TaPod - for everything Talent Acquisition...

This week on Tapod we catch up with perpetual innovator and a great person to boot – Derek Del Simone, Chief Talent Officer from Abano Healthcare. Fresh off winning 3 (that's right 3) ITAs in 2025 – Excellence in Innovation, Best Tech Stack & Excellence in Candidate Experience. Derek sees tech as a key driver to recruitment success and takes us on the same journey he took his team and business on to achieve it. And don't get us started about Dr Wisdom Tooth!Thanks to SmartRecruiters for partnering with us this month. 

Today on the Scoop, the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News including… ‘Posh' recruitment, Gen Z out of absolute control, Skills shortage in NZ, Mum wins battle against Westpac and much more.Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us on The Scoop. 

This week on Tapod we catch up with a global juggernaut and industry leader, commentator, and agitator—Jacob Sten Madsen from Recruitment Evolution. In his own words, ‘TA is predominantly stuck in operation mode,' and he advocates embracing AI that works and for the industry to focus in on candidate experience. Jacob is an incredibly intelligent and passionate leader whose ideas ignite discussion and debate, and we need more people like Jacob!Thanks to SmartRecruiters for partnering with us this month. 

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News, including… Burnout Crisis hits Australia, Nothing beats a Jet2 payday, job market on the move, Deloitte ‘workslops Government report, hangovers in the office, and much more.Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us on The Scoop. 

This week on Tapod we catch up with the joint winners of the Social Consciousness Award at the ITAs 2025 – Yvonne Kelly from Glow Up Careers and Kristy Glew from Each. These two amazing companies are leading the way in delivering programs with a real social conscience. If you are serious about ethics, morality and humanity and want to make a real difference in your workplace – this episode is a great place to start. As Kristy says – ‘It's all about starting…'Thanks to SmartRecruiters for partnering with us this month. 

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News including…  WTF is Work Slop? Imagine being paid 333 times your monthly salary – what would you do? NSW Government Contractor uploads private details of 1000s to ChatGPT, Acquisition updates from SAP, SmartRecruiters, Workday & Paradox, What is the Victorian Government up to on WFH? Trouble in paradise for NZ, Gen Z struggling (who would have thought?) and much more.Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us on The Scoop. 

This week on Tapod we catch up with Rosa Van Kuyk, Enterprise Talent Professional of the Year at the ITAs 2025 from AFCA. Rosa is an amazing member of our industry – a pocket rocket with boundless energy and passionSome of the incredible stats Rosa and her team achieved throughout the year were: cost savings of over $184k, 15% Time to Fill reduction and 26.5% increase in LinkedIn followers. We can all learn a lot from Rosa, especially her relationship with the Spice Market…Thanks to SmartRecruiters for partnering with us this month. 

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News including…  Starbucks layoffs, is Consulting dead? Latest ABS jobs data, what AI is really used for in the workplace, Gen Z scared of the word j*b, Perth restaurant banned from employing migrants, Queensland poaching Victorian cops  and much more.Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us on The Scoop. 

This week on Tapod we catch up with Kyle MacLean, Head of Talent at Metro Trains and today's episode is all about the Choo choos! With over 1200 train drivers at Metro we explore all kinds of challenges including gender balance, new infrastructure, recruiting frontline staff and more.We hit all the big issues with no replacement buses in sight.Thanks to SmartRecruiters for partnering with us this month. 

On this special episode of Tapod, we catch up with Pam Stroud – Senior Talent Industry Legend, who has reassessed her career and ventured out on her own with ‘The Pivot Space', supporting and navigating women in career transition. It may be menopause, single motherhood, returning to the workplace following family or any number of challenges; sometimes we question our relevance and our career choices. Coupled with the recent and rapid changes in technology and focus on gender pay gap, more and more women are looking to pivot. Pam brings her knowledge and understanding to support women in working their way through all of the questions. And Pam has generously offered all TaPod listeners a discount to work with her. Use the QR code on the episode slide to access the offer.Thanks to SmartRecruiters for partnering with us this month.

