All Episodes

Robyn Vasko has spent over 25 years in talent acquisition, including leading recruiting for healthcare systems as large as 14 hospitals, 40,000 employees, and 10,000+ hires a year. In this episode, she talks with Colleen about the year and a half she spent as a stage four colon cancer patient inside the very kind of healthcare system she used to staff, and how that experience reshaped the way she thinks about hiring, retention, and the people behind the roles. Robyn shares why she believes retention starts at recruiting, how a former employer hired and kept her through chemotherapy, why she trains recruiters to challenge hiring managers instead of just filling requisitions, and where she draws the line on AI in the interview process. She's currently the Director of Talent Strategy and Consulting at The Talent Advisory.   Takeaways: Retention starts at recruiting, not on day one. The first impression a candidate gets, whether that's a fast callback or three months of silence, tells them exactly how much the organization will care about them once they're hired. Slow, silent hiring processes have a cost. When a candidate applies and hears nothing for months, don't be surprised when they've moved on, or when they tell others not to bother applying either. Good recruiters challenge hiring managers, they don't just fill requests. Pushing back on "just add more interviews" protects the candidate experience, speeds up time to hire, and builds trust as a strategic advisor rather than an order-taker. AI can accelerate the process, but it shouldn't replace the human moments that matter most. Use it to respond faster and keep candidates warm in the pipeline, not to conduct the conversations where real connection gets built. For frontline and clinical roles especially, assess for resilience and humanity, not just clinical skill. Asking what someone needs from their team, or how they've recovered from a hard day, surfaces the traits that actually predict whether they'll stay. Quote of the Show: "We can assess for things like resilience, and discover who they are as a human, not just as a worker." - Robyn Vasko Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robyn-vasko-884b014/ Website: https://www.pumpupyourtalent.com/ Ways to Tune In: The Talent Bar: https://thetalentbarpodcast.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-talent-bar/id1891705495  Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77   iHeart Radio:https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-the-talent-bar-328811219 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTalentBar

Sarah-Jayne Lehtinen never planned on a career in HR. She spent four years as an elementary school teacher, seven years at an aerospace company, and the last decade building the entire people function at ed-tech company Prodigy Education, where she now serves as Chief People Officer. In this episode, she talks with Colleen about borrowing a page from the sales playbook, literally handing her recruiting team a copy of the HubSpot Sales Acceleration Formula and mapping the hiring funnel stage by stage, why she believes the best recruiters treat hiring like a product, and how her team screens for culture fit without sliding into similar-to-me bias. Sarah-Jayne also shares how team heat maps and quarterly squad health checks help her figure out which teams are actually delivering, and the mindset shift, from survey fatigue to lack of action fatigue, that transformed employee participation at Prodigy.   Takeaways: Treat recruiting like a product. The best recruiters and recruiting teams stay in constant experimentation mode instead of getting attached to how things have always been done. Testing, learning, and iterating raises the bar over time, both for individuals and for the whole function. Borrow the sales playbook for your funnel. Sarah-Jayne modeled Prodigy's recruiting pipeline on HubSpot's Sales Acceleration Formula, tracking every stage to see where candidates drop off. The right number of interview stages isn't fixed, it moves with the labor market, so revisit it as hiring conditions change. Culture fit isn't about hiring people who remind you of yourself. It's about finding people who will thrive in your environment and make the people around them better, and it should be assessed through conversation, not resume screening. Train dedicated people to spot it consistently, the way Amazon's bar raiser model does. Survey fatigue is really lack of action fatigue. People keep answering surveys and giving feedback when they see leadership actually act on it. Follow up, communicate clearly, and hold managers accountable, and participation follows. Give AI-assisted work a pass, as long as candidates can speak to it. Let people use AI on take-home projects or case studies, then use the interview to focus on whether they truly understand and can explain what they produced. Quote of the Show: "The best recruiters and the best recruiting teams treat hiring like a product." - Sarah-Jayne Lehtinen Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-jayne-lehtinen-051702a1/ Website: https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en?direct=true&_gl=1*bxou4a*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjws_DTBhB_EiwAXZknGdzQuurNk-rr0kQCFy0N5yACR6hPa3ha5FA6Gy9xCFq89rNsbqh5IhoCd70QAvD_BwE&gbraid=0AAAAADECvhvBWbwaxUsthQXf-iFNPfWGw Ways to Tune In: The Talent Bar: https://thetalentbarpodcast.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-talent-bar/id1891705495  Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77   iHeart Radio:https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-the-talent-bar-328811219 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTalentBar

Sofie Roberge has hired at a scale most recruiters never see, from staffing 1,200 roles in 18 months to get a Lucid Motors EV factory production-ready, to leading talent acquisition roles at Apple and Canva. In this episode, she talks with Colleen about how her team at A1 Garage Door Service processes roughly 100,000 applications a year with just four recruiters, why she thinks the "AI is rejecting candidates" narrative on LinkedIn is mostly a myth, and how her deep operations background shapes the way she partners with the business. Sofie also gets into what it actually takes to build a measurable definition of quality of hire, and why she believes the skilled trades are having a real moment right now.   Takeaways: Responsiveness is non-negotiable. At A1, every one of the roughly 100,000 applicants they get each year is processed within two days, and that speed is a direct reflection of how much the company cares about its candidates and its brand. Let AI handle the volume, not the judgment. Sofie's team uses AI criteria to shortlist thousands of applicants in minutes, but a human still reviews every single resume before anyone is rejected. A polished, AI-assisted resume isn't automatically a red flag. Candidates are using AI to write more consistent, professional resumes, and the job now is to look past the polish and verify fit through real conversation. Get embedded in the business you support. Sofie knows her company's operating metrics, shows up to technician meetings, and speaks the same language as her hiring managers, which is what earns recruiting real credibility. Quality of hire is measurable if you build for it. Early turnover, hiring manager satisfaction surveys, and performance benchmarks turn a fuzzy concept into something a team can actually track and act on. Quote of the Show: "AI is not the problem. If you've got the qualifications, AI will surface you." - Sofie Roberge Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofie-roberge/ Website: https://a1garage.com/ Ways to Tune In: The Talent Bar: https://thetalentbarpodcast.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-talent-bar/id1891705495  Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77   iHeart Radio:https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-the-talent-bar-328811219 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTalentBar

Show Notes Template A new name. A new look. A higher bar. Welcome to The Talent Bar, the new home for candid conversations with the leaders shaping Talent Acquisition. Hosted by Colleen Gallagher, The Talent Bar goes behind the scenes with the leaders making big decisions about recruiting, teams, talent, and the future of work. The bar just got higher. Welcome to The Talent Bar! Ways to Tune In: The Talent Bar: https://thetalentbarpodcast.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-talent-bar/id1891705495  Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77   iHeart Radio:https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-the-talent-bar-328811219 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTalentBar

Yolanda Hawkes has spent more than 20 years building recruiting operations inside some of the most complex, high-volume environments in the country, from manufacturing and aviation to AWS, along with a side chapter advising professional athletes on career transitions. In this episode, she talks with Colleen about why curiosity and lifelong learning separate the best recruiters from the rest, how she approaches turnover as a root-cause problem rather than a "just hire better" problem, and why AI should give recruiters information, not make the decision for them. Yolanda also the advice she'd give her newly graduated self about networking long before you need anything from anyone.   Takeaways: Curiosity is a hiring superpower. The recruiters Yolanda trusts most are genuinely curious about their candidates, their hiring leaders, and the business itself, and they treat staying current as part of the job, not an extra. Fix turnover with root cause analysis, not finger-pointing. When turnover runs high, Yolanda pushes TA and HR to dig into whether the issue lives in the screening process or with a struggling supervisor instead of blaming each other. Candidates are customers too. Yolanda's early years hiring taught her that even in high-volume, hard-to-fill roles, the people applying are customers of the business, and that shapes every interaction she has with them. Let AI inform the decision, don't let it make the decision. Yolanda has used AI screening tools to bring efficiency to high-volume hiring, but she draws a hard line at letting a tool make the final call on a person. Talent is a business lever, not an HR function. Whether it's staffing a plane crew or building a diversity pipeline from scratch, having the right people in place at the right time drives real business outcomes, and treating recruiting that way is how you earn a seat at the table.  Quote of the Show: "Talent is not an HR function, it's a business lever." - Yolanda Hawkes Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yolandahawkes/ Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gat-airline-ground-support/ Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

