Talent Acquisition In The Trenches

Hosted by Matt Rimer

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Aug 2026

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About the show

In this digital first world, the old ways of recruiting are becoming obsolete. Or are they? The talent demands on every business has put TA squarely in the hot seat. Welcome to Talent Acquisition In The Trenches, a real dialogue podcast with talent acquisition pro’s closest to the front line. We want to talk to our peers who are actually doing the heavy lifting day in and day out.

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57 recent

August 28, 2026Episode 5748 min

Episode 57: Kshitij "KJ" Jain - Unleashing the Power of Data with Joveo

Wasted recruitment marketing spend isn't just a budget problem; it's a sign that a health system's candidate data, job distribution, and hiring funnel are all working against each other. In this episode of TA in the Trenches, RogueHire co-founder and COO Matt and RogueHire's Digital and Recruiting Innovator Ryan Affolter sit down with Kshitij "KJ" Jain, founder of Jovio, to unpack why up to 40% of job advertising spend targets roles that don't actually need it, and why 70% of candidates apply to the wrong job in the first place. The conversation explores how intelligent job distribution, leading indicators like shortlist quality, and cookieless tracking can close the gap between marketing spend and real hiring outcomes, plus why the shift from SEO to AI-driven answer engines (AEO/GEO) is already changing how candidates find jobs, and where AI belongs — and doesn't — in healthcare hiring decisions. For healthcare TA leaders trying to stretch limited budgets while keeping pace with AI-driven applicant volume, this episode makes the case that smarter spend, and safer AI adoption, both start with clean ATS data.

August 18, 2026Episode 5650 min

Episode 56: Jenny Cotie Kangas (JCK) - Unleashing the Power of Data with GBS Worldwide

A rare COVID-19 complication in 2020 left Jenny Cotie Kangas (JCK) with total memory loss, and healthcare talent acquisition is better for it. In this episode of TA in the Trenches, RogueHire co-founder and COO Matt Rimer sits down with JCK, VP of Innovation at GBS Worldwide and a TA Tech 100 honoree, along with RogueHire's Digital and Recruiting Innovator, Ryan Affolter, to unpack how losing her "design bias" gave her a sharper, more data-driven way to diagnose what's actually broken in healthcare hiring. The conversation digs into why so many TA leaders chase vanity metrics like application volume instead of the signals that actually predict outcomes, such as quality of slate, candidate drop-off, and the true cost of inaction, and how JCK's mantra to "collect the dots to connect the dots" helps teams separate real signal from noise. You'll hear why AI should be treated as a thought partner rather than an answer machine, how feeding it multiple leadership "personas" can sharpen a boardroom pitch, and why her upcoming book, Step Zero, argues that mapping your process has to come before you turn on any algorithm, because AI doesn't fix broken workflows, it scales them. For healthcare HR and talent acquisition leaders trying to trade gut-feel decisions for a data-grounded operation, this episode offers a practical framework for spotting design bias, choosing metrics that actually matter, and giving AI the context it needs before asking it to help solve your hardest hiring problems.

August 5, 2026Episode 5553 min

Episode 55: Doug Berg - Unleashing the Power of Data with Match2

A broken candidate experience is costing healthcare employers talent long before they see it in their vacancy reports, and Doug Berg thinks the fix starts with how we use data. In this episode of TA in the Trenches, RogueHire COO and Co-Founder Matt sits down with talent tech pioneer and Match2 founder, Doug Berg, along with RogueHire’s Digital and Recruiting Innovator, Ryan Affolter, to unpack what it really takes to move from reactive, triage-style hiring to a proactive, always-on talent intelligence model. The conversation digs into why today’s apply-and-goodbye workflows, especially in systems like Workday, create a fragmented, consumer-grade-in-reverse journey for candidates, and how “candidate EHR” style profiles, continuous engagement, and predictive “Fitbit-like” market signals can turn a static career site into a scalable sourcing engine. You’ll hear how Doug’s decades of building recruitment tech categories inform a new approach to talent communities, why “apply” should never be the only button on your career site, and what a truly data-connected culture looks like when TA, marketing, and leadership are working from the same source of truth. For healthcare HR and talent acquisition leaders trying to heal the candidate experience while filling critical roles faster, this episode offers a practical playbook for using data, automation, and smarter engagement to waste fewer applicants, reduce friction, and keep high-intent candidates in your orbit instead of losing them to the black hole of legacy systems.

June 10, 2026Episode 5450 min

Episode 54: Mike Stafiej - Unleashing the Power of Data with ERIN

A stale employee referral program is more than a missed opportunity. It quietly raises time to fill, keeps you overpaying agencies, and leaves your best potential hires sitting just one warm introduction away. In this episode of TA in the Trenches, Matt sits down with Mike Stafiej, CEO of ERIN, and RogueHire's Digital and Recruiting Innovator, Ryan Affolter to dig into how modern referral automation turns your existing workforce into a scalable sourcing engine. The conversation explores why referrals should be a core hiring strategy (not a “nice-to-have” bonus), how high‑velocity data signals can pinpoint which jobs are primed for referral outreach, and what it takes to build a culture where employees advocate for your roles from day one. For healthcare HR and talent acquisition leaders under pressure to reduce agency spend, improve speed, and fill hard‑to‑hire roles, this episode shows how better referral data, smarter automation, and a more intentional internal mobility strategy can change the math on your recruiting funnel.

