In this episode of Growing the Middle, Mariah Krystal sits down with Andrew Shapiro, a hiring expert who has spent over a decade navigating the evolution of recruiting, from startups to unicorns.

After witnessing firsthand how layoffs in 2020 and 2022 disrupted careers, Andrew left his job in 2023 to tackle a major gap—fixing the broken interview process for both candidates and hiring teams.

Together, they dive into:

✔️ Why hiring is fundamentally broken

✔️ The impact of layoffs & career pivots

✔️ How candidates can navigate a flawed system

✔️ Bias in interviews & why “polish” doesn’t equal potential

✔️ The importance of LinkedIn & networking for job seekers

✔️ How to do the job before you have it & stand out in hiring

Andrew is the founder of .community (www.shap.community/), an initiative helping candidates and interviewers master the hiring process. He’s also a startup advisor, mentor, and nonprofit board member.

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