Jen Paxton just got promoted to SVP of People and Talent at Roofr, and she's earned it: an opera degree, three startup acquisitions, and a co-founded company (also acquired) later, she's built a people function that runs on urgency without sacrificing quality. In this episode, she talks with Colleen about why speed and momentum are everything once a candidate is in process, how "going slow to go fast" with hiring managers at the intake stage actually shortens time to hire, and why quality of hire is never one single metric. Jen also opens up about what it took to earn a seat at the leadership table as a people leader, and how her opera background sneaks its way into her day job more than she'd like to admit.   Takeaways: Momentum is everything once a candidate is in process. The high they feel after a great interview fades fast, and any lull in communication opens the door to doubt, so recruiters need to keep things moving instead of letting a hiring manager sit on a decision. If a hiring manager is on the fence about a candidate, that's usually a no. Jen coaches managers to move on rather than let decision paralysis drag out a process and risk keeping a good candidate warm for too long. Slowing down at the very start of a search saves time later. A real intake conversation, or even having a hiring manager source three LinkedIn profiles themselves, forces them to name what they're actually looking for instead of defaulting to "I'll know it when I see it." Quality of hire isn't one number. Jen looks at ramp-up time, first-year turnover, nine-box placement after the first review cycle, and a simple gut check she asks every manager at 60 days: would you rehire this person? Knowing the business, not just headcount, is what earns people leaders real influence. Jen credits understanding company strategy and speaking the language of the leadership team with the trust that helped land her promotion to SVP. Quote of the Show: "Not every culture is for a person, not every company is." - Jen Paxton Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenpaxton/ Website: https://roofr.com/ Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise: https://recruitersontherise.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

Guillermina Cabello has spent more than 30 years recruiting IT talent across Mexico, Latin America, and the US, building her own agency from scratch and developing a proprietary screening method along the way. In this episode, she talks with Colleen about what nearshore recruiting really requires, from correcting cultural assumptions about salary bands to navigating TN1 visas and the accent bias that gets mistaken for a language problem. Guillermina also shares why she conducts nearly every interview by phone instead of video to strip out bias, how she coaches candidates even when they're not a fit for the role, and what it's like calling out ageism in an industry that treats her three decades of experience as both an asset and, in some rooms, a liability. Takeaways: Put the candidate's life ahead of your fee. Guillermina says thinking about the long-term impact of a placement on a candidate, not just closing the role, is what builds the kind of trust that keeps opportunities coming back around. Give candidates something useful even when they don't get the job. Guillermina flags resume tweaks or has candidates read English aloud to build fluency before an interview, because recruiters who help regardless of outcome are the ones candidates remember. Nearshore recruiting takes cultural translation, not just a second language. Understanding realities like candidates who worked through school, or an accent that has nothing to do with fluency, keeps good people from getting screened out for the wrong reasons. Roll AI out in small, measurable steps instead of cutting headcount upfront. Guillermina has watched companies rush to replace workers with AI only to end up rehiring, so she recommends testing tools in select areas and reviewing the return on investment before expanding. Market experience as an asset instead of hiding it. Guillermina compares her decades in the industry to wine, something that only gets more valuable with age, even in a market that still treats tenured candidates as a risk instead of a resource. Quote of the Show: "We recruiters are like professional Cupids. You have two individuals, and you have to see if they actually match." - Guillermina Cabello Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guillec/ Website: https://www.ascend-mc.com/ Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77 iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise

Pedro Velis spent six years as a staff accountant at Wawa before pivoting into recruiting, and today he is the Director of Talent Acquisition and Workforce Development at Hanwha Philly Shipyard, a shipyard recently featured on 60 Minutes for its role in growing America's shipbuilding capacity. In this episode, he talks with Colleen about the massive skilled trade shortage facing the shipbuilding industry, why he builds his team out of people with nontraditional backgrounds, how he cut turnover at a food manufacturing plant by slowing down the hiring process, and the career advice he wishes he had given himself decades ago. Takeaways: Understand the business before you recruit for it. Pedro believes every talent acquisition professional has to learn how their company actually makes money and how each department contributes to that, not just the requirements of the job description. Diverse backgrounds build stronger teams. Pedro has hired a former elementary school teacher and a shipyard carpenter of 25 years onto his recruiting team, valuing the outside expertise they bring over a traditional recruiting resume. The country faces a massive skilled trade shortage. Pedro cited an estimate from the Department of Defense of roughly 175,000 skilled workers needed over the next ten years, and welding booths sitting empty is a lost opportunity. Growth is coming fast. Hanwha Philly Shipyard currently builds about one and a half ships a year with roughly 2,000 employees, and the goal is to reach ten to twenty ships a year, which could grow the workforce to somewhere between five thousand and ten thousand people. Slowing down hiring can fix turnover. At a previous food manufacturing job, Pedro pushed back on a plant director who wanted twenty new hires a week, arguing that better onboarding and training would keep more of the people they already hired. Do not be a one trick pony. Pedro describes himself as having a Batman utility belt of skills instead of one specialty, and he encourages his team to build a little bit of knowledge across finance, comp, and employee relations rather than mastering only one lane. Quote of the Show: "Don't be afraid to fail, and have confidence in yourself."  - Pedro Velis Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedro-velis-mba/ Website: https://www.hanwha.com/companies/hanwha-philly-shipyard.do Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

In this episode of Recruiters on the Rise, host Colleen Gallagher sits down with Kathryn Knox, Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Trailer Park Group. Kathryn brings more than 30 years of recruiting experience, starting at Arthur Andersen and moving through staffing, PE backed companies, and high growth tech before landing in entertainment marketing. She has led teams as large as 23 recruiters, and when her own company recently went through layoffs, she made a point of calling every person she had hired in recent years to ask how she could help them land their next role.   Takeaways: Resilience beats any tool or process. The best recruiters treat every day as a reset, good or bad. If you can shake off a rough day and show up again tomorrow, you'll outlast almost anyone in this business. Don't let fear of AI shrink your skillset. Learn the tools, but keep building the core sourcing and relationship skills underneath them. The human nuance in recruiting won't be replaced, no matter what changes on top of it. Build the hiring manager relationship in the intake, not after. Set expectations up front about how many candidates they'll see and how you'll operate. That early trust is what buys you grace when a role takes longer than planned. Track quality of submission to offer, not just time to fill. Aim to know a role and a hiring manager well enough that three to five candidates gets you to offer. Document everything, because data protects you when a hire drags on for reasons outside your control. Treat your TA team like an internal agency. Control your spend, prove your value, and only go outside when you've exhausted what your own team can do. That ownership mentality is what makes hiring managers trust you instead of shopping you around. Quote of the Show: "You're as good as your last deal and you're as good as your next deal, as long as you continue the momentum forward." - Kathryn Knox Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynknox/ Website: https://trailerparkgroup.com/ Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

Allison Dykes joined her current company, Harness, as its first and only HR hire at 25 employees and built the entire people function from the ground up, recruiting through termination. In this episode, she talks with Colleen about why follow-up and follow-through are non-negotiable in candidate experience, how she uses the EOS "right person, right seat" model to evaluate both candidates and current employees, and why AI-polished resumes are making human conversation more important than ever. Allison also shares what it's like owning the entire employee lifecycle, from the first interview to the final goodbye, and how that shapes the way she treats every single hire.   Takeaways: Follow up is not optional. Telling a candidate when to expect feedback, and following through even when the update is that there is no update yet, builds trust and keeps people engaged with your process. The candidate experience is the company's first impression. How someone is treated during the hiring process, whether or not they get the role, shapes how they talk about the company afterward. Getting hiring managers to adopt intake forms takes more than handing them a template. Allison drafts the process herself before the kickoff call so the conversation starts from something concrete instead of a blank page. AI has made resumes easier to tailor and harder to trust. Getting candidates on the phone to talk through what they actually owned in past roles matters more than ever. Owning the entire employee life cycle, from the first interview through termination, changes how Allison shows up for people. Employees already know and trust her, which makes hard conversations easier on both sides. Quote of the Show: "Follow up and follow through. If you say that you're going to do something, make sure you do it in the timeframe that you say it's gonna be." - Allison Dykes Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-dykes/ Website: https://goharness.com/ Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

