RecFest USA Special

It seems everywhere we went, there were long lost cousins of Serge or home town friends,

Southern hospitality is alive and well in Nashville. We made lots of friends and talked to lots of TA professionals from all over

In the News

• With no statement from Talent.com, we have a reliable source saying their layoff was 40% of their staff.

•  Cyber security professionals as Uber drivers, we hear first hand and then confirmed the news with announcements from several firms laying people off. Stay calm and carrying on - they wont be unemployed for long.

• Employees disengaged is not news or is it? The debate between Serge and Shelley continues.

Highlights of RecFest

• AI was in the title of 80% of the presentation titles, yet no one walked away with clarity on exactly what part of the HR process is actually using it. 

• DEI was a big topic with an entire stage on day 2 hearing from the front line practitioners.

• PLUM stole the show. The Canadian TA tech firm brought the house down with their Swipe Right, HR’s Ultimate Match Game. AND with hosting the kick off event to RecFest complete with purple cowboy hats and Chad & Cheese PLUS a professional hair braiding team beautifying everyone made them the fan favorite!

This week while we're enjoying Recfest in Nashville we decided to release a recent webinar that we did with the crew at Nurse Recruitment Experts https://nurserecruitmentx.com/

Here are some of the questions we try to answer

And much more helpful info for anyone that is looking to enhance their tech stack in the HR/TA space

This week on TRF we cover:

• Taking the old guy to the Labour Day game, at 88 Shelley’s dad was thrilled to be at a live CFL game

• Serge’s 3 beautiful little girls draw the attention of former AB Premier, Rachel Notley. Really? Who could resist those beautiful faces?

• Sept 6 was Global TA Day, we celebrate by talking all things recruitment.

In The News

• CareerBuilder cringe. Following last week's TBT (Throwback Thursday) announcement; they embarrass themselves, yet again.

• Talent.com employees use LinkedIn as their personal platform to announce a ‘massive company restructure’.

• TikTok runs with scissors. Making up yet another term, September Surge (not Serge).

• Meanwhile back in Canada we discuss the highest demand across Canada. 

Tip of The Week

• Calling in the big guns. Set your ego aside and let the professionals do their job. 

Recruiting Insights

• Attention seeking rant or legit complaint about TestGorilla’s hiring process, you be the judge. There is no argument the corporate response gets top marks.

• Zero-Touch ATS concept gets top marks from both Serge and Shelley 

• Build an in-house recruitment team or go RPO? Either way, cost per hire is a lazy way out of making the decision.

Events:

This week on TRF we welcome Adam Gordon Founder of Poetry.

Internationally famous as the recurring co-host on Recruiting Brainfood Live with Hung Lee and a successful HR Tech founder with the sale of Candidate.ID to iCIMS, Adam joins us for a short yet action packed episode.

• Explain Recruiter Enablement

• Every HR Tech start up needs to take notes on the process Adam followed before they started developing the solution.

• The toggle tax for Recruiters

• Pronounced BAYTA or BEETA - either way, the chosen 42 companies will be part of the inner circle of Poetry

• HR Tech is not as far behind as some sources say it is.

• With all the investment in HR Tech, the best ideas are still hitting the trash bin, Adam explained how VCs work

• The last work on where TA Professionals need to focus for the next year

This week on TRF we cover:

- Serge and Shelley go see Taylor Tomlinson.

- Headlines are not always accurate.

In The news:

• Canada is on track to host 900,000 international students this year.

• CareerBuilder has become a satire of itself launching pay Per Resume 10 years too late.

• Indeed adds a chrome extension.

Tip of the Week

• Never too early to start campus recruiting.

Recruiting Insights:

• Employers and candidates are tired of ghosting each other.

• We finally settle the debate on cover letters...not really!

Events

If you ever wondered if TikTok is an effective communication channel for TA, Deanna is the creative & comic genius who cranked up LinkedIn outreach response rates from 45% to 85% with her video posts. 

As the Director of People and Talent with AltaML, an incredible start up focused on the most ethical use of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) with offices in 3 Canadian cities. Having fun is part of their EVP, Deanna is living proof.  

• Going from 40 people to 140 during the most turbulent and competitive times, means getting creative, having good tools and really listening to what’s important to your target audience. 

• Do tech assessments, take home assignments and live coding exams sound like job seeker bait or repellent?

• Danna shares her ‘do over’ list, team structure and the 3 super hero roles to have in a high function TA team.

This week on TRF we cover:

• When you realize your children are genetically predisposed to Monster Trucks, Serge shares some fun facts about his Guinness World Book of Records status.

• Shout out to TD Insurance! They earned a 5-star review from Shelley.

• The final word on fixing the gender pay gap from our perspective.

• Both TA & L&D leadership roles are predominantly held by women according to a global survey of 600,000 in HR. Added bonus, the career paths for each will surprise you.

In the news

• LinkedIn rolls out ID verification in Canada - and its free!

• If it feels like there are more cars on the road, there are. 4 out of 5 employees drive to work, exceeding the number of commuters to levels in 2016.

Tip of the Week

• Know who your talent competitors are. Research outside of your industry to understand the choices job seekers have. 

Recruiting Insights

• Practical advice on ways to prove you have a culture of opportunity. Beyond single step promotions, the definition of opportunity can be defined at different points in your career.

• Survey said, “40% of Hiring Managers admit lying to candidates”, we go deeper to explain why recruiters believe the number is much bigger.

• This needs to be mandatory on everyone’s interview guide. Ask this simple question and you will easily separate the mediocre from the great people managers.  

Events

The Recruitment Flex Feat. The Brand Plan Podcast hosts Marcus Body & James Ellis

The pairing of James and Marcus is the employer brand & TA’s version of Megan & Harry.  

• James, being our most popular guest, has teamed up with Marcus to talk about employer brand, for an hour at a time and yes, they have a point of view!

• Measuring employer brand in its simplest form, “Did it solve the problem?”

• Ending the argument on what is an EVP

• Employer Brand in different countries, one size does not fit globally

• EB looks different based on the size of company you're in 

• Advice for TA as they launch into EB

This week on TRF we cover:

• August has been a weird month so far. Both of us had unpleasant encounters with nature invading our personal space. Picture bugs and mice in the house.

• Would you expect to pay more because of your gender? We weren't sure how to feel about an event designed to attract women into IT that charged men more to attend.

• Amazon continues to fall from grace - we may see the A in FANG removed due to their continued blunders in how they treat their employees.

Upcoming Events

In the news

• Indeed reports 50% decline in paid ads

• Tutoring firm settles a claim alleging their recruiting algorithm was ageist - we suspect other wise.

• The US job market continues to cool - but not really, its just returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Tip of the Week

• The tool of last resort, the Sign On Bonus. When, how much and why to use it as bait

Recruiting Insights

• Roblox redefines early career recruiting! They offer a 3D immersive experience for potential employees - brilliant

• Asking ChatGPT to spot red flags on resume, in the wrong hands, this will spell disaster. Experienced recruiters will need to teach it what a red flag really is. 

• TA Tech - deciding on Good, Fast or Cheap. We weigh in on how to define it and when to pick from the 3 options.

We met Omar Khateeb CEO of JobPixel at Unleash and we were impressed with what he was building!

Omar joins us with some practical advice and shares successful uses of video for mid to large to high volume hiring. 

Seeing is believing. The power of video is unequaled when marketing your jobs, your team and your company.

Some great advice to TA leaders on how to get started with video: 

Remove the fear of creating video content. Bring your company to life using video by allowing your team’s stories come to life in their own words.