The Recruiting Brainfood Podcast

GHOSTING: WHY THE AI JOB APPLICATION TSUNAMI IS NO EXCUSE   Diffusion of technology innovation across society is something to be celebrated. We need to be aware of the challenges to existing structures that this will inevitably bring and refactor our processes to account for the changes. One of the first ways in which employers are experiencing this challenge is in how to handle the increased volu...

NEW RECRUITMENT KPI'S FOR TOMORROW'S TALENT ACQUISITION   We are beginning to see some step change improvements in recruiter capability. The promise of AI has been overblown in many areas, but it is clear huge efficiency gains have been seen in areas such as sourcing, CV review, interview note taking, interview scheduling and more. These are areas which previously took large teams for recruiters a...

IMPACT OF AI IN THE BLUE CHIP GRADUATE CAREER   In the before times, the passport to comfortable middle class prosperity was go to a good University, get a 2.1 or above, and apply to a graduate scheme with a blue chip organisation. Most attractive were the global professional services firms - McKinsey, Accenture, PwC, KPMG, BCG and the rest. With the advent of AI replacing a great deal of the know...

REALITIES OF AI - INSIGHT & ANALYSIS FROM 1000 HEADS OF TA   Get ahead of the AI curve with exclusive first-look insights from Fosway Group’s cutting-edge ‘Realities of AI’ research. Sven Elbert unpacks the biggest trends, priorities, and pain points Talent Acquisition leaders will face in 2025. Expect sharp analysis, no-nonsense guidance, and practical, data-driven advice to help you build sm...

SEO FOR LLM'S? WHAT TALENT ACQUISITION AND EMPLOYER BRANDING HAVE TO KNOW   Generative AI is transforming the way people discover and research employers - and it’s happening faster than most Talent Acquisition teams realise.   Google’s own research reveals a 30% drop in clicks from traditional search in 2025 alone, as AI-generated summaries answer more user queries before anyone lands on your site...

HOW MUCH CAN YOUR TALENT ACQUISITION TEAM DO? CAPACITY PLANNING IN THE ERA OF AI   Working out how much capacity you have as a TA leader is pretty much critical to doing your job properly; in fact, it be one of the top three most important things a TA leader should be doing. How do we most effectively do this - does anyone have a framework? Better yet, does anyone have the experience?   We're goin...

OVERCOMING IMPOSTER SYNDROME: LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM EXEC COACHING   'Imposter Syndrome' is perhaps one of the most well known of psychological phenomena, one which many of us are undoubtedly familiar. Why is it that we tell ourselves that we do not belong, are that we are not worthy of the role or the moment?   Let's dive into the psychology of imposter syndrome and see if we can find practical...

Automate or Augment? Quarterly Spot Check on the State of AI in TA   With ChatGPT5 round the corner, as well as the release of ChatGPT Agent by Open AI, we are soon to see mass distribution of the next generation of AI. The innovation rate is cycling too fast for any one of us to accurately keep pace so I am going to do a regular quarterly check in on AI adoption in TA / HR and Recruitment use cas...

RecOps & AI: TECHNIQUES TO ACCELERATE AI ADOPTION   Recruitment Operations developed as a distinct function with Talent Acquisition with a purpose of ensuring the entire recruiting function operated as efficiently and as resiliently as possible. This was BEFORE the advent of Artificial Intelligence, so what is the situation in 2025 when AI powered efficiency are the No1, 2 and 3 priorities for...

HUMANS REQUIRED: CRITICAL MOMENTS IN THE HIRING PROCESS   How many times have we heard the comforting phrase 'but recruitment will always need the human touch'?   Intuitively, I believe this is true at least for non-volume, permanent hiring but but do we really understand why, when, who and how? We probably need to find out because if we rely on comforting homilies, we might find the CFO won't qui...

CANDIDATE FRAUD: HARDENING THE HIRING FUNNEL WITH INFOSEC TECHNIQUES   Candidate fraud is already a problem for some today but it will soon be a huge problem for everyone tomorrow. The uncomfortable truth is that AI will undermine trust in all digital communications and we need to rethink our recruitment approaches with security much higher in the priority list. It might even be said that security...

STRATEGIC WORKFORCE PLANNING IN AN AGENTIC WORLD   Recruiters have long said that stronger SWP would solve all recruitment problems - if the business only told us with a bit more notice what they were looking for! But now with AI Agents becoming a population in the workforce, can we really know what the right size for a team is anymore?   We're taking a deep dive into the world of talent intellige...

