TaPod - We Talk Talent Acquisition.

Hosted by Craig

Business Technology Comedy InterviewsExplicit

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Episodes

622

Latest episode

Nov 2026

Language

EN-AU

About the show

Join hosts - Lauren Sharp & Craig Watson as we explore the wonderful and wacky world of Talent Acquisition & Recruitment. We speak with TA Legends, Thought Leaders & Industry suppliers. We explore challenges, changes & confusion in a world that is crying out for a voice. We aim to be informative... a little controversial... with a side of fun. Join us... won't you?

Listen to episodes

60 recent

November 8, 2026Episode 62436 min

Episode 624 - Raising the bar on TA & Men's Health with Edan Haddock

This week on Tapod, we catch up with the amazing Edan Haddock, fresh from his ‘MCing’ duties at ATC. Edan has been busy – very busy, winning Corporate Talent Leader of the Year and Corporate Talent Team of the Year at the ITAs to taking on 30 podcasts in 30 days during Movember. This man never sleeps! We talk learnings from ATC as well as the award-winning submissions in a time of challenge for our industry. Edan points to the excitement about how the function of TA is evolving, with new opportunities being born from all the chaos. Edan is conflicted by AI. He loves how AI has taken away the boring and mundane and gives us options, but he is also concerned about the possible effects on our environment. It’s a tightrope. At the heart of everything Edan does is his passion for men’s health and his love for Movember, and his 30 podcasts in 30 days is a phenomenal undertaking, deserving the support of our industry – see how you can support in the comments. Thanks to Paradox for partnering with us for this episode.

November 3, 2026Episode 62318 min

Episode 623 - Your Weekly TA & Recruitment News with the Scoop

It’s your weekly TA & Recruitment news blast with the Scoop from TaPod. We have all kinds of stories, including Deloitte increase pay for execs whilst making mass redundancies, NAB makes the news 3 weeks in a row, Christmas hiring on the up, whistleblower numbers through the roof at Fair Work, some bad interview stories, AI rehiring and jobs of the week. And hey, don’t forget to check out upcoming events. Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us to bring you the Scoop.

November 1, 2026Episode 62232 min

Episode 622 - 'TA has moulded my HR career.' with Seemali Shukla

This week on Tapod, we catch up with Seemali Shukla, Head of HR ANZ at HP. Seemali is one of the panellists at the upcoming HRFest in Melbourne on the topic ‘Workforce Intelligence – stop guessing, start predicting’, and we are really excited to discuss some of the issues the industry is facing. Seemali has some very impressive logos on her resume. From Coca-Cola to EY and now HP, she has seen enterprise TA and HR up close and personal. Seemali tells us that TA moulded her career in HR and gives her recipe to success from an implementation perspective, including having to unlearn before you can learn and never being shy to ask for help. There are some real nuggets of gold in this interview, and we encourage you to attend HRFest in Melbourne this month – link in the comments. Thanks to Paradox for partnering with us for this episode.

October 27, 2026Episode 62116 min

Episode 621 - Your Weekly TA & Recruitment News with the Scoop

It’s your weekly TA & Recruitment news blast with the Scoop from TaPod. We have all kinds of stories, including Microsoft buying out up to 60k staff, NAB might be making you reapply for your own role, Australia’s most in-demand white-collar roles, spirits involved in the hiring process, Lion King interview vibes and much more. And hey, don’t forget to check out upcoming events. Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us to bring you the Scoop.

October 25, 2026Episode 62039 min

Episode 620 - 'We applied for jobs at Australia's 100 largest companies' with James Whitcombe

On our special TaPod does ATC series, we catch up with James Whitcombe – Founder of The Candidate Coach and Director at SMAART Recruitment. Recently James applied for roles at Australia’s 100 largest companies, and his findings are amazing. Segmenting the process to the application, the application received the email and the rejection email; he was able to pinpoint successes and failures with candidate experience. There are some crazy stats, and comes with a warning that if you are not trying to apply for a role at your own organisation, you risk falling into the traps that are affecting your brand and credibility. And after you’ve listened to this, sign up for the webinar – link in comments. Thanks to Greenhouse for supporting us this month.

October 21, 2026Episode 61919 min

Episode 619 - Greenhouse Live from the ATC

On our special TaPod does ATC series, we catch up with Meredith Johnson – Chief Product Officer and Carin Van Vuuren – Chief Marketing Officer at Greenhouse. We discuss the AI Doom Loop, Greenhouse Dream Job, helping job seekers to stand out, candidate fraud, brands that stand out, training to use new technology and AI ethics. It’s a fascinating discussion covering all the issues we, in TA, are facing every day.

October 20, 2026Episode 61819 min

Episode 618 - Your Weekly TA & Recruitment News with the Scoop

It’s your weekly TA & Recruitment news blast with the Scoop from TaPod. We have all kinds of stories, including One Nation shenanigans, latest unemployment figures, Public Service wants a pay rise, Bikies running recruitment in Adelaide, HR becomes RR, a happy little recruitment romance in China and much more. And hey, don’t forget to check out upcoming events. Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us to bring you the Scoop.

October 18, 2026Episode 61723 min

Episode 617 - Kevin Wheeler's Fearless Forecast at the ATC

This week on Tapod, we catch up with the brilliant Kevin Wheeler, live from the ATC as he delivers his Fearless Forecast, and are you in for a treat! In his unique way, Kevin doesn’t hold back on what’s in store for the future of recruitment. He forces us all to take a good long hard look in the mirror and face the challenges of changing demand, AI and evolution as we help define our industry. If you are in recruitment and weren’t lucky enough to be at ATC, this is unmissable listening. Thanks to Greenhouse for partnering with us for this episode.

October 16, 2026Episode 6167 min

Episode 616 - TA has a new home and it's called the TAAA

Join us for a special Tapod episode, where we get under the hood of Australia's new home for TA – the Talent Acquisition Association of Australia – the TAAA. Launched 2 weeks ago as Australia’s only professional association for Talent Acquisition we were hoping for 400 members in the first year and we are close to 500 in the first 2 weeks! We are all about raising professional standards, training pathways, lobbying and advocacy for the government and much more. We already have some amazing partners, including Indeed, Avature, CXC Global, Workpro and Testgrid. So join now – free for TA professionals and TA Teams in the first year, and there are opportunities for vendors to join to commit to a professional code of conduct and truly partner with the industry that supports you. taaa.au.

October 13, 2026Episode 61516 min

Episode 615 - Your Weekly TA & Recruitment News with the Scoop

It’s your weekly TA & Recruitment news blast with the Scoop from TaPod. We have all kinds of stories live from ATC 2026 including, Microsoft getting a slap and a hug on the same day, Amazon still laying off staff while investing in AI, Lauren from Indeed joins us to speak EB, Upwork and Apple have some great new jobs, small business prioritising retention, gender pay gap hits AI Agentsand much more. And hey, don’t forget to check out upcoming events. Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us to bring you the Scoop.