Recruiting is No Joke

Hosted by Joel Lalgee

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128

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Nov 2026

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About the show

Welcome to "Recruiting is No Joke" with your host, Joel Lalgee – the realest recruiter. Get ready for raw, no-BS conversations that delve into the latest trends in the recruiting space. Joel holds nothing back, providing a fresh and entertaining take on the world of recruitment. With no filter, Joel gives you an inside look at the industry like never before. If you're craving to be part of the conversation with leaders in the field, this podcast is your ticket. Discover the ins and outs of talent acquisition trends, hear the captivating stories of top talent thought leaders, and gain valuable perspectives on current industry happenings. You will also learn what talent and HR leaders actually care about, bridging the gap between job seekers and talent leaders. With a decade of recruiting experience, Joel's content has made waves, generating over 200 million views. Joel brings you insights that matter, resonating with both recruiters and job seekers alike. Tune in and join the conversation!

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November 10, 202628 min

Episode 129: Humans Do Human Things: Building an AI-Native Talent Team Without Losing the Human Touch

Episode Summary Joel sits down with Katie Krupar, a San Diego-based talent leader with 18 years in recruiting who now leads talent at Asset Watch, a manufacturing company offering software and hardware as a service. Katie talks about her path from staffing to in-house roles, nearly nine years scaling GoFundMe through the pandemic boom and the layoffs that followed, and her philosophy for adopting AI on a lean team without giving up the human side of hiring. Key topics Falling into recruiting. Katie graduated in 2008 into a collapsed economy and entered recruiting through a staffing firm she met at a career fair. The volume and metrics-driven culture wasn’t a fit for her, but it gave her a foundation, and she moved in-house to work directly with hiring teams. Joel agrees that big staffing shops are still the best way into the profession. Scaling GoFundMe. Katie joined as the company was heading into its Series A and stayed almost nine years. The pandemic caused explosive growth, with inflated salaries and surging applicant volume as remote work opened up. By 2022 and 2023, the company had to course-correct, which led to layoffs. Advice for hypergrowth leaders. Bring in someone who understands talent strategy, and build for today’s playbook rather than last year’s. At Asset Watch, Katie redid workforce planning and pushed back on every headcount request by asking whether AI, a contractor, or a “try before you buy” arrangement could do the job. Not every need should become a full-time hire. Adopting AI without losing the human element. Her biggest challenge is balancing the hype and pressure to move faster against developing a three-person team. Her rule: humans handle human-to-human interaction, and AI supports the back end. She still does video interviews personally, which Joel notes also helps with candidate fraud. Her AI stack. The team uses Greenhouse as the ATS and MetaView for sourcing and candidate matching. Matching connects to the job, takes an hour or two to set up, then refines a short list of top profiles based on yes/no feedback, so recruiters spend face time more intentionally. Job search advice. Searches now average around six months. Katie recommends: Networking tips. Pick the audience you want to learn from, find the events they attend, and bring a friend if it helps, as long as you don’t lean on them too much. Someone in the room is always happy to be approached. Key takeaways Before approving a new headcount, ask whether AI, a contractor, or a trial arrangement could solve the problem. Keep humans in every candidate-facing interaction and use AI for the back-end work. A job search needs multiple tactics, and applications alone take longer. Taking a bridge job can give you the stability to search well. Where to find Katie: LinkedIn (Katie Krupar) and her personal brand site, katiekrupar.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