Today on the Scoop Bonnie steps in for Craig whilst he is on a little sojourn and the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News including…  acquisitions on steroids, bikini tradie wants to go topless, office worker encourages bikinis, Trump puts up skilled worker visas, boss is cruel (there's a surprise), Gen Z pushing the workplace office fashion to the limit, WTF is ‘quiet-cracking'? and much more.Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us on The Scoop. 

This week on Tapod we catch up with the legend Jessica Gibson-Jones winner of Enterprise Talent Leader of the Year at ITAs2025! We get a great understanding of the achievements Jess has implemented at Toll Group over the past 12 months including commercialising the Talent function, simplifying hiring manager processes, maximising data, DE&I successes, insourcing the global RPO solution, TA capability calendar & many other ‘tah dah' moments. Congrats, Jess – you deserve it!Thanks to SmartRecruiters for partnering with us this month. 

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News, including…More news from the banking sector – good & bad, social media affecting hiring opportunities, and the PNG & Aussie Defence pact (and Craig shares a secret about his time living in PNG. Shhhh), two jobs are a lot harder than one, Gen Z love pretty pictures, Australia get its own Coldplay moment. Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us on The Scoop. 

 This week on Tapod we catch up with the winners of the Enterprise Talent Team of the Year at ITAs2025 – The Warehouse Group – represented by Kim Nicholas – GM – Talent Acquisition, HR Systems and Payroll, and Hayley Smith – Head of TA. We were also joined by the fabulous Brett Potts – Customer Success Lead APAC from SmartRecruiters. We cover the joy of the win and key aspects of the winning submission, including the challenging economic conditions over the past 12 months, the increased number of candidates and building a positive experience, the internal mobility project, massive internal restructures, Hiring Manager training, a complete EVP rebrand, HR Tech Stack and much more. Every year people ask us what it takes to win an award like this – listen in and find out. Thanks to SmartRecruiters for your support this month. 

EXCITING NEWS! It's official SmartRecruiters and SAP are GO!At TaPod - We Talk Talent we were lucky enough to sit down with SmartRecruiters CEO Rebecca Carr yesterday for an #APAC exclusive to talk about the acquisition, and what the future holds for the industry and SR customers.We also covered the topics of AI and the future role of the recruiter... Take some time to soak it all in!

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News, including…A post-ITAs round-up, OpenAIjoins the hiring space, ANZ Bank in the poo again, some positive ads data, redundancy news, LinkedIn puts down an AI marker, Gen Z are now job-hugging, and much more. Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. 

This week on Tapod we sit down with David Dunne—Senior Manager, Workforce Services & Systems @Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect)—the largest national service provider for people on the autism spectrum, with over 1,500 employees across over 70 locations. With recent research suggesting that 1 in 40 people are living with autism, we cover topics around inclusivity hiring, including pre-access to interview questions, people being authentically themselves, and understanding requirements that make candidates more comfortable in their environment. It's a really fascinating topic and one (as recruiters) we have a responsibility to know more about. Thanks to SmartRecruiters for your support this month. 

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News, including…ANZ stuff-up – Big Time, training is only part of the AI story, Nestle takes the choccies away, where will the jobs be in 2030? Well done to NZ, Gen Z just not cutting it and much more Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. 

This week on Tapod we sit down with Ben Whitfield—Global Talent Acquisition Leader @Marsh McLennan - a global giant with over 95,000 employees. Ben has recently moved into the global role and is at the very pointy end of recruitment strategy, heading up a team of over 350, hiring over 16k new employees annually. So if we want to know what's going on in the world of recruitment, Ben's the perfect person to talk to! We cover AI, global economic conditions, difficult-to-recruit roles, DE&I programs, and more. It's a fascinating discussion and one that will help guide your career in the right direction. Thanks to SmartRecruiters for your support this month. 

 On this special episode of Tapod, we catch up with Dan Balout—Solutions Lead APAC at Paradox. Unpacking the State of Volume Hiring Report is the name of the game, and we get a great understanding of how the function is coping with volume hiring as a challenge. We explore candidate experience, AI & automation, burnout, and speed to hire amongst a raft of other levers. If you are hiring in the volume space, you should be listening to this episode! 

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News, including…Workday jumps on the acquisition merry-go-round,  training company covertly records employees, expressing yourself Madonna style, CBA backs up on AI, Reece blaming WFH for profit decline, gender pay gap improving (but is it fast enough?), laziness blamed for grad recruitment slow down, how many jobs can you do at once and much more! Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. 

This week on Tapod we sit down with Steve Ward – Global Employer Brand and Recruitment Marketing Expert and Head of Strategic Insights at Blackbridge Communications. Steve and Lauren had a conversation at Recfest UK about the future of AI in Recruitment and right here is where we pick it up. At times the conversation gets a little heated—well, maybe not heated, but let's just say that the three of us aren't completely aligned on thinking. We cover usage, development, ethics, and government regulation—hell, we cover everything. AI is here to stay, and it will make our lives very different; just how different is the question we all want answered. Thanks to Paradox for your support this month. 

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News, including… Qantas rapped over the knuckles, AI training not keeping up with rollout, Callam Pickering joins us to discuss key financial data, strange things brought to interviews, Gen Z are space bound, pilot in the buff, and much more! Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support.

This week on Tapod we sit down with Andy Talbutt, Event Director at Auckland Recruitment Meetup. We talk about the NZ market, how it's tracking, the effect of AI, doing more with less, diversity recruitment, the local Recruitment Meetup scene, and what we can all learn from the land of the long white cloud.  Thanks to Paradox for your support this month. 

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News including… UK Recruiter smashes keyboard in anger… Why employees are leaving their jobs… Chatbots sabotaging female applicants… Gen Z being Gen Z. And much more Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. 

This week on Tapod we sit down with Angie Clarke—People Transformation & Experience Design Manager @KFC. Talent Function Transformation isn't easy… Where do you start? What key metrics are you trying to improve? What's the process & how do you sift through the tech? Within 3 months of implementation, KFC has seen drastic improvement in speed through the process, candidate experience, and hiring manager engagement—winner, winner chicken dinner! Thanks to Paradox for your support this month. 

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News including… a massive acquisition in the HRTech space, working from home reserved for the elite… (except in Victoria), LinkedIn called out by industry, 20% of companies in the US impacted by DEI policy change, Gen Z accused of laziness… again. And much more. Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. 

This week on Tapod we sit down with the ultimate Swiss army knife of talent—Jo Vohland—to discuss exactly WTF is going on in the Talent Industry. Focusing on the ‘State of TA Report' commissioned by ATC, we look at rumour vs reality. There is no issue left off the table, and we cover AI, DEI, RTO (a lot of acronyms), the future-looking recruiter, and much more. It's a fascinating deep dive into real issues, challenges, and successes—we hope you'll join us. Thanks to Paradox for your support this month. 

On this special episode of Tapod we catch up with Daniel Chait—CEO at Greenhouse. We talk through the changes in the TA landscape since Greenhouse's launch in 2012. From skills-based hiring to AI to the avalanche of technology available to teams to ‘Dream-job' (you need to listen to know)—we even touch on magicians's optical illusions! A really interesting discussion with an industry leader. 

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News including… Aussie workers are planning to quit, tech behemoth eats its own, U-turn in the AI recruitment space, bye-bye to the 4-day workweek, the Gen Z stare, and much more. Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. 

This week on Tapod we sit down with the ever-brilliant Gary Park, a very good friend and TA Industry expert. We cover a myriad of topics, from AI to Skills-Based Hiring to the pressures TA Teams take on in the face of changing economic and political environments to his fixation with Netball. We also touch on the very important issue of mental health, physical health, and well-being for practitioners in TA—particularly in times of crisis. Gary is one of the most generous people in our sphere, and we loved spending time with him. Thanks to Greenhouse for your support this month. 

On this special episode of Tapod we catch up with Carin Van Vuuren—CMO—and Robby Perdue—Senior Director of Product Management at Recfest UK. It was hot—both the weather and the topics we covered in this brief chat as we talk all things Greenhouse and what it means for the APAC region. 

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News, including… Bryn commits fraud; Gen Z get 2 articles – they are struggling to find work but sticking to their ethics; update on employment data; who has bought CareerBuilder & Monster? Ageism is growing in Australia, young workers missing out on entitlements, Craig goes on a rant and much more. Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. 

This week on Tapod we sit down with Simon Druery, Director at Belong Creative. We're living in an amazing age of change—how do you keep your brand fresh, exciting, and engaging—and more importantly, positive in the eyes of candidates? In this interview, Simon shares with us his knowledge in developing EVP & EB strategies. From storytelling to authenticity – what is your team prioritising? Thanks to Greenhouse for your support this month. 

Today on the Scoop, the team from Tapod are back in Oz… Well, Lauren is… while Craig is swanning it up in Malaysia, but we still manage to bring you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News, including… AI driven job cuts, boom goes BHP, job ads rebound, sick pay piss-taking, Gen Z needs etiquette training, and much more. Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. 

This week on Tapod we sit down with Yvonne Kelly – CEO at Glow Up Careers. Imagine being in a country where the language is different, the culture is different, and the recruitment process is different… Then imagine attempting to get a job. In this episode we explore the challenges of the migrant and refugee population and how you can give back… as a coach. Thanks to Greenhouse for your support this month. 

Today on the Scoop, the team from TaPod brings you your weekly round-up of all the TA & Recruitment news… Both Lauren & Craig are in Northern Wales after the opening night Oasis concert and getting ready for Recfest. But there was also plenty of news, including AI recruiting being infiltrated for the North Koreans, RTO vs. WFH, pay transparency or I'll leave the interview, US techies fleeing to Oz, Gen Z saving big bucks, and much more. Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. 

This week on Tapod we catch up with Mike Virgo – Head of Talent Acquisition at Coles. We cover the recruitment process for one of the largest hiring businesses in Australia. From over 1 million (that's right 1 million) applications per year to over 60,000 hires, Candidate Experience becomes very, very important and AI also has its place. It's a fascinating and ever-evolving journey. Thanks to Greenhouse for your support this month. 

Today on the Scoop, the team from TaPod brings you your weekly round-up of all the TA & Recruitment news… Lauren is in Paris, Craig is in London, and the news is all over the place! We talk horticulture labour hire cheats, Banks in Australia not playing fair, big changes at CareerBuilder and Monster, Zuckerberg turns recruiter-in-chief at Meta, Oasis to kill productivity, Gen Z oversharing, and much more. Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. 

This week on Tapod, Bonnie kicks Craig to the curb as we welcome Sophie Hirst—Gen Z career coach, former Google marketing manager, TikTok creator, and founder at Work Baby. You might know Soph from her brilliant podcast, Biz, on the Mamamia network. Beginning her career as a magician's assistant in Japan (yes, you heard right), Soph's career is so interesting. From fails in the workplace to presenting the real stats on Gen Z, Soph's insights bring clarity to generational misnomers and how to navigate 5 generations in the office. Thanks to Check Work Rights for your support this month. 

This week on Tapod we revisit our trip to Singapore and the HR Tech Asia Series—four quick interviews with key professionals from the Asian TA scene. Today is our final episode in the series with Brian Ong — Director of Talent Acquisition @KPMG Singapore. Innovation for KPMG is focusing on young talent to develop the future. This includes embracing AI to help in the recruitment and retention processes, and that's where the story gets very interesting… Thanks so much to Paradox for partnering with us this series. 

Today on the Scoop Bonnie subs in for the jet-setting Lauren and the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News, including… a spirited back and forth on the pros & cons of Gen Z, jobs with the fastest-growing salaries, bringing sexy back to aged-care recruitment, the cost to employer brand of ghosting candidates, and much more Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. 

