if you're not from an agency, you'll want to hear this. We cover how to show your worth, focus on what really matters, and get recognized by your clients/hiring managers. This is gold whether you're on the inside or with an agency.So, why Jon specifically? Well, he's probably the best expert on the topic of pricing + recruiting. After 8 years at REED (a top UK agency pulling in £1.2 billion a year), and setting up pricing strategies, he started his own company, The Value Advantage, to help recruiting firms nail their pricing.He's also behind the great Substack newsletter Added Value where he shares tips, landing page analysis etc. - I would recommend everyone to subscribe now. By the way - I said in the episode that it was paid, but there's also a free tier. So subscribe :) Honestly, this is one of my top episodes ever. I'll keep recommending it for many years! Here's what we discussed: 1/ Why we struggle with pricing innovation and a few models we can useWe went far beyond the typical dialogue around percentages and guarantee periods (though we talked about them). Jon shared the "Good, Better, Best" way to think about pricing. This means giving clients choices that fit what they need. It makes clients happier and makes sure you get paid right for what you do. Easier said than done, so we then discussed very practical way to implement this strategy. 2/ How we should think about Value Beyond Fees Our chat went beyond just how much to charge, and tried to answer the billion dollar questions: how to communicate the value recruiters bring to the table? Jon shared a few quotes for famous entrepreneurs, and techniques to better show the value created. 3/ Practical TakeawaysFrom understanding what clients truly value to adjusting service offerings accordingly, Jon shared a lot of actionable insights on how recruiters can differentiate their services and justify their fees & salaries.What do you think? Been thinking about how to show your value or set the right prices? I'd love to hear how you're applying these ideas. Just hit reply and let's talk!Wishing you a very valuable week,Robin Choy This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Hey everybody! Robin here, and I'm back with another episode of The Modern Recruiter, diving deep into my latest obsession: the inner workings of recruitment agencies. This week, I had an awesome chat with Samuli, the brains behind TalentBee, a Europe-based, fully distributed recruiting agency created in August 2022, that's now booking ~70K€ of revenue per month. Not bad after 1.5 years! (and to have a comparable for the US, you can probably ~double those numbers)We did a bit of a podcast exchange — first, I jumped onto Samuli's show, TalentBuzz here on Spotify), where I shared all my secrets on getting candidates to actually reply to you, amassed after 8 years of working on candidate engagement and recruiting CRMs. If you follow me on LinkedIn and like what I usually say, you're gonna love this episode. Remember to leave a good Spotify review on Samuli's podcast if you enjoy it! Then we flipped the roles, and I got to grill Samuli on The Modern Recruiter. He didn't hold back, sharing the good and bad of his TalentBee adventure, complete with the cold, hard numbers. And let me tell you, he was super, super transparent about it all.What grabbed my attention:1/ How Samuli applied sales best practices to recruitingYou know I can't resist comparing sales/marketing with recruiting. Samuli's got a background in sales and marketing, not your typical recruiter backstory, so he wouldn't disagree. What's his secret sauce and how did he apply all his previous learnings? He puts a heavy emphasis on branding and engaging candidates in unique ways — he will for instance share videos of the engineering team describing the role they're hiring for. He also walked us through the playbook he used to get his initial clients.2/ How TalentBee thinks about productivityBecause TalentBee is fully distributed, they absolutely have to think about productivity. We talked about hours worked, time-audit (one of my favorite productivity techniques), revenue multiples, transparency about business operations, including profitability and employee contributions, etc.3/ How they managed to build recurring revenueThat's the Holy Grail for a lot of agencies - yet very few manage to build true recurring revenue. Most recruiting operations are transactional by nature, which is why TalentBee's approach to locking in 70% of their revenue through recurring streams really intrigued me.It led us down a rabbit hole of pricing strategies, delivering value, and all that good stuff we'll dive deeper into with Jon Brooks in a soon-to-come episode (promise, it's worth the wait!).So, what do you think? I'd love to hear your take on TalentBee's journey and the insights shared by Samuli. Just hit reply and let's chat!Wishing you an inspiring week ahead,– Robin Choy This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Hey there Modern Recruiters!I'm back episode of The Modern Recruiter. Same as with Chris (from last week - listen to it now if you haven't already!), I connected with Bryan after my LinkedIn post to ask for guests recommendations. I was looking for agency recruiters/founders willing to go all-in with the transparency and share everything that's happening behind the scenes. Bryan accepted to share his journey that took him from agency (TEKSystems), to tech companies (Google, Apple, Uber, Boosted), to a finance company (Volean), to one of the best venture capital firms in the world (Sequoia Capital) to know launching Narwhal Search, a unique recruiting collective/agency. What a ride! We dove deep into his ongoing journey of building a $5M business, and it's a story filled with insights, challenges, and learnings! Here's what was interesting to me in that conversation: 1/ Bryan's approach to Building a Different Kind of Recruiting AgencyNarwhal Search functions more like a collective than a traditional agency. Recruiters have the freedom to work on any of the roles, and they can also bring in clients themselves.  