November 3, 202632 min

The Human Edge: Why Recruiters Who Build Systems Will Win the AI Era

Episode Summary In this season-opening episode of Recruiting Is No Joke, Joel welcomes Alex Marr, Director of Recruiting at Phil, a healthcare company that streamlines prior authorizations and ships medications directly to patients. With nearly 15 years in recruiting, Alex moved from high-volume technical agency work to in-house leadership, with a stint as a consultant to pre-seed through Series B startups in between. Key topics From agency to in-house. Alex got into recruiting through a friend’s referral and was thrown straight into a sales-style agency environment. The grind of 7am-to-7pm days, high volume, and a transactional feel eventually pushed her toward owning the full process rather than just the desk. How AI is used at Phil. The team builds agents for administrative work: candidate debriefs, scheduling, and pulling takeaways from recorded conversations to fill out scorecards. AI prepares materials, but hiring decisions stay with humans, backed by regular 15-minute check-ins with hiring teams. AI interviewers. Alex is skeptical. Phil piloted a chat agent for high-volume hourly roles, and it wasn’t good enough. It couldn’t read nuance, and candidates dislike it. She also flags emerging regulation and the Workday age-discrimination lawsuit over AI rankings. Joel adds that in mission-driven fields like healthcare, you need people who genuinely care. The recruiter of the next five years. Recruiters won’t disappear, but transactional, high-churn recruiters will struggle. The winners will be systems thinkers who build their own agents, optimize workflows, and act as trusted partners to executives. Advice for junior recruiters. Master the fundamentals first (Boolean, X-ray searches, sourcing, writing for yourself). Then carve out time to learn new tooling. Alex built candidate briefs in Claude and outlined ATS agents for pipeline-health reviews, which she calls small lifts that drive real value. The low-hire, low-fire market. With September’s weak jobs report as a backdrop, Alex sees heavy inbound volume but reluctance from passive candidates. Her fixes are top-of-funnel friction like knockout questions, plus empathetic, transparent, mission-driven outreach. Standing out as a job seeker. Everyone is using AI, so generic, copy-pasted applications get filtered out quickly. Thoughtful outreach that ties specific experience to the role and shows real research gets a response. Joel agrees that this applies equally to recruiters reaching out to candidates. Key takeaways Use AI to lift administrative burden, not to make hiring decisions. Recruiting fundamentals still matter, and AI fluency builds on top of them. In a world of generic AI outreach, being genuinely human is the differentiator. Define your assessment criteria up front, since better decisions start with a better intake. Where to find Alex: LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-maher6/ and philphil.us (Phil is hiring). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 27, 202633 min

Don’t Act Like a Robot: Recruiting in the Age of AI Noise

Summary In this episode of Recruiting Is No Joke, Joel talks with Duarte Rodrigo Mendonca, Director of Talent Acquisition Operations at PayPal. Duarte got into recruiting by accident, after a salesperson with a non-compete turned out to be a headhunter. He moved from agency work (cleared network engineers, then nurse recruiters) to corporate TA in healthcare and ecommerce. He now co-leads PayPal’s TA transformation, covering recruitment marketing, university recruiting, tech stack, compliance, and team enablement. Main points: What hasn’t changed: Recruiters still need to be self-taught, understand the business problem behind each req, and build a clear picture of who the candidate will be once hired. Duarte also thinks people have forgotten to pick up the phone. The return of in-person: Duarte predicts IRL will become a differentiator over the next 18 to 24 months. He favors small, curated fireside chats on campus over job fairs, because top talent decides slowly and long-tail brand-building matters more than time-to-fill. AI interviewers: Candidates are often not told they’re talking to an AI, and Duarte says participation can drop as low as 32%. Employers need disclosure, an opt-out path, and explainability. He started out hostile but now sees them as more democratic than a resume going into a black box, where only 3 to 7% of applicants hear back. Adding healthy friction: Ideas include knockout questions (distance, sponsorship, minimum experience), hidden text in job applications to catch mass-apply bots, transparency about the process, and email or phone verification to deter fraud rings. PayPal gets over 2 million applications a year, with some reqs drawing 1,200 to 1,400 applicants over a weekend. Standing out: Lead with outcomes and numbers rather than job responsibilities. AI fluency: PayPal has novice, intermediate, and expert tiers for TA, though they keep shifting as the tools evolve. The skill they value most is curiosity. Advice for recruiters: Talk to AI daily, pressure-test outputs, don’t accept the first answer, and don’t treat it as a magic pill. AI tends to produce the average, and it can be wrong, as when it dismissed a tool that had since pivoted. Jobs and AI: Duarte thinks the “AI is taking all the jobs” narrative is overblown. Post-COVID overhiring and high interest rates are driving much of the layoffs. Roles will change, though, and recruiters who work like they did five years ago will struggle. He expects more fractional work and leaner big companies, while Joel adds that retirements and trades and healthcare shortages are reshaping the workforce. The inbox problem: Joel and Duarte both see generic AI-written outreach flooding inboxes. One team has started writing “this is a real human being messaging you” in outreach. Duarte says “you act like a robot, you’re gonna get replaced by a robot.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