Stacy Zapar spent almost 30 years teaching recruiters how to find great talent. She built the Zappos Insider program and trained teams at Amazon, Netflix, and Walmart. Now she's back from a multi-year hiatus with a new mission: helping recruiters catch candidate fraud before it costs them the hire. Colleen and Stacy dig into how organized this fraud has gotten, why AI made it worse before it gets better, and Stacy's new model, "candidate curation," for blending attraction, assessment, and authentication into every stage of the funnel. Plus the origin story behind her new community, Fraud Squad, and a few personal detours involving Fireball shots and a serious game show obsession. Takeaways: Fraud and volume are two sides of the same problem. Bots, auto apply, and AI written resumes have made every funnel noisier, so the real fix isn't more screening at the end, it's reducing junk at the front door. Assume sophistication on the other side. Fraud rings operate like businesses, with shared scripts, proxy interviewers, and laptop farms; recruiters who treat fraud as a one off problem will always be a step behind. Don't bolt AI onto a broken process. Layering automation on top of an outdated 2019 hiring funnel doesn't fix it, it just breaks it faster; redesign the process first, then apply AI. Build deterrents that are invisible to good candidates but costly for bad actors. Things like in person final rounds or small pre-screen tasks create friction for fraud without adding burden for legitimate applicants. Authentication isn't a final round checkbox, it's a continuous thread. Talent attraction, assessment, and authentication should run together at every candidate touchpoint, not in sequential funnel stages. Quote of the Show: "We're not organized as an industry, but the fraud rings absolutely are. I just want us to be one step ahead for once." - Stacy Zapar Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacyzapar/  Website: https://thisistenfold.com/  Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

In this episode of Recruiters on the Rise, host Colleen Gallagher sits down with John Curran, Director of Talent Acquisition at Hillendale Home Care. John has been in recruiting since the mid 1990s, back when Java was not yet a thing and Dice was the only way to find technical talent. He spent decades in tech and biotech at companies like Symantec, Invitae, and Genomic Health before making a deliberate pivot to in-home senior care closer to home. With seven years of sales experience in his back pocket, John brings a grounded, people first perspective to talent acquisition that is equal parts strategic and human. Takeaways: Curiosity is the one thing that sets the best recruiters apart. The recruiters who truly stand out are the ones willing to lean into discomfort, challenge what is not working, and speak up in a professional and positive way. It is not about being formulaic. It is about being genuinely curious and unafraid to do things differently. Metrics are a diagnostic tool, not a report card. Conversion ratios, time to fill, and quality of hire numbers are most powerful when they reveal root causes rather than assign blame. At Danaher, tracking every stage of 435 manufacturing hires showed bottlenecks in interviewer availability, not recruiter performance. The data pointed the team to the real problem. Challenge the thought, not the person. When coaching hiring managers toward better decisions, the most effective recruiters reframe the conversation around outcomes rather than ego. Getting a peer to adopt a new process and seeing it succeed publicly can do more than any direct pushback ever could. Employer brand only works when it is authentic. At Genomic Health, John helped build a culture brand so genuine that alumni still gather for dinners today. From flash mobs to professionally produced culture videos, the goal was always to capture the real spirit of the place, not manufacture one. Non tech companies are an untapped opportunity right now. For recruiters who are displaced or burned out on long commutes and rigid structures, industries like senior care, manufacturing, and utilities are hungry for recruiting expertise and far more open to new ideas. The impact potential is enormous, and the appreciation is real. Quote of the Show: "I just stopped being afraid. You just shake it off. There's a certain point where you're like, yeah, I don't care. Let's just do it. And I think it's very empowering if you can get beyond that point." - John Curran Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-curran-55600a1/ Website: https://hillendalehomecare.com/ Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

Bruce Nichols didn't plan on a career in HR. He planned on jumping out of planes for 25 years and retiring at Home Depot. Life had other ideas. After leaving the 82nd Airborne, Bruce fell into recruiting, then into HR leadership, and spent the next few decades inside some of the most complex business environments around, including a $2 billion private equity acquisition where he ended up standing in a pile of soot in a Brooks Brothers suit, learning the most important lesson of his career. Now a Partner at the Human Resources Consortium, Bruce sits down with Colleen to talk about what it actually takes to be a great recruiter, why HR needs to stop playing the policy police, and how understanding a P&L changes everything about how you lead people. Takeaways: The best recruiters know the business as well as the business does. Deep domain fluency means you are sourcing proactively before the job is even open, not scrambling after a req drops. Culture drives productivity. The most credentialed candidate in the room can be your worst hire if they do not fit how the team actually works. Diligence on culture fit is not optional. HR needs to move from reactive to predictive. Knowing which skills the business will need in three years and building pathways to get there saves money, preserves culture, and makes HR a strategic asset instead of a cost center. Sit with the CFO. If you want a seat at the table, you have to understand the financial mechanics of the business. The numbers are not someone else's job. Adaptability is the skill of the moment, and almost no one is assessing it well. The ability to learn, shift, and move forward in ambiguity is as important as any hard skill on a resume. Quote of the Show: "Culture drives productivity. You can find the best candidates on paper, but if they don't fit the culture, you're wasting your time anyway." - Bruce Nichols Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucernichols/ Website: https://thehrc.com/ Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