June 1, 2026Episode 5349 min

Episode 53: Jon Bischke - Fixing Stale Recruiting Data

A stale recruiting database is more than an inconvenience. It can quietly weaken outbound recruiting, distort AI-driven hiring workflows, and limit a health system’s ability to fill roles that affect patient care. In this episode of TA in the Trenches , Matt sits down with Jon Bischke from ZoomInfo to discuss how better data changes the way talent acquisition teams find, prioritize, and engage candidates. The conversation explores why clean, current candidate intelligence matters, how TA leaders can reduce wasted outreach, and what healthcare recruiting teams need to know before relying on automation or AI at scale. For HR and talent acquisition leaders under pressure to improve hiring speed, candidate quality, and recruiter productivity, this episode shows why better hiring starts with better data.

December 10, 2025Episode 5245 min

Unleashing the Power of Data with Accurate

In this episode of TA in the Trenches, host Matt and co-host Ryan sit down with Devin Martinez, SVP of Account Management at Accurate, to cut through the hype and show how data, AI, and advanced automation are reshaping background checks for many industries, including healthcare. Devin shares front-line tactics for shrinking turnaround time without sacrificing accuracy or patient safety, and explains how sentiment analysis, package design, and continuous monitoring turn pre-boarding from a bottleneck into a competitive advantage. Links: RogueHire Matt on LinkedIn Devin on LinkedIn

November 26, 2025Episode 5146 min

Unleashing the Power of Data with Radancy

On this episode of TA in the Trenches, host Matt and co-host Ryan are joined by Ashley O’Connor, SVP of Accounts & Strategic Partnerships at Radancy, to dig into one of the biggest opportunities in talent acquisition today: the intersection of data, AI, and advanced automation, especially through the lens of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Ashley breaks down what GEO really is, how it differs from traditional SEO, and why optimizing for AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity is quickly becoming mission-critical for employer brand and candidate experience, particularly in healthcare TA, where margins are thin and every dollar of recruitment marketing spend has to work harder. Links: RogueHire Matt on LinkedIn Ryan on LinkedIn Ashley on Linkedin

November 12, 2025Episode 5045 min

Unleashing the Power of Data with Greenhouse

In today’s episode, host Matt and co-host Ryan sit down with Ariana Moon, VP of Talent Planning & Acquisition at Greenhouse Software, to break down how to align expectations, use AI without losing the human touch, and turn noisy pipelines into high-signal, fair hiring. We discuss Greenhouse’s advancements in helping TA teams move faster and smarter, “ghost jobs”, and the importance of prioritizing intent. Links: RogueHire Matt on LinkedIn Ryan on LinkedIn Ariana on LinkedIn

October 29, 2025Episode 4942 min

Unleashing the Power of Data with Special Guest Betterleap and FOX

In this live episode, host Matt and co-host Ryan sit down with Kristie McCaffery, Director of Recruitment at FOX Rehabilitation, Kara Schymanski, Talent Sourcing Leader at Fox Rehabilitation, and Khaled Hussein, Co-founder & CEO of BetterLeap, to unpack how a healthcare organization fills aging, revenue-critical reqs in one of the tightest markets in the U.S.: physical therapy. We explore how FOX is leveraging BetterLeap’s natural-language search and AI-driven contact intelligence to move beyond brittle Boolean strings, uncover hidden candidates, and refresh stale ATS records. Alongside new data sources and consumer-side signals, Fox is turning rediscovery into real hires and building a sourcing specialty that’s more about consultative selling than technical query-building. Links: RogueHire Matt on LinkedIn Ryan on LinkedIn Kristie on LinkedIn Kara on LinkedIn Khaled on LinkedIn

October 15, 2025Episode 4843 min

Unleashing the Power of Data with Employ and Theresa Mazzaro

In this live-recorded episode of TA in the Trenches, host Matt leads a fireside chat on how data and AI are reshaping talent acquisition. He’s joined by Jordan Patterson, VP of Product at Employ, who brings deep expertise in HR tech and product strategy; Theresa Mazzaro, Recruiting Manager at Fairfax Radiology Centers and past President of NAHCR, with more than 30 years of clinical and TA leadership experience; and co-host Ryan Affolter, a member of the RogueHire team and a veteran in recruitment marketing and digital strategy. Together we explore how AI is transforming sourcing, screening, and hiring, and why the future depends on using these tools for decision readiness, not decision replacement. The conversation digs into candidate experience, the role of governance in building trust, and the key metrics that matter most when running elite TA operations. With insights from healthcare and HR tech leaders, the episode blends forward-looking possibilities with the human side of recruiting that can’t be automated. Links: RogueHire Matt on LinkedIn Jordan on LinkedIn Theresa on LinkedIn Ryan on LinkedIn