December 10, 202533 min

From 30 to 130 Employees Without VC Money: Here’s How It Was Done with Tristan Mackrory

Growing from 30 employees to over 130 in under two years is remarkable — doing it without any investors is even more uncommon. In this episode of Recruiting Is No Joke, Joel sits down with Tristan Mackrory, VP of People & Talent at Almeida, to explore one of the most impactful scaling stories in tech. Tristan shares how a warning from veteran teachers pushed him into recruiting, how he rose quickly in a global agency, and how early exposure to AI-driven hiring shaped his approach long before ChatGPT. He also talks about nearly ignoring the LinkedIn message that led him to Almeida — one that casually began with “Do you want to make free cash?” — and how he convinced its 21-year-old founder to approve a full company rebrand immediately after joining. The conversation covers his experience scaling a Silicon Valley–backed startup from Europe during hypergrowth, surviving its collapse, and then helping Almeida grow from 30 to 130+ employees with no outside funding. Tristan explains what it really takes to build high talent density, the role of branding in recruiting, and how his team managed 22,000 applications in just three months. He also highlights how hiring a full-time data analyst transformed their talent operations from reactive to strategic — and why recruiters must evolve into business-focused problem solvers. In this episode: [00:00] Introduction [00:28] Tristan's background [01:54] About Almedia [02:27] From teaching to recruiting [04:08] Landing the first recruiting role [05:22] Rapid career progression in agency recruiting [06:17] Early exposure to AI in hiring [08:17] Consulting for European startups [09:50] Relocating to Berlin to scale a venture-backed company [11:54] The reality of hypergrowth work life [13:57] How Tristan vets resilience in recruiters [17:35] Scaling to 250 employees before the collapse [18:33] From unicorn valuation to mass layoffs [19:48] The “free cash” message that changed everything [21:55] Joining a 21-year-old founder’s bootstrapped company [22:55] Rebranding the entire company for credibility [24:25] Hiring at scale in a difficult global market [26:47] Managing 22,000 applications in 3 months [27:26] Why each recruiter hires only one person per month [29:47] Why every talent team needs a data analyst [32:05] Using AI to build salary bands and hiring workflows [37:12] Why recruiting must shift from reactive to strategic [38:12] What the recruiter role looks like in 2026 [41:01] Tristan’s top advice on referrals and outreach [41:52] Closing and where to connect About Tristan Mackrory Tristan Mackrory is the VP of People & Talent at Almedia, a bootstrapped adtech startup. With over ten years of experience, he has scaled high-growth tech companies across San Francisco, Tel Aviv, and Europe. Known for stepping into chaos and building the structure, culture, and systems that allow teams to scale quickly without breaking, Tristan is a passionate advocate for high talent density, clear performance expectations, and a culture of ownership. He joined Almedia when it was 30 people and $90M in revenue and has helped scale it to 130+ employees and over $350M in revenue, all without external funding. About Joel Lalgee Joel Lalgee is an internationally known recruitment leader and coach who has helped thousands of recruiters build their brands online. In 2015, Joel started recruiting for a small start-up agency in Milwaukee. He quickly found his passion for recruitment. In 2019, he discovered content marketing, publishing his first posts on Linkedin. Since then, he has grown to over 400k followers, and his content has been seen over 1 billion times. In 2023, he started a business specializing in coaching recruiters, marketing consulting, and influencer partnerships. Recruiting is No Joke Social Media LinkedIn Website Instagram TikTok X (formerly Twitter Tristan Mackrory Social Media LinkedIn Almedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