That's something I hear a lot for early stage agencies, and Bryan does a great job of explaining how he managed to do it. Collectives are an easy and natural way to get started. 2/ How Bryan made the jump into entrepreneurshipBryan's extensive experience, especially at Sequoia, led him to meet a lot of early stage founders. He realized that many of them, especially in early-stage startups, struggled with the same question: “How do we hire engineers?”, and he couldn't help them all while at Sequoia. Launching his own dedicated business seemed a natural progression. That's a theme that I hear again and again: most agency founders start by doing more of what they already do, for clients they already know. Now Sequoia did intro him to some clients, but most of his early clients were from his network, friends, people he worked with in the past. It's also Bryan's advice to his younger self: "Keep throwing myself into the fire. You learn to ride the wave or dance in the rain".3/ His efficient Growth StoryBryan's journey wasn't a walk in the park. Starting from scratch in June 2022, Narwhal Search has now reached a stage where they are eyeing $5 million in revenue in the next year. How? 1/ Efficiency and priorisation: "being more efficient in how we're running our business" and "making sure we're spending our time with the right clients and customers." Funnily enough, Bryan's first submittal to a client resulted in his first placement - a good proof of his efficiency! 2/ Automation and AI: "If we don't automate as much as we can, we're gonna get left behind".I like how Bryan thinks about the future and the impact of technology in the recruiting process - when he asks himself things like “How is my child gonna find opportunity?”By the way - I wonder if people really read all these long summaries or if they just go to the podcast episode. If you did read until here - please hit reply and let me know! And if nobody replies, maybe it's time I rethink the format :)Until next time! RobinPS: During our conversation we mentioned Jose Guardado AGAIN, so remember to listen to our discussion together: The Modern Recruiter #63: A masterclass to improve your candidates closing rates, Jose Guardado, Partner @Riviera Partner. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Happy 2024, everyone!Time's flown by since we launched this newsletter in January 2023, and now we're nearing 800 subscribers – huge thanks for that! It's been a ride, and I can't wait to see where we go this year! I'm also getting more direct email replies to these newsletters with your topic ideas, suggestions for improvement, or just to say hi. Love it! Keep them coming. Go ahead, hit reply now! :)Alright, so - about a month ago I wrote a LinkedIn post to ask for guests recommendations. I was looking for agency recruiters/founders willing to go all-in with the transparency and share everything that's happening behind the scene. Well, Chris Relth from Artemis reached out, and boy, did he deliver! Whether you work in an agency, as a contractor or in-house, you'll love that discussion. We reached unprecedented levels of transparency, and I learned a ton. Here's what we covered: 1/ The benefits of transparency. Chris did something extraordinary – he opened up the Artemis playbook for us. It's rare in a recruiting industry that's usually very secretive. He shared, “I'm all about transparency. I think it helps everyone when we're open about how things work.” This episode is a goldmine for anyone curious about the behind-the-scenes of a successful recruiting agency.2/ The metrics that matter, and examples from ArtemisChris didn't hold back on the numbers either. We delved into the details of call ratios, submission rates, the entire candidate pipeline. We also discussed client acquisition metrics: how to think about outbound and word of mouth, how to build a better brand. Chris also discussed how he thinks about cost-per-desk (all blended costs including salary, back-office etc.) and how much revenue each person should be bringing in (120-150% of cost per desk during the first year, 200-400% after that).3/ Why Artemis opted for quality over quantity, and why they believe it's the best decisionCentral to Chris's philosophy is a focus on relationships over transactions. He stressed the importance of connection, saying, “It's all about relationships... I'd rather have 10 people doing a million dollars a piece than 20 people doing 500.” This approach not only speaks to the quality of work but also to the sustainable, long-term success of Artemis.This episode is more than just an interview; it's a masterclass in the mechanics of agency recruiting! So, what do you think about Chris's approach and his transparent sharing of Artemis's metrics? Did you see the same numbers yourselves? Is this as useful and interesting to you as it was to me? I'm eager to hear your thoughts. Just hit reply and let's chat!Robin ChoyPS: During our conversation we mentioned a previous episode: The Modern Recruiter #63: A masterclass to improve your candidates closing rates, Jose Guardado, Partner @Riviera Partner. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