Forget Filters: 1,000 AI Recruiters On-Demand - ENDORSED LIVE DEMO   It should go without saying that finding suitable candidates is the primary purpose of recruiting. The promise of Artificial Intelligence is enabling more companies to do that more effectively than ever before. What does next generation sourcing tech actually look like?   We're continuing our Live Demo series by challenging the f...

COMPANY CULTURE: AI FIRST VS HUMAN CENTRED?   We know the right answer is 'both' but really - when push comes to shove - what is the driving principle in how you build your business? Two emerging philosophies are driving the decision making in companies - lets use Brainfood Live to figure out which one is going to be the right one when it comes your business   - What is AI First? - What is Human C...

STATE OF TALENT ACQUISITION: THE RECFEST REVIEW 2025   Recfest is the largest in person event for Talent Acquisition professionals and the perfect barometer for the state of the market. Let's see what we learn from the 100+ talks and conversations with 1000's of delegates who will have attended the industry's premier event.   We will review   - RecFest main themes - UK Economy vs Global Macro - AI...

HOW TO ASSESS JOB CANDIDATES FOR AI LITERACY?   There is no company in the world that is not interested in becoming more AI-enabled. One of the ways to do this is directly relevant to us - recruit new people who can bring up the level of AI literacy in the workforce. In a direct analogy to the digitisation wave of the early 2000's, we now have the AI wave of the 2020's - becoming AI-enabled by hir...

RECRUITER SKILLS PROFILE: HOW AI CHANGES THE GAME   We all know that AI is going to change every job, but we don't know precisely how or when, much less the implications on the type of skills we need to be hiring when recruiting for 'AI first' employers.     - What do we know about the impact of AI / Automation in knowledge work? - What skills are going to be insulated and valued from this impact?...

CANDIDATE FRAUD: IT'S A RECRUITING EMERGENCY   We probably never thought we'd ever encounter this challenge, but in 2025 there is no denying that candidate fraud poses an increasing danger to the fidelity of traditional hiring practices, Increase global economic uncertainty, a globalised talent pool who can find jobs and apply from anywhere in the world and the advent of powerful AI tools on the c...

Brainfood on Tour - How to Hire in Brazil in 2025 & Beyond   Brazil - the largest country in South America, an emerging power in the world with enormous natural resources, a growing population and huge space for development. What is it like hiring in Brazil in 2025? How will it look going forward? Brainfood is back on tour, so let’s talk to local recruiters and find out.   We’re going to speak...

BEYOND TALENT ACQUISITION: LEADERSHIP SKILLS NEEDED TO EXPAND SCOPE   Talent Acquisition was the optimal specialism in the People Ops function during the ZIRP of hyper growth; but what organisations needed in 2019 is not what organisations need in 2025. We're already in a world where global growth is slowing, companies are getting smaller, more efficient, more automated. The need for everyone in T...

TALENT ACQUISITION WITHOUT BOUNDARIES: LEADERSHIP LESSONS FOR GLOBAL TA TEAMS   There are many reasons why companies become geographically dispersed - to better service local markets, to develop specific new products, tap into specialist labour markets, corporate tax efficiency and wage arbitrage, taking advantage of skilled labour wherever it can be found at the best cost coefficient for the busi...

VC Investment in WorkTech - Where is the Money Going in 2025?   We're halfway through the year (can you believe this??) and so a great time to stop and take stock on where we are going with recruitment and HR technology. It's pretty clear that investors know that the organisational transformation is underway - driven by AI innovation which is changing the nature of almost every job.   What can we...

HIRING EFFICIENCY: HOW AGENCIES, RPO'S AND IN-HOUSE USE AI / AUTOMATION   Agencies, RPO's and In-house - we're all recruiters at heart but we too often end up self siloing in order to create safe spaces, which whilst necessary, can also lead to a slow down in knowledge transfer across party lines.   Lets use this week's Brainfood Live to find out if we can break down some of these barriers   - How...

CHIEF OF STAFF - WTF IS THIS ROLE (and can TA / HR do it?)   Chief of STAFF? Sounds like it should be a role which falls into the People Org so its weird that such a senior position so often appears elsewhere ;-) What is the Chief of Staff role, how does it differ from CHRO / Head of HR / EA ....and is it a good idea to have one in your organisation?   - Wtf is Chief of Staff? Can we outline what...

HIRING MANAGER SELF SERVE - THE PAST AND FUTURE OF RECRUITMENT?   It was also the Past of Recruitment - where hiring managers were doing most of the work in hiring for their teams, everything from putting up adverts in shop windows, handling the first enquiries, reviewing CV's, screening candidates, scheduling interviews, interviewing candidates and then offering / hiring said candidates. Perhaps...