December 3, 202541 min

The Challenges of AI and Spam Candidates in Recruitment with Erin McCann

Think about how wild this is. Starting out as a wedding planner and ending up as an HR executive responsible for 450 people. Most people work their way into HR through recruiting. Almost nobody begins in sales or customer success and rises to lead talent. A career pivot like that isn’t just unusual. It is rare, bold, and seriously inspiring. In this episode of Recruiting Is No Joke, Joel sits down with Erin McCann, an HR leader with one of the most unexpected career journeys you will ever hear. Erin did not rise through the classic recruiting pipeline. She started as a wedding planner, shifted into hotel catering, moved into corporate sales, then customer success, and only later found her way into HR. Strangely enough, every twist in that path ended up giving her the perfect toolkit for leading people teams in fast-moving startups. Erin opens up about how she transitioned into HR, why she took a pay cut to reinvent her career, and how her sales and customer success background now give her a major advantage in understanding the business side of people operations. She also explains how she taught herself compliance, built processes from scratch, and built confidence through community, mentorship, and asking the beginner questions most people are afraid to ask. The conversation then gets real about the state of recruiting today, from bot candidates using AI voice tools to the growing difficulty of spotting fake resumes. Erin shares the red flags she is seeing, how her team is adjusting, and why human judgment is still irreplaceable even in an AI driven hiring world. Erin also talks about stability, layoffs, candidate trust issues, and what she believes HR’s real responsibility will be in the year ahead: being the steady, honest voice that keeps teams grounded and supported during uncertain times. In this episode: [00:00] Introduction [00:54] Erin’s background and career path [03:42] Transition to HR and early challenges [04:40] Comparing wedding planning and HR stress [05:41] Learning HR on the fly [07:46] Applying customer success skills to HR [10:00] Becoming a strategic business partner [12:32] Networking strategies and community involvement [16:18] Current recruiting challenges: spam and AI [19:27] Mitigating bot candidates and application fraud [22:14] AI in recruitment processes [24:13] Personalization vs. automation in outreach [25:59] Current job market sentiment [28:25] Evaluating company stability when job searching [31:21] Building custom GPTs for HR and sales [34:25] AI governance and best practices [36:10] Predictions for HR and recruiting [39:52] Closing and where to connect About Erin McCann Erin McCann is an executive HR and People leader with over 12 years of experience, currently leading the function at Genomenon, a global biotech company. With a first career in high-stakes sales, marketing, and customer success, she brings rare business acumen and a commercial mindset to building people strategies. Aaron is known for her practical, operational approach to scaling teams, her advocacy for strategic HR partnerships, and her early, hands-on experimentation with AI to solve real business challenges. About Joel Lalgee Joel Lalgee is an internationally known recruitment leader and coach who has helped thousands of recruiters build their brands online. In 2015, Joel started recruiting for a small start-up agency in Milwaukee. He quickly found his passion for recruitment. In 2019, he discovered content marketing, publishing his first posts on Linkedin. Since then, he has grown to over 400k followers, and his content has been seen over 1 billion times. In 2023, he started a business specializing in coaching recruiters, marketing consulting, and influencer partnerships. Recruiting is No Joke Social Media LinkedIn Website Instagram TikTok X (formerly Twitter Erin McCann Social Media LinkedIn Genomenon, Inc Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