In this episode of Recruiters on the Rise, host Colleen Gallagher sits down with Jeremy Cockrell, Director of Talent Acquisition at Torrent Consulting, a Salesforce implementation partner recently acquired by a global consulting firm. Jeremy shares how he built a hiring machine that moves candidates from the first interview to offer in under two weeks and exactly how he got hiring managers on board to make it happen. He gets into the human centric practices his team swears by, including calling every interviewed candidate personally when delivering a rejection, building a 52 week candidate nurture program, and why he draws a hard line against AI bots for screening. Jeremy brings 14+ years of perspective on what separates good recruiters from truly elite ones.   Takeaways: Be creative and curious, not just efficient. Tools like LinkedIn Recruiter and AI are useful, but they won't find you quality talent on their own. The best recruiters go off the beaten path to source candidates nobody else is talking to. Get into the ecosystem, not just the inbox. Attend in person events, engage in community spaces like Trailhead, and have conversations with people you're not actively trying to hire. Your referral pipeline will grow as a direct result. Call candidates you're rejecting. If someone gave you their time in the interview process, give them two minutes on the phone. It builds goodwill that pays back in future hires and employer brand more than any email ever will. Speed is a candidate experience issue, not just an ops issue. Time kills deals. If you want to compete for top talent, align your hiring managers and pre-build your interview calendar so there's no lag between rounds. Build relationships with hiring managers before you need anything from them. In your first month in a new role, get 15 minutes with every manager you can. Once they trust you and you deliver, everything else moves faster. Quote of the Show: "Being creative and curious to find ways to make it happen is imperative. Not one tool is going to obtain quality talent on its own, especially if you're talking quality over quantity, which is what we should always be talking about." - Jeremy Cockrell Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-cockrell-25153515/  Website: https://torrentconsulting.com/careers/  Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

In this episode of Recruiters on the Rise, host Colleen Gallagher sits down with Dubi Ben-Shoham, Senior Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Socotra, who has personally hired nearly every employee at his company, all but three. Dubi shares why he hasn't posted a single job in over two and a half years and why he considers that a feature, not a bug. He breaks down his white glove recruiting philosophy, from prepping candidates before every interview to running recruiting training on day one of onboarding. Dubi also gets into the growing threat of resume fraud, how he thinks about AI in the hiring process, and why building trust with candidates and hiring managers alike is the foundation of everything he does. A candid, practical conversation packed with ideas you can put to work right away. Takeaways: Know the whole business, not just your requisitions. Dubi attends SKOs, product offsites, and all-hands across departments and credits that immersion as one of the biggest differentiators in his effectiveness as a recruiter. The more you understand the business, the more credible and valuable you become. White glove service is for everyone, not just executives. Dubi walks every candidate through exactly who they will meet, what to expect, and even personal background on each interviewer. That level of care is rare, and candidates notice immediately. Stop posting and start sourcing. Fraud, AI generated resumes, and inbound noise convinced Dubi to go fully outbound. His team now sources every hire directly, which frees up time for higher quality conversations and more intentional candidate engagement. Establish trust early with hiring managers by doing the work first. Dubi drafts job descriptions, builds assessments, and creates interview panels before ever sitting down with a hiring manager. That proactive approach earns credibility fast and makes him indispensable. AI belongs in the process, with guardrails. Dubi used ChatGPT to build a full rev ops assessment in 15 minutes, complete with sample data. But he requires candidates to present their work, because the ability to reason through it out loud is the real signal. Quote of the Show: "I'm gonna tell you the process, but I just want you to know, it's all downhill after me." -Dubi Ben-Shoham Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dubi-ben-shoham-a9a293/ Website: https://www.socotra.com/ Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

In this episode of Recruiters on the Rise, host Colleen Gallagher sits down with Dennis Ivanov, Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Unimacts Global and former Amazon recruiting leader. Dennis has made over 400 hires in under three years with almost no dedicated recruiting team, including several C-suite executive searches, at a company that grew from under $100 million to nearly half a billion. Before any of that, he was tracking endangered snow leopards in Siberia for a National Geographic conservation program. He brings the same fearlessness from the field into every boardroom, and this conversation is full of hard-won, practical insight on what it actually looks like to build a recruiting function from scratch with limited resources, big expectations, and a lot of creativity.   Takeaways: ~ Lead with fearlessness. The best recruiters don't wait for permission or comfort. Push past hesitation, speak up with senior leaders, and refuse to settle for "good enough" just because it's easier. ~ Frugality forces creativity. When the budget is tight, look for unconventional solutions first. Printing job ads at bus stops or leaning on state workforce programs can outperform expensive vendors. ~ Build inward before going outward. Post every role internally for a week before hitting the external market. You'll promote hidden talent, boost morale, and cut time-to-fill at the same time. ~ Train your way to scale. If you don't have dedicated recruiters, develop the people you do have. A few months of structured training and shadowing can turn HR generalists into capable recruiting partners. ~ Measure what matters and set a high bar. Don't accept a 70% offer acceptance rate just because it's the industry norm. Commit to aggressive targets around time-to-fill, offer acceptance, and retention, then build the process to hit them.   Quote of the Show: "It's when the deadlines are short and execution is not optional. It has to happen. So that's where the real magic, I believe, happens." - Dennis Ivanov Links: ~ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisviktorovichivanov ~ Website: https://www.unimacts.com/ Ways to Tune In: ~ Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  ~ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  ~ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   ~ Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  ~ iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  ~ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

In this episode of Recruiters on the Rise, host Colleen Gallagher sits down with James Callender, VP of Workforce at EPC and host of the HR View Podcast. James brings a rare blend of experience from manufacturing floors and construction sites to JPMorgan Chase and a conviction that's stuck with him since his first day in HR, if you don't speak the language of business, you can't be a real partner to the people you serve. He shares how radical transparency with candidates leads to longer tenures, why the interview starts the moment someone submits an application, and how he's using AI to drive smarter workforce decisions without losing the human touch. Whether you're recruiting in the field or the C suite, this one hits differently. Takeaways: Know the business before you know the role. The best recruiters don't just fill seats, they understand how the company makes money, and that clarity helps them identify candidates who can think and operate at that same level. When you truly understand the business, everything else in the recruiting process becomes easier and more intentional. Transparency isn't just nice, it's a retention strategy. James's first job out of college was the worst he ever had, and it shaped a career long commitment to radical honesty with candidates. Telling people the hard truths upfront, the long hours, the difficult dynamics, the real demands of a role leads to longer tenures and fewer regrets on both sides. The interview starts before you ever say hello. From the moment a candidate submits an application or walks through the door, they're showing you who they are. James treats every touchpoint as part of the evaluation because once someone gets the job, the interview camera goes off and you see the real person. AI is a tool, not a replacement for judgment. James is an enthusiastic adopter of AI for report automation, process efficiency, and applicant sorting but he's equally firm that human vetting still matters. Volume without discernment is just noise, and someone has to make sure the technology is working the way it should. Learning only happens when someone wants it. Whether coaching a candidate, developing a team, or running a training, James believes growth is a two-way street. You can build the best program in the world, but if the person on the other side isn't ready to receive it, the knowledge won't stick and that's okay to acknowledge.  Quote of the Show: “HR used to be like being sent to the principal's office. That's always been my intent, to change that." — James Callender Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/callenderjames/  Website: https://weareepc.com/ HRview Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6Q9PpcWJTYq1Ez3hffx6b5HKZiBgwDPk  Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