We recorded this episode live in person, right after Sandra Feldmann rocked the stage at the Sourcing Summit. The energy of doing it in person was - as usual - incredible, and Sandra was totally in her element – you'll feel like you're in the room in Amsterdam with us!Sandra is big about blending Marketing + Recruiting (a common thread on the podcast). During our conversation, she shared some super cool strategies on making connections with candidates that are way more than just about hiring. It's all about getting to know them as people and what they really want.Here's what we discussed:* Start with WhySandra brought up Simon Sinek's book "Start with Why," applying its principles to recruiting. It's all about flipping the script and focusing on why the role matters to the candidate, not just what the job is. As Sandra put it, “You first have to cut through the noise... People want to feel the relevance of what does this person want from me? Why is this relevant to me?”* The company is not the hero - the candidate is! Sandra shared her insights on the importance of making each candidate feel like the hero of their own story - a big topic of her SOSU talk. I liked this idea and the whole “hero journey” comparison. Most (all?) recruiters frame the company as the “Hero” whose journey the candidates can join ("let's join us to disrupt X and become the first unicorn to do Y!", but nobody's excited about being the side kick to another hero. People want to be the heroes of their own stories, and have their own journeys! * Personalize based on the person AND their cultureDifferent people like different things. It's super important to tailor your approach, especially when it comes to different cultures. That requires effort, work, investigation. Last but not least “You should follow up, follow up, make sure to stay top of mind”. * The Impact of RecruitingWe also got into how what we do as recruiters can really make a difference in someone's life. Pretty inspiring stuff, and I hope both our passion showed :) So, what do you think? I'd love to hear your take on the episode. Just hit reply and let's chat!P.S. Want to dive deeper into Sandra's insights? Check out her amazing collaborative book "Talent Titans" on Amazon. Plus, she agreed to share her ENTIRE slide deck from the Sourcing Summit – check it out here!P.P.S. Loving our podcast? A five-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcast would be amazing! Let's keep the recruiting conversation going strong! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Great news! Substack now has a “Transcription” feature - which means you can read the transcript of our conversation with Aaron. If you are as impatient as I am, you will love it! A lot of you noticed (and complained!) that I haven't released an episode for almost 2 months now. That's awesome, and it shows that you truly care (and wait for the next episode) - I'm grateful for this! I'm back on track now, I should get back to the bi-weekly cadence :) Back to today's episode: a Masterclass on how to coach interviewers. 1/ This is “advanced” recruitingEarly on in our discussion, Aaron warned me (and us): this is not Recruiting 101. Not even 102. It's not a low-hanging fruit, it's something you do once you already master the basics: you know how to run a proper discovery meeting, you know how to source quality candidates fast, you know how to run an interview process and how to run candidates. You have enough credibility that you can move to address more critically important issues: fight against the lazy feedback (“bad culture fit”), the biases, the lack of involvement2/ Try and get a pre-agreed commitmentAaron asked me to include a few documents in the notes, namely the templates he uses to run a great interview process. It boils down to one thing: agreeing beforehand with the interviewers on the decision-making process. It seems simple, but it's much harder to do in practice: Agree on what you're assessing for, down to the question. Agree on what success looks like, and what's required to send an offer. Do this before the interview so as to avoid the “culture fit” or “when there's a doubt, there's no doubt”.Overall, a great Masterclass on how to challenge & train the interviewers to improve the final outcome, and in the process gain a lot of credibility and recognition! What did you think of this episode? Just hit reply and let me know your thoughts, ideas, remarks - it's always a pleasure to chat! RobinCEO @ HireSweetPS: If you read this - it means you enjoy my content. Remember to leave a five-star review in Spotify or Apple Podcast! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