November 26, 202546 min

Why Human-First Recruiting Still Wins (Even in an AI World) with Nicole Hirsch

Have you ever wondered what separates recruiters who stay sharp in chaos from those who fold under pressure? Or why, even in a world full of AI tools and automation, the human touch still wins? In this episode of Recruiting Is No Joke, Joel sits down with recruiting veteran Nicole Hirsch, who brings nearly two decades of agency and in-house experience across shifting markets—from the 2008 financial crisis to today’s AI-driven landscape. Nicole gets real about what’s changed, what’s repeating itself, and what recruiters must understand to stay relevant. She shares stories from her early days recruiting mortgage underwriters during the recession, how that shaped her resilience, and what pushed her to transition in-house. Nicole also breaks down how she built high-performing recruiting teams and why her agency roots still influence her approach. The conversation gets even better when they tackle AI. Nicole is pro-AI, but she gives a bold take: recruiters need to stop relying on generic AI outreach and bring back real, thoughtful, human messaging. She explains how authenticity drives stronger response rates and builds trust, referrals, and long-term career equity. Nicole also walks through how her team uses tools like BrightHire to improve interview quality, reduce bias, and elevate candidate experience—while keeping recruiter judgment at the core. If you’re trying to balance tech and humanity in today’s hiring world, this episode brings clarity, practical insight, and real-world perspective. Let’s dive in. In this episode: [00:01] Introduction [00:59] Nicole’s 17+ year recruiting journey and how 2008 shaped her [02:25] AI tools, market uncertainty, and the noise candidates face [03:59] Why personalized outreach still outperforms AI sequences [09:29] The agency mindset vs. the in-house mindset [13:10] Representing your company and yourself in the market [16:27] Referrals, relationships, and long-term trust building [19:01] Where AI belongs in recruiting (and where it doesn’t) [21:03] Nicole’s experience with one-way video interviews [22:12] The tech she actually uses: BrightHire + interview intelligence [26:44] The real risks: compliance, bias, and regulation [29:47] Job seekers, volume, and the reality of 2025 hiring [32:11] AI interviewers, bias, and candidate perception [34:49] Using AI for internal operations, Slack agents, and comp data [39:01] How Lattice links interview performance to quality-of-hire [47:00] The unsexy truth: candidate experience = prep + communication [49:46] Why transparency and phone calls never go out of style [52:02] Where to find Nicole and opportunities at Lattice About Nicole Hirsch Nicole Hirsch is a senior recruiting leader with 18 years of experience across agency, edtech, marketing tech, and HR tech. She currently leads recruiting at Lattice, where she specializes in interview intelligence, candidate experience, hiring strategy, and creating deeply human recruiting processes at scale. Nicole is known for her relationship-first approach, her operational rigor, and her belief that great recruiting will always center on people, not automation. About Joel Lalgee Joel Lalgee is an internationally known recruitment leader and coach who has helped thousands of recruiters build their brands online. In 2015, Joel started recruiting for a small start-up agency in Milwaukee. He quickly found his passion for recruitment. In 2019, he discovered content marketing, publishing his first posts on Linkedin. Since then, he has grown to over 400k followers, and his content has been seen over 1 billion times. In 2023, he started a business specializing in coaching recruiters, marketing consulting, and influencer partnerships. Recruiting is No Joke Social Media LinkedIn Website Instagram TikTok X (formerly Twitter Nicole Hirsch Social Media LinkedIn Lattice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