In this episode of Recruiters on the Rise, host Colleen Gallagher sits down with Hayden Hughes, a talent acquisition veteran. He shares his philosophy on the "meeting before the meeting," why candidate and hiring manager experience are two sides of the same coin, and why any TA leader who thinks they have a couple of years before AI disrupts their work is fooling themselves. A thought provoking, analogy rich conversation you won't want to miss. Takeaways: Come prepared or don't come at all. The best recruiters show up to intake meetings with market intelligence, silver medalists, and a clear picture of the landscape, much like a great server who recommends the right dish rather than just taking your order. That preparation is what builds trust with hiring managers from the very first conversation. Clarity beats complexity in the hiring process. Rather than adding more interview stages to get a better signal, great recruiters give candidates a clear picture of what the company stands for and what it doesn't  from the very start. A transparent, well structured process respects candidates' time and leads to better mutual fit. If you're waiting on AI, you're already behind. Recruiters who treat AI adoption as something to prepare for later are underestimating how fast the landscape is changing. The ones who will thrive are those who approach it with daily curiosity, lean into the tools, and see it as an opportunity to compound their own value, not a threat to wait out. Quote of the Show: "They're trusting you with that empty chair that they've got. They're trusting you to fill that role with the right person that's gonna make a difference, that's gonna supercharge their team." — Hayden Hughes Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haydenhughes/  Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

In this episode of Recruiters on the Rise, host Colleen Gallagher sits down with Brian Fink, founder of the Rework Group and self-proclaimed Rush Chairman Emeritus, who has spent his career hunting down the engineers and technical leaders behind the products we all use every day. Brian brings his signature blend of street-smart sourcing wisdom and human-first philosophy to why intentionality separates good recruiters from great ones, how fake candidates are quietly breaking inbound recruiting, and the one question every screening call is missing. He even manages to tie it all back to throwing a Rush event with Run DMC. If you have ever wanted to learn how a seasoned headhunter thinks and shows up for candidates every single day, this one is for you.  Takeaways: Trust is built in the small moments. Do what you say you're going to do, every single time. Candidates and hiring managers are watching, and one broken promise can shatter everything you've built. Follow up like it's your job because it is. Every Friday, reach out to every candidate you spoke with that week. They deserve to know where they stand before they walk into a new week. End every screening call with this question. Ask candidates if there's anything you missed or should have asked them. You'll be shocked what people share when you simply give them the space to. Stop asking "tell me about yourself." Instead, ask candidates for a two minute snapshot of where they've been and where they want to go. It gives them an on-ramp to tell you what actually matters to them. Not every candidate is the right fit and that's okay. Part of being a great recruiter is knowing when someone is better suited somewhere else. Being honest about that is one of the most human things you can do in this work. Quote of the Show: "I want to make sure that candidates are seen and heard. Not treated like pieces on a chess board." - Brian Fink Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfink/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebrianfink/?hl=en  Website: https://thereworkgroup.com/  Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise 

In this episode of Recruiters on the Rise, host Colleen Gallagher catches up with her longtime friend Stephanie Boman, Chief People Officer at LiveRamp. Stephanie brings the real talk on what separates great recruiters from the rest, why she finally convinced her CFO to ditch a clunky ATS, and how she is leading one of the most ambitious AI upskilling initiatives in the game. She also makes a compelling case for why quality of hire is the only metric that should matter and what it actually takes to get there. If you have ever wanted a front row seat to how a seasoned CPO thinks about talent, this is the episode for you.   Takeaways: The best recruiters go beyond the job description and develop a deep curiosity about the business, understanding why a hire matters for company strategy right now. Courage is a non-negotiable skill in recruiting. Be willing to tell a hiring manager the hard truth about a candidate, and give candidates honest transparency about where they stand. Stop optimizing for speed and start optimizing for quality. The right hire the first time matters far more than a fast hire, especially when headcount is tight. Front end planning is where quality of hire is won or lost. Structured interviews and predefined evaluation criteria consistently outperform gut feel. AI will not transform your organization, your people will. Invest in upskilling your team so they can use AI to handle repetitive work and move upstream to higher value thinking.  Quote of the Show: "The best recruiters know the market the way a great salesperson knows their territory." - Stephanie Boman Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-boman-90477b/  Website: https://liveramp.com/  Ways to Tune In: Recruiters On The Rise Website: https://recruitersontherise.com/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6j8LK95YtqW7ZMU4kwBNgR  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/recruiters-on-the-rise/id1891705495   Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7f77aa2-de4c-4e5c-b5de-cfe60fe39c77  iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/328811219/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@recruitersontherise