Today on Tapod, we catch up with Will and Aaron from Check Work Rights – our partner for the month of June. Check Work Rights is a proudly Australian background checking tool that's been in existence for just over 10 years and is the brainchild of a migration agent and tech expert. Automating the vast array of background checks is no mean feat, but compliance has become one of the most important aspects of the recruitment process. Want to make it easier and leave the boring stuff to someone else? You'd better take a listen! 

 This week on Tapod we sit down with the brilliant Claire Planinsek, Head of Recruitment & Events – Australian Defence Force Careers @Adecco Group. Claire has led some of the largest Talent functions in the region, but to head up recruitment for Australia's Defence Force dwarf's them all! We explore all facets of this mammoth program, starting with a team of 1,000 (which includes over 500 Military Personnel that's right 1,000 working within the Defence Force Recruitment umbrella – 300 of which make up Claire's team. From organising over 3,000 annual recruitment events to recruiting 1,000s annually and processing over 70k applications. From set intake dates to a process involving numerous stages we get to understand just what it means to run the largest recruitment  program in the country (possibly the southern hemisphere). Thanks to Check Work Rights for your support this month. 

This week on Tapod we revisit our trip to Singapore and the HR Tech Asia Series—four quick interviews with key professionals from the Asian TA scene. Today we are featuring Adeline Foo—Global Head of TA & EB @DKSH a Swiss global firm that has been in existence for over 160 years, hiring almost 30k employees annually in 36 markets. With 70% of roles being junior and with a high volume of applications for these roles, coupled with language barriers, it was imperative to automate what could be automated. Thanks so much to Paradox for partnering with us this series. 

Today on the Scoop the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News including… Noms close for the ITAs, European Union AI Act stalls, update on UK labour market, candidates want speed, communication and transparency, talent shortages in NZ, Gen Z get a reprieve and much more. Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. 

This week on Tapod, Bonnie Crook steps in as guest co-host and we catch up with Lauren Humphrey, Co-Founder and CEO at The Mintable All of us think we're great Managers right? But the fact is most people leave their role due to their Manager, so how do we actually give feedback that doesn't suck? With 5 generations in the workplace, it's different strokes for different folks, but at the end of the day, being a good person is a great start! Thanks to Check Work Rights for your support this month. 

This week on Tapod we revisit our trip to Singapore and the HR Tech Asia Series—four quick interviews with key professionals from the Asian TA scene. Today we are featuring Jay Chan—Executive Director, Head of Talent Acquisition, Group Human Resources @UOB, one of Southeast Asia's leading banks. With over 30k employees, 5-6k hires a year and a presence in 19 countries, UOB is a huge enterprise. It's a great discussion where we focus in on volume hiring and managing 1000s of applications. How do you recruit faster, better and more efficiently? Answers incoming! Thanks so much to Paradox for partnering with us this series. 

Today on the Scoop, the team from Tapod brings you all of the weekly TA & Recruitment News, including… fake AI (you really need to hear this), TA is not as important to ‘C' Suite as it was 12 months ago (unless you're in Asia), PWC reckons AI is NOT taking jobs, great TA initiatives coming out of India, Gen Z are at it again, and much more! Thanks to Indeed for your ongoing support. And don't forget… the ITAs nominations have been extended for a week until the 15th June – don't miss out! 

This week on Tapod we catch up with Mark Condon, Global Workforce Strategy Expert and Future of Work Advisor @QuantumWorkAdvisory. There is a lot going on right now in the world of talent, and there is a definite shift in strategy from skills-based hiring to AI to design thinking to tasks and talent providing a ROI for the business. Looking to build an internal business case? You've come to the right place.Thanks so much to Check Work Rights for partnering with us for June. 

This week on Tapod we revisit our trip to Singapore and the HR Tech Asia Series—four quick interviews with key professionals from the Asian TA scene. Today we are featuring Amanda Zhou—Regional Talent & Organisation Development Manager @Shiseido. Amanda's team covers recruitment, onboarding, career development, and more and this is a fascinating insight into recruitment at a global cosmetics enterprise. Thanks so much to Paradox for partnering with us this series