November 19, 202539 min

Reinvent Yourself or Get Left Behind: The Future of Recruiting with Jeremy Lyons

In this episode of Recruiting Is No Joke, Joel Lalgee sits down with Jeremy Lyons, co-founder of Rec Ops Collective and one of the most influential voices in the Rec Ops world. Together they unpack the nuances of recruiting operations (rec ops), the impact of AI and automation, and the importance of demonstrating business value in talent acquisition. Jeremy shares how his unconventional path into recruiting began long before his first official job. Influenced by his mother’s career in executive recruiting and shaped by early experiences in cheerleading and ballet, he learned the art of selling a vision and rallying people around a mission. That foundation guides everything he does today. Joel and Jeremy dig into the explosion of AI tools, the flood of point solutions, and why the real power lies not in mastering every platform but in understanding the principles behind them. They discuss the pressure on recruiters to quantify their business impact, the shift in ATS architecture toward data-driven design, and why Jeremy keeps his widely read newsletter free of sponsorship to protect its neutrality and credibility. Jeremy also reflects on reinvention, personal growth, and the importance of letting go of old personas. He talks about navigating uncertainty, the emotional weight of recruiting, and why genuine relationships will always matter more than automation. This episode is both practical and deeply human. If you work in Rec Ops, talent acquisition, or leadership, it is a powerful reminder that the future of recruiting depends as much on curiosity, adaptability, and connection as it does on any emerging technology. In this episode: [00:01] Introduction and guest welcome [00:59] Jeremy’s background and Rec Ops Collective origin [02:25] AI tools in recruiting and market uncertainty [03:59] Rec Ops Collective newsletter: purpose and growth [09:29] Content sponsorship and neutrality [13:10] Business impact and recruiting as a business function [16:27] Measuring impact and resume advice [19:01] Evolution of ATS and in-house vs. agency tools [21:03] Creativity and tech in talent teams [22:12] Jeremy’s entry into recruiting and early influences [24:32] Recruiting as relationship building [26:44] Family influence and corporate values [29:47] Human relationships vs. tech in recruiting [32:11] AI tools, job hopping, and career evolution [41:11] Rebranding yourself and embracing change [43:07] Uncertainty and the future of work [44:45] Closing and where to find Jeremy About Jeremy Lyons Co-founder of RecOps Collective, creator of the weekly RecOps Roundup newsletter, and a respected leader in recruiting operations, automation, process design, and TA systems strategy. Jeremy has worked across companies from 10 employees to 100,000+, helping teams scale, optimize, and rethink the architecture of recruiting. He is known for his neutral, insight-first approach to industry analysis and his commitment to making RecOps accessible and understood. About Joel Lalgee Joel Lalgee is an internationally known recruitment leader and coach who has helped thousands of recruiters build their brands online. In 2015, Joel started recruiting for a small start-up agency in Milwaukee. He quickly found his passion for recruitment. In 2019, he discovered content marketing, publishing his first posts on Linkedin. Since then, he has grown to over 400k followers, and his content has been seen over 1 billion times. In 2023, he started a business specializing in coaching recruiters, marketing consulting, and influencer partnerships. Recruiting is No Joke Social Media LinkedIn Website Instagram TikTok X (formerly Twitter Jeremy Lyons Social Media LinkedIn Newsletter: ⁠Rec Ops Roundup on Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