To access the episode notes, please go to https://themodernrecruiter.substack.com/. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

To access the notes of the episode, go to http://themodernrecruiter.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Hello everyone! I'm Robin Choy, CEO of HireSweet (a recruiting CRM that helps Talent Acquisition automate their outreach and nurture past candidates). Each week, I address various recruiting issues, such as recruiting outreach, interviewing, employer branding, and career management. My goal is to provide helpful insights to anyone interested in recruitment, whether you're an in-house recruiter, agency recruiter, freelance recruiter. Productivity hacks for recruiters, Jonathan Kidder.

Hello everyone, and welcome to this podcast episode! I'm Robin Choy, CEO of HireSweet (a Recruiting CRM that helps Talent Acquisition automate their outreach and nurture past candidates). Each week, I address various recruiting issues, such as recruiting outreach, interviewing, employer branding, and career management. My goal is to provide helpful insights to anyone interested in recruitment, whether you're an in-house recruiter, agency recruiter, freelancer, or hiring manager!How to become a fractional recruiter, Natalie Stones.

To access the notes of the episode, please subscribe to the newsletter of the podcast: aplayerspodcast.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

To access the notes of the episode, please subscribe to the newsletter of the podcast: themodernrecruiter.substack.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Please subscribe to the newsletter of the podcast to access the show notes, as well as extra resources: https://aplayerspodcast.substack.com/. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

To access the notes of the episodes, subscribe to the newsletter of the podcast: aplayerspodcast.substack.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

The notes of the episode are available in the newsletter of the podcast. Register here: https://aplayerspodcast.substack.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Subscribe to the podcast to check the notes of the episode + other free resources. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

Notes of the episode, as well as extra resources, are for subscribers only. Enroll now (free): https://aplayerspodcast.substack.com/. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

To check the episode notes, please subscribe to the newsletter of the podcast: https://aplayerspodcast.substack.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernrecruiter.substack.com

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Hello everyone, and welcome to this podcast episode! I'm Robin Choy, CEO of HireSweet. Each week, I address various recruiting issues such as recruiting outreach, interviewing, employer branding, and career management. My goal is to provide helpful insights to anyone interested in recruitment, whether you're an in-house recruiter, agency recruiter, freelancer, hiring manager. Whether you're just starting out in your recruiting career or looking to enhance your skills, I hope you'll find these discussions valuable!Thanks for listening to A-Players! Subscribe now for freeHow to recruit a top performing Go-To-Market team.

