The latest installment of The Chad & Cheese Podcast kicks off 2026 with a skeleton crew and a surplus of snark. While Chad Sowash is busy plotting his escape to the beach, Joel Cheesman, J.T. O'Donnell, and Lieven dive into a workforce landscape that feels more like a digital battlefield than a job market.

The trio explores why today’s entry-level talent might be fundamentally "broken" by recent history and how a new wave of high-tech sabotage—involving hidden AI commands—is forcing platforms like Indeed to overhaul their defenses. Between roasts of industry giants and a deep dive into "agentic" automation, the panel questions if the traditional act of "applying" for a job is officially dead.

The chaos doesn't stop at the office door, as the conversation swerves into the bizarre intersection of professional networking and romantic snooping. From high-level CEO shuffles at Oyster and Textio to a major university scandal involving a fake Einstein quote, this episode exposes the growing pains of an AI-saturated world.

Whether it’s a "desperate" new ad campaign from ZipRecruiter or the strange rise of job hunting on dating apps, the crew connects the dots between global trends and absolute industry absurdity. Tune in to find out who’s winning the HR tech wars and why 2026 is already off the rails.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction and French Fry Debate

02:59 - Impact of COVID on Entry-Level Jobs

05:57 - The Role of AI in Job Applications

09:08 - Leadership Changes in the Industry

11:44 - Indeed's Response to Resume Manipulation

14:55 - The Future of Job Recruitment

17:57 - Wrap-Up and Final Thoughts

28:32 - Leveraging Opportunities in Job Searching

29:57 - The Impact of Quiet Hiring on Job Market

31:29 - Navigating ATS and Job Applications

32:53 - The Evolution of Recruitment Technology

34:41 - LinkedIn's Response to AI and Competition

36:56 - The Future of Agentic Recruiting

39:56 - AI in Job Applications: A New Era

42:56 - The Intersection of Dating and Job Seeking

56:05 - Creative Approaches to Networking and Recruitment