November 12, 202544 min

Inside the Black Hole: What Really Happens After You Apply with Julia Levy

Did you know that recruiting has drastically evolved since the mid-1990s? In this episode of Recruiting Is No Joke, Joel sits down with talent acquisition leader Julia Levy to explore how recruiting has evolved and what still matters most. With more than two decades inside Fortune 500 companies, leading global TA operations and navigating major ATS implementations, Julia has seen every phase of the industry up close. She walks through her journey from career-counseling grad student to agency recruiter, to TA operations, and eventually to leading enterprise hiring teams responsible for more than 120,000 employees. Julia explains how recruiting shifted from relationship-driven phone sourcing to a landscape shaped by LinkedIn, automation, and AI, while reminding listeners that genuine human connection remains essential. She and Joel unpack why job descriptions often feel outdated, why resumes have become AI-optimized guesses, and how auto-apply tools are overwhelming recruiters and damaging the candidate experience. They also discuss fast-apply culture, what early-career job seekers are struggling with, and how Gen Z can navigate today’s competitive market. Julia highlights why understanding your ATS matters, how process decisions impact every part of the hiring cycle, and why data now drives modern TA. She also shares the motivation behind her new book From Hi to Hired, written for interns and new grads entering a challenging job market. Julia’s message is simple: great recruiting still depends on real connection, smart systems, and people who understand the work. In this episode: [00:57] Julia’s background [03:05] Current projects and consulting work [04:03] AutoZone role and scope of hiring [04:53] Origin story: entering recruiting [06:09] What recruiting looked like in the 90s [07:12] Evolution of digital recruiting [10:44] Transition to internal roles and TA operations [13:12] Career progression across major companies [16:01] Importance of TA operations knowledge [18:11] What hasn’t changed in recruiting [19:29] Job descriptions vs actual job needs [22:17] Candidate experience and the application black hole [26:41] Strategic job search and candidate education [28:12] Defining qualifications and application strategy [29:49] What recruiters look for in resumes [33:21] Industry experience and risk in hiring [35:49] Julia’s book: From Hi to Hired [39:06] Advice quality and social media misinformation [40:45] Challenges for new grads in today’s job market [43:16] Where to find Julia + Coach Julia AI About Julia Levy Julia Levy is a veteran Talent Acquisition executive with a background in career counseling. She has led global TA teams at Fortune 500 companies like AutoZone and MetLife, specializing in transforming clunky recruitment processes into efficient, candidate-friendly experiences. Now recovering from corporate life, she is an author, advisor to HR tech companies, and a passionate advocate for job seekers. Her new book, "From High to Hired" provides a strategic roadmap for college students to land their first job. About Joel Lalgee Joel Lalgee is an internationally known recruitment leader and coach who has helped thousands of recruiters build their brands online. In 2015, Joel started recruiting for a small start-up agency in Milwaukee. He quickly found his passion for recruitment. In 2019, he discovered content marketing, publishing his first posts on Linkedin. Since then, he has grown to over 400k followers, and his content has been seen over 1 billion times. In 2023, he started a business specializing in coaching recruiters, marketing consulting, and influencer partnerships. Recruiting is No Joke Social Media LinkedIn Website Instagram TikTok X (formerly Twitter Julia Levy Social Media Website LinkedIn The Coach Julia AI Book: From Hi to Hired Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

November 5, 202529 min

How to Build Credibility with Hiring Managers Before You Even Speak with Caroline Kiesler and Kearstin McGinnis

In this live episode of Recruiting is No Joke, recorded at RecFest 2025 inside the Purple Acorn Tent, Joel Lalgee sits down with two powerhouse recruiting leaders, Caroline Kiesler, Director of HR at Workwear Outfitters, and Kearstin McGinnis, Recruitment Leader at TekSynap, to explore what it really takes to stay relevant in today’s rapidly evolving talent landscape. Caroline shares her inspiring journey from staffing recruiter to HR executive and breaks down how recruiters can transition into broader people roles by understanding compensation philosophy, succession planning, and leadership development. She challenges recruiters to stop chasing time-to-fill metrics and start building strategic credibility with hiring managers by leading with insights, not just job requisitions. Then, Kearstin dives into how AI is reshaping the recruiting process inside government contracting and why keeping the human touch matters more than ever. From nurturing long-term candidate relationships to adapting outreach for Gen Z talent, she offers real-world advice on personalization, conference networking, and building meaningful connections in a noisy digital world. In this episode: [00:00] Welcome to RecFest 2025 [00:34] Meet Caroline Kiesler: HR director at Workwear Outfitters [01:00] Caroline’s journey from recruiting to HR [01:48] Advice for transitioning from TA to HR [03:10] The importance of compensation philosophy [04:22] Reflections on RecFest [05:27] Fireside chat preview: TA through the lens of HR [08:20] Building credibility with hiring managers [12:58] Connecting with Caroline Kiesler [14:16] Introducing Kearstin McGinnis: recruitment for GovCon IT [14:41] Biggest changes and growth in AI [15:09] Implementing AI in recruitment [16:46] Maintaining human connection in recruitment [17:38] Engaging with candidates on social media [23:05] Maximizing conference experiences [25:28] Choosing the right vendors [27:13] Connecting with Kearstin McGinnis [27:54] Final thoughts About the Guests Caroline Kiesler is the Director of Human Resources at Workwear Outfitters, overseeing global HR strategy across talent acquisition, engagement, and development. With a foundation in recruiting, Caroline is passionate about building cultures that invest in people and long-term growth. Kearstin McGinnis leads recruitment for TekSynap, a government contracting IT firm operating across five countries. Known for her relationship-first approach, she focuses on humanizing candidate experience and embracing AI with authenticity and care. About Joel Lalgee Joel Lalgee is an internationally known recruitment leader and coach who has helped thousands of recruiters build their brands online. In 2015, Joel started recruiting for a small start-up agency in Milwaukee. He quickly found his passion for recruitment. In 2019, he discovered content marketing, publishing his first posts on Linkedin. Since then, he has grown to over 400k followers, and his content has been seen over 1 billion times. In 2023, he started a business specializing in coaching recruiters, marketing consulting, and influencer partnerships. Recruiting is No Joke Social Media LinkedIn Website Instagram TikTok X (formerly Twitter Caroline Kiesler Social Media LinkedIn Workwear Outfitters Kearstin McGinnis Social Media LinkedIn TekSynap This episode is brought to you by Basic Capital. As a leader in innovative retirement solutions, Basic Capital helps companies empower their employees through a new kind of 401(k). Visit basiccapital.com to explore a customizable plan that engages your team, strengthens retention, and helps them grow their retirement savings up to five times faster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 30, 202536 min