Hi everyone, and welcome to this podcast episode! I'm Robin Choy, CEO of HireSweet. Each week, I humbly tackle recruiting issues about recruiting outreach, interviewing, employer branding, career management, and anything else that could be helpful to you as an aspirational recruiter (whether you are an in-house recruiter, an agency recruiter, a freelancer, or the founder of an early stage startup).Thanks for listening to A-Players! Subscribe now for freeIntroduction to Recruiting Ops

Hi everyone, and welcome to this podcast episode! I'm Robin Choy, CEO of HireSweet. Each week, I humbly tackle recruiting issues about recruiting outreach, interviewing, employer branding, career management, and anything else that could be helpful to you as an aspirational recruiter (whether you are an in-house recruiter, an agency recruiter, a freelancer, or the founder of an early stage startup).Thanks for listening to A-Players! Subscribe now for freeHow to apply Social Selling to recruitment

Hi everyone, and welcome to this podcast episode! I'm Robin Choy, CEO of HireSweet. Each week, I humbly tackle recruiting issues about recruiting outreach, interviewing, employer branding, career management, and anything else that could be helpful to you as an aspirational recruiter (whether you are an in-house recruiter, an agency recruiter, a freelancer, or the founder of an early stage startup).Thanks for listening to A-Players! Subscribe now for freeHow to show the value you bring to the company as a recruiter at an executive level

Hi everyone, and welcome to this podcast episode! I'm Robin Choy, CEO of HireSweet. Each week, I humbly tackle recruiting issues about recruiting outreach, interviewing, employer branding, career management, and anything else that could be helpful to you as an aspirational recruiter (whether you are an in-house recruiter, an agency recruiter, a freelancer, or the founder of an early stage startup).Thanks for listening to A-Players! Subscribe now for freeThe zero-cost strategy to build a strong employer brand.

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Building a culture of recruiting early on in your company is critical.Miss that step and everything will get harder as the company grow:-harder to hire top performers.-harder to reach your targets.-harder to... simply grow.Matt is an Operation Partner at Human Capital, a VC firm based in SF, in addition to being a former sourcer at Google.In this episode, Matt explains:-how to use your sales skills to recruit your first employees-why and how to log every conversation you have with potential candidates-how to pick the good hiring agency for your company-how to fight against cognitive biases when recruiting-how much time should a founder spend into recruitingTo follow Matt on LinkedIn, click here.To follow me, click here.To know more about HireSweet, click here.

I often see recruiters addressing recruiting content like this:-a video by there-occasionally an article-possibly a LinkedIn post. All a bit random (and me the first!).Why?Because we were never given a simple, clear and efficient framework to know which type of content to do, and how to schedule it. So I wanted to find for you a playbook to get there finally.This is the topic of the latest episode of my A-Players podcast, where I've invited Matěj Matolín, an employer branding and content creation strategist whose work I truly appreciate.In this episode Matěj reveals to you:-The 4 type of content that performs better for employer branding-The STD framework he stole from Google to segment candidates and push to them targeted content-The exact duration and touchpoints it needs to attract a passive candidate through content-Examples of super easy-to-do content ideasTo follow Matěj on Linkedin, click here. To follow me on Linkedin, click here. To learn more about HireSweet, click here. 

Everybody talks about search in sourcing: Booleans, X-Rays etc. But finding candidates is not as valuable as 10 years ago. Because now almost everybody is on LinkedIn. The real valuable expertise? Getting people to reply: copywriting, personalization.That's what I believe at least. The thing is… Balazs Paroczay believes the complete opposite. Balazs is a legend - a multiple speaker at events like SourceCon and Sourcing Summit, with more than 15+ years of experience.We had a 30-minute debate together on A-Players. In this episode, we talk mainly about:-Is search dead?-Why you are probably missing out on a lot of candidates on LinkedIn-Why it's so hard to get responses from candidates on LinkedIn-Are reply rates better outside of LinkedIn?-How to best reach out to candidates on Linkedin and outside, to increase your reply ratesTo follow Balazs on LinkedIn, click here. To follow me, click here. To know more about HireSweet, click here. 

Christine had a very interesting challenged: engineer the Financial Times's tech employer brand. Of course the FT is famous around the globe for its business publication - but when Christine started working on it, the employer brand on engineering & tech roles was close to 0.The way she improved the employer brand on engineering & tech at FT was actually very close to how any startup could do it - and I wanted her to explain to us step by step how to steal her playbook.In this episode, Christine Reveals :-How to attract tech talent when your brand doesn't sound techy at all.-The framework to succeed in your first month trying to build the employer brand-Why you should consider your candidate journey exactly like a customer journey-How to identify pain points in your candidate's journey-How to make your career's page stand out-How to attract more candidates to your company during industry events (without sponsoring the event)-How to include DEI principles in your employer branding strategyAnd many other things ...To follow Christine on LinkedIn, click here. To follow me, click here. To know more about HireSweet, click here. 

« Recruiters should personalize their messages to candidates to increase their reply rates.”Ok. But what if we can't personalize because we have to send messages to hundreds of candidates?In that case, you'll need a more advanced technique: making your messages stand out. Writing messages that are not personalized, but that have super high response rates.Jonas Waloschek, Senior Technical Sourcer ar MANTA, and ex McKinsey, is the expert of this technique. So I invited him on my podcast to talk about it.During our 30min conversation, Jonas explains to me the art of personalization at scale, giving me some tips and frameworks to apply in our outreach sequences to candidates.Specifically, Jonah reveals:-The difference between personalization and making your message stand out.-Why poetic messages have a better response rate.-Is sending videos to candidates effective? How can I personalize them?-What's the interest of making your message sounds like it was written on a very specific time.-Why you should stop using emojis in your emails' subjects.And many other things.To follow Jonas on LinkedIn, click here.To follow me on LinkedIn, click here.To know more about HireSweet, click here.

Yelling at your recruiting team “be better” will never make them better.Having a right-minded coach above them, will.I've been wanting to do an episode on this topic for a while:  how to coach your recruiting team well, to make them outperform. So I decided to bring Chris Ahsing on the podcast.Why Chris?Because in addition to having been a recruiter at Google and Dropbox, he is also... a football coach.In this episode, Chris Ahsing reveals us :-the first principle to know to be a good coach-the simple technique Chris use to understand people better-how to gain ICs trust faster-the framework to give effective feedback-the difference between focusing on the process VS on the resultsAnd much more.To follow Chris on LinkedIn, click here. To follow me, click here.To know more about HireSweet, click here. 

The baseline experience for candidates is terrible - most companies don't really prioritize improving it. That's a blessing for companies who do, because a very small investment into candidate experience can turn into a strong competitive advantage!Troy has been in the war for talent for years (previously founded a recruiting CRM called Resource.co), and recently launched a company called Guide.co that focuses on improving the candidate experience. He's one of the best people on earth to talk about this topic. In this discussion, Troy shares his advice on how to win the war for talent by leveraging 5 key tenets:  Proactive transparency. Be transparent without candidates having to ask for it.  Rapid reponse. Everybody knows about this, but how to really achieve it?  Empathetic opinions. You're in the driver seat. As the same time, always make sure to check in with your passenger. Consistent floor. Make sure the worse candidate experience possible is still OK. Repellent narrative. Know and embrace what in your company is going to repel candidates away.  To follow Troy on LinkedIn, click here.To discover Troy's latest venture, check Guide.co. To know more about HireSweet CRM, click here.And to follow me on LinkedIn, it's here! See you there! 

“In recruiting, trust your gut”. Bullshit. Any recruiter worth his salt knows that it's the best way to fall into every possible bias. Doing structured interviews is actually the ONLY way to recruit accurately. Now the question is how to do it. Good news for you: I invited Adam Redlich, one of the first recruiters at Google back in 2003, to talk about it with me during a podcast episode. Throughout his career, Adam has helped dozens and dozens of recruiters become better at their jobs. And for the past 3 years, Adam has been VP Talent Acquisition at Octane, where he has grown the company from 140 to 590 employees. So trust me: Adam gives battle-tested advice. In this episode, I talk with Adam about: -How to set up structured interviews in your company. -The perfect number of steps to have in the whole interview process -Specific topics to be covered in each of these steps -Reference checks To follow Adam on LinkedIn, click here. To know more about HireSweet, click here. And to follow me on LinkedIn, it's here.

Too many companies believe sourcing is an entry-level job. This is the worst way to look at a very critical function. Sourcing is NOT an entry-level job for recruiters! And Garrett is as convinced as I am. Garrett joined Google when the company had 35,000 employees and left the company 7 years later when they were 180,000. Today, he builds the tech sourcing team at Grammarly. So who better than Garrett to reveal to us in this episode the secrets of how to build and manage best-in-class sourcing teams. Here's what you'll discover in this new episode: -How to radically change your vision of sourcing -How to structure a sourcing team -How to decide on the right recruiter-to-sourcer ratio? 3 to 1, 2 to 1, 1 to 1? -What are the standards for a sourcer in terms of number of emails sent per week, open rate, and reply rate? -How to find, manage and optimize sourcing data To follow Garrett on LinkedIn, click here. To follow me on LinkedIn, go here. Finally, to know more about what we do at HireSweet, click here.

In that episode, we decided to address the specific challenge of DE&I in companies below 200 people. Step by step, the challenge increases. Here's Claudia advice for companies at every step (0-20 people, up to 100 people, 100-200). Claudia actually wrote an entire outline of this discussion, with links to all the resources she mentions in the recording. Here is it: https://bit.ly/3NSz4hr -- To follow Claudia on LinkedIn, click here. To follow me on LinkedIn, click here Finally, to learn more about what we do at HireSweet, click here

I'm convinced that nurturing your past candidates to finally hire them is a powerful strategy. And Lance Sapera is as convinced as I am. He is so much in favor of past candidate nurturing, that his team made 48 nurtured hires the last year at @Talend. Here's what you'll discover in this episode: How to reach a target of 10% of hires coming from nurtured candidates Why they are incentivizing each recruiter with a day off for every nurture hire they get How 83% of candidates that don't get a job at Talend said they were happy of the recruitment process. How to concretely nurture applicants on a daily basis. To follow Lance on LinkedIn, click here. To follow me on LinkedIn, go here. Finally, to know more about what we do at HireSweet, click here.

In this episode, I welcome Larry Anderson, Senior Recruiter at connect RN. Larry reveals to me how to greatly improve your conversion rate and candidate satisfaction as a recruiter, by organizing preparation calls and debriefing calls with candidates. Here's what we talked about: 1/ Why organizing prep calls and debriefing calls helps improve conversion rates 2/ The 3 parts of a perfect prep call: logistics, process explanation, coaching. 3/ The question Larry tells candidates to ask the hiring manager to succeed in every interview. 4/ The key steps and questions of a good debriefing process Don't hesitate to follow Larry on LinkedIn, by clicking here. To follow me on LinkedIn, click here. And to know more about HireSweet, it's here.

Discovery is key in the recruiting process. A good discovery will save so much time later during the recruiting process, help you increase your closing rate and internal satisfaction. Discovery is two-fold: Job discovery (aka the intake meeting) and candidate discovery. In this episode, James shares his tips on how to run a proper discovery with both sides - he even goes further and shares the link to his actual intake meeting for everyone to read: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hIivRKWdAI2WZRApVb8mDjXCpGMZz87AVq4zI6arE0E/edit#heading=h.shjdhdtj8uzf I hope you will have as much fun listening to this discussion as we did recording it! -- James mentions a link to his blog article "Solving the work problem". To read the actual article, click here (and discover James' blog). To follow James on Linkedin, it's here. To follow me on Linkedin, click here. And finally to learn more about what we do at HireSweet, just click here.

In this episode, we talk with Mike Cohen, CEO at Wayne Tech, about employee retention. And you'll see that Mike is brutally honest. Mike talks a lot about it's own company culture, and why he thinks that strong, unique, and no-bullshit values are the key to employee retention. Here are some of the topics Mike developed: -The Start-Stop-Continue rule -What Gen Z is seeking in its job -What does Church teach you about employee retention -Why employee hours is bullshit -Why being truly vulnerable is a game-changer To follow Mike on Linkedin, it's here. To follow me on Linkedin, click here. And finally to learn more about what we do at HireSweet, just click here.

Talent acquisition is hard: you get overwhelmed with tons of notifications, open hundreds of Chrome tabs, send dozen of outreach messages. And sometimes get no reply at the end of the day. That candidate who was sure a sure hire suddenly declines the job offer. You lose purpose. A purpose and intrinsic motivation are so important in recruiting - much more than targets and metrics. That's why a lot of Talent Acquisition Managers wonder: “how can I inspire my team, give them an inner sense of purpose, so they always stay positive and go the extra mile for the candidate and the team?” That's why we tried to answer this question with Mawulom Nenonene in this episode. We also talked about some other broader topics. Here are some points we discussed: 1/ Why recruiters should first aim to become strategic advisors to the hiring managers. 2/ When should you split between full-cycle recruiters and sources? 3/ What are the activity standards in recruiting teams? 4/ Why recruiters should do a 6 month-checking after the person was hired Don't hesitate to follow Mawulom, by clicking here. To follow me on Linkedin, click here. Finally, check what we do at HireSweet, by clicking here.

I get questions about employee referral programs all the time: -What's a good target for our referral program? 15% of hires? 25%? 35%? 55%? -What should be the reward? If it's money, how much? -How can I communicate with my team efficiently? So here's a podcast to finally answer those questions! Mostly people understand the value of hires coming from referral (they close faster, perform better and stay longer on average), but don't know how to drive more referrals. I went on the hunt to find the best expert on the topic - found Nasser (who founded Intrro, a company focused on referral) and invited him to talk. Together we addressed: 1/ The 5 pillars of improving referrals: Building the culture, Setting the right incentives, Build the right process, Optimize and Track, Improve the candidate experience. 2/ A few market average numbers 3/ The concept of ELTV (Employee Lifetime Value) 4/ The “Recruiter Shakedown”, a recruiting technique used by Facebook and Google when new employees are onboarded, and when to execute it (after ~60 days) 5/ That most employee referral programs follow a Pareto rule: 20% of employees will make 80% of referrals. And how to empower “power-referrers” And sooo much more. Here's the article on the memory palace Nasser mention in the episode : https://articles.sequoiacap.com/3x-referral-rates Don't hesitate to follow Nasser on Linkedin, by clicking here. To follow me on Linkedin, click here. Finally, check what we do at HireSweet, by clicking here.

For episode 6 of my podcast “A-players”, I received Shannon Toomey, who explained to me how to be a good first recruiter in a startup. Shannon was a Senior Tech Recruiter at Dropbox, and was also most recently the first recruiter at Descript, where she had to hire 50 people in 1 year. Here's what we discussed (among many other things): -What are the 3 key questions to ask to be sure a candidate is a good fit? -Why you it's not always efficient to use scorecards to assess candidates? -What are the advantages of being the first recruiter in a startup, and is it for everyone? Feel free to follow Shannon on LinkedIn, by clicking here. To follow me, it's here. And to know more about what we do at HireSweet, click here.

Having Hung on my podcast was a dream come true. I'm a personal big fan of all his content, from Recruiting Brainfood to This Week in Recruiting (links below). For our discussion together, we tried to address a topic that we felt was not enough covered in the HR world, almost a taboo: How to deal with politics at work. Should you take a stance as a company? Should you ban all discussions related to politics or social issues? We see that there is no easy solution - but we can take some inspiration from what companies have already tried: Coinbase, Gitlab etc. About Hung: - Connect with Hung here on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunglee/ - Subscribe to Recruiting Brainfood here: https://www.recruitingbrainfood.com/ - Subscribe to This week in Recruiting here: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/this-week-in-recruiting-6779688850651414530/ About myself: - Connect with me here on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbchoy/ - Learn more about what we do at HireSweet: https://hiresweet.com/