Recruiting Toolbox

09/01/2026

What if Talent Advising has an adoption problem?

In his latest article, John Vlastelica explores an important challenge in the evolution of recruiters into Talent Advisors.
We spend time teaching recruiters to be more strategic—but how often do we teach hiring managers what great Talent Advising actually looks like?

As John puts it, you can’t order off a menu you’ve never seen. The ultimate test isn't the recruiter's title or training. It's whether business leaders seek out their judgment because they believe it will lead to better decisions.

📖 Read John's latest article:
https://na2.hubs.ly/H07yRm00

For years, the most savvy TA leaders I know have been telling recruiters they need to become Talent Advisors. Be more strategic.

08/27/2026

📽️ New episode of John Vlastelica’s Try Harder is Not a Strategy podcast!

John talks with Shay Johnson, VP of Strategic HR Partnerships at Compass Group USA, about designing better high-volume hiring experiences at scale. They explore automation, candidate experience, and how AI could reshape the future of talent acquisition.

🎧 Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube. Find every episode here: https://na2.hubs.ly/H07tV3m0

08/25/2026

Are recruiters operating like contractors—or consultants?

In his latest article, John Vlastelica explores how the recruiter role is changing as AI takes over more transactional work.
His key question is simple: What are we actually paying recruiters to do?
Is it to complete recruiting activities—or to help the business make better talent decisions?
John argues that the future belongs to recruiters who understand the business, challenge assumptions, improve hiring decisions, and help build stronger teams.
The goal isn't to find a more impressive title for recruiters. It's to make sure the value of their work goes far beyond a “contractor” mindset.

📖 Read John's full article:

I'm not one of those people who gets too caught up in the different meanings of similar words - goals vs mission, complicated vs complex. (Except for intake meetings vs strategy meetings - I will fight that fight).

08/06/2026

We're excited to celebrate the launch of Try Harder is Not a Strategy, the new podcast from John Vlastelica.

The first episode features Tyler Weeks, Vice President of HR Research & Performance at Marriott, exploring questions such as:
• How useful are assessments in predicting success in hourly roles?
• Should quality of hire be measured at the individual or team level?
• Could AI's greatest value come from measuring work rather than automating it?
• How is AI helping us better understand the work people actually do?

Congratulations to John on the launch, and thank you to Paradox for partnering to bring this series to life.

🎧 Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube. Find every episode here: https://na2.hubs.ly/H072Vs10

08/04/2026

Should your TA team focus on building a recruiting machine?
In his latest article, John Vlastelica argues that while AI can automate many recruiting tasks, technology alone won't create a competitive advantage.

The real differentiator? Recruiters who operate as Talent Advisors—building trust, influencing hiring decisions, and helping leaders make better talent decisions.

John's message is clear: use AI to eliminate administrative work, but invest in the human skills that technology can't replace.

📖 Read the full article:
https://na2.hubs.ly/H070lvD0

About 10 years ago, at my Talent42 tech recruiting conference in Seattle, I watched two talent acquisition leaders give presentations just hours apart. The first was from Amazon.

07/07/2026

Are hiring teams relying too much on proxies for quality?
In his latest article, John Vlastelica challenges a common hiring practice: prioritizing candidates from well-known companies, schools, or referrals simply because they feel like a safer bet.
John argues that the real issue isn't where candidates come from—it's whether hiring teams have the skills to consistently evaluate talent.
Some key takeaways:
• Strong candidate assessment is more valuable than relying on proxies.
• Expanding beyond "known" talent opens larger and often more affordable talent pools.
• Talent Advisors should play a bigger role in coaching hiring managers on how to evaluate candidates effectively—not just sourcing them.

As AI continues to reshape recruiting, John suggests the recruiter's role will increasingly evolve from finding talent to helping organizations make better hiring decisions.
📖 Read the full article:
https://na2.hubs.ly/H06wm5b0

Hiring managers have depended on proxies for quality since I began recruiting the late 20th century :) On some level, it makes complete sense. Known candidates feel less risky and more predictable to many hiring managers than unknown candidates.

06/12/2026

What will separate great recruiters from the rest in an AI-driven world?
According to John Vlastelica, it may come down to two things:
➡️ Being genuinely interested.
➡️ Being genuinely interesting.
In his latest article, John explores why curiosity remains one of the most important recruiting skills—and how it helps recruiters better understand the business, build stronger candidate relationships, and earn trust.
His message is simple: the best recruiters aren't just interested in filling roles. They're interested in people, interested in the business, and continuously learning from the world around them.
📖 Read the article:
https://na2.hubs.ly/H0661x90
📩 Subscribe to John's newsletter, Try Harder Is Not a Strategy, for more insights on recruiting leadership and talent strategy:
https://na2.hubs.ly/H0661zT0

Curiosity has always been one of the most important traits of great recruiters. And in an age where AI is taking over the transactional parts of our jobs, connecting, relationship building, building trust, and influencing capabilities will be the biggest differentiators between high paid talent advi

05/14/2026

As more companies adopt AI-powered recruiting tools, John Vlastelica raises an important question:

👉 When everyone else zigs, should you zag?

In his latest article, John explores how Talent Acquisition leaders may actually create competitive advantage by being *more intentional* about where human interaction matters most in recruiting.

One particularly interesting point John makes is that while many organizations are optimizing for efficiency, the companies that win top talent may be the ones that know where to strategically invest in human connection.

A thoughtful read for TA leaders navigating the future of recruiting and AI.

📖 Read the full article here:
https://na2.hubs.ly/H05vgyZ0

📩 Subscribe to John’s newsletter, *Try Harder Is Not a Strategy*, for more insights on recruiting leadership, hiring strategy, and the evolving role of Talent Acquisition:
https://na2.hubs.ly/H05vgLW0

Product positioning experts have been teaching us about differentiation since the first person got their MBA. And certainly, within TA, we've been trying to differentiate (our very similar) EVP messaging, with (my opinion) very little real differentiation.

04/22/2026

💪 Want to become a true Talent Advisor?
You have to do the reps.

As John Vlastelica shares, training and theory aren’t enough —
real growth comes from practice.

That means stepping out of transactional recruiting and starting more strategic conversations with the business… even if it feels uncomfortable at first.

💡 The future belongs to recruiters who lean in, take risks, and build real influence.

👉 Read the full article:
https://na2.hubs.ly/H051PX70

What’s helped you build confidence as a Talent Advisor?

While I think training our TA teams to have effective talent advisor conversations is key, I also know that training, reading, watching videos, and observing others isn't enough. To get better at Talent Advising, we have to practice.

04/15/2026

🎯 The future of TA is T-shaped

As John Vlastelica explains, the best recruiters and TA leaders will combine:
✔️ Depth in key areas (specialization)
✔️ Breadth across business, talent, and strategy

Why? Because hiring is no longer just about filling roles —
it’s about solving complex business problems.

💡 Specialization might get you a seat at the table…
but breadth is what lets you lead.

Great perspective for anyone in Talent Acquisition:
https://na2.hubs.ly/H04VxKn0

What skills do you think TA professionals need to stay relevant?

I used to produce a conference - Talent42 - where I'd bring technology execs to our stage to talk to us (tech recruiters and TA leaders) about the work they're doing, the kind of talent they needed, and the future of technology. I wanted to help all of us lead more credible conversations with tech e