Why Your 401(k) Might Be the Best Recruiting Tool You’re Not Using

In this special live episode of Recruiting is No Joke, recorded at RecFest 2025 in Nashville, Joel Lalgee brings you raw, unfiltered conversations from the front lines. We go beyond the hype to tackle the real challenges and opportunities facing recruiters and HR leaders today. Joel chats with Nate Taylor from Basic Capital and Casey Timorason from Service Professionals, who reveal how a reimagined 401(k) has become a secret recruiting advantage—helping offers stand out, build loyalty, and transform how companies attract and retain talent. Next, Jennifer Beckman from Long Building Technologies talks about the skilled trades shortage and how a family-driven culture gives her company its edge. She shows what real innovation looks like when it’s built on connection—and why parents and new grads should rethink what a “safe” career really means. Finally, Kaysha Kruger, VP of People at AWC, brings a human perspective to the AI conversation—sharing why setting boundaries matters, why people leaders need a seat at the strategy table, and how the rise of small business acquisitions could create new opportunities for future entrepreneurs. This episode is part inspiration, part wake-up call—a reminder that the future of work isn’t just about technology, but about people who stay curious, adaptable, and bold enough to shape what’s next. About the Guests Nate Taylor Head of Growth at Basic Capital, a company creating a new type of 401(k) that amplifies employees' investing power. Casey Timorason leads Growth (Recruiting & Marketing) at Service Professionals, a residential home services company recruiting plumbers, electricians, and HVAC technicians. Jennifer Beckman HR Director at Long Building Technologies, an HVAC and building automation specialist focused on authentic connections and family culture. Kayshia Kruger VP of People & OD at AWC, an organizational psychology expert focused on the human side of business and AI integration. About Joel Lalgee Joel Lalgee is an internationally known recruitment leader and coach who has helped thousands of recruiters build their brands online. In 2015, Joel started recruiting for a small start-up agency in Milwaukee. He quickly found his passion for recruitment. In 2019, he discovered content marketing, publishing his first posts on LI. Since then, he has grown to over 400k followers, and his content has been seen over 1B times. In 2023, he started a business specializing in coaching recruiters, marketing consulting, and influencer partnerships. Recruiting is No Joke Social Media ⁠LinkedIn⁠ ⁠Website⁠ Nate Taylor Social Media ⁠LinkedIn⁠ ⁠Basic Capital⁠ Casey Timorason Social Media ⁠LinkedIn⁠ ⁠Service Professionals⁠ Jennifer Beckman Social Media ⁠LinkedIn⁠ ⁠LONG Building Technologies⁠ Kayshia Kruger Social Media ⁠LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices