Recruiting Toolbox

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

04/09/2026

🎉 Happy International Recruiters Day!

The role of recruiters is evolving fast. As John Vlastelica highlights, we’re moving from transactional recruiting to becoming true Talent Advisors.

Today, it’s not just about filling roles —
it’s about influencing decisions, leveraging data + AI, and shaping business outcomes through talent.

💡 The opportunity?
To deliver real strategic value in a world increasingly driven by AI.

Great read here: https://na2.hubs.ly/H04NRmy0

What do you think is the biggest opportunity for recruiters today?

How is the recruiter role evolving? - John Vlastelica

04/02/2026

If you're leading change in Talent Acquisition… this might hit a nerve.

One of the biggest mistakes leaders make?
👉 Asking recruiters to act like Talent Advisors…
👉 But still measuring and rewarding them like order-takers.

As John Vlastelica puts it:
“You can't say you want X, and then punish X.” ()

In his latest article, he breaks down:
✔️ Why role transformations fail
✔️ How mixed messages kill real change
✔️ What leaders must actually reinforce to evolve their teams

If you're serious about building a more strategic TA function, this is a must-read.

📩 We highly recommend subscribing to his newsletter — it's packed with practical, no-BS insights for TA leaders navigating real change.

👉 Read the full article here: https://na2.hubs.ly/H04DJt90

Everybody I speak with in TA leadership roles wants their team of recruiters operating as Talent Advisors. Everybody.

03/19/2026

Corporate Recruiting Leaders 📣

Join John Vlastelica, CEO of Recruiting Toolbox, for an exclusive 1.75-day, in-person workshop focused on improving Quality of Hire.

📍 LinkedIn Sunnyvale Campus, California
📅 June 9–10, 2026

This interactive Recruiting Leadership Lab brings together a small group of corporate recruiting leaders to learn practical strategies for:

• Improving quality of hire in a rapidly changing hiring environment
• Driving stronger hiring manager ownership
• Building a segmented talent acquisition strategy that balances AI, automation, and high-touch recruiting

👥 Limited to 20 corporate recruiting leaders to keep the workshop highly interactive.

Led by John Vlastelica, a 4-time #1 rated speaker at LinkedIn Talent Connect and advisor to companies like Google, Amazon, Adidas, Slack, Uber, and Disney.

Learn more and reserve your spot:

https://na2.hubs.ly/H04ppBq0

03/17/2026

New from John Vlastelica !

In his latest blog, John shares an important reminder for talent leaders: we must run to the fire.

As AI and automation take on more transactional recruiting work, the real value of talent advisors will come from leaning into the most challenging work — the toughest roles, the toughest hiring managers, and the toughest conversations.

Instead of avoiding complexity, this is the moment for recruiters to step into it and demonstrate the strategic value we bring to the business.

Check out John’s latest blog to learn more about what “running to the fire” means for the future of recruiting.

https://na2.hubs.ly/H04lRDx0

Back in 2022, when things were peak crazy for TA, I wrote a post for LinkedIn's Talent Blog about what to do when we're stretched too thin - too many reqs, not enough resources, too many priorities. It's a good read, as while the context for being too lean relative to the work was covid-era hiring t

02/20/2026

In his latest Try Harder is Not a Strategy newsletter, John shares the slides from his talks at LinkedIn Talent Connect. Over two days, 250 talent leaders workshopped strategies for improving Quality of Hire, reducing candidate fraud, and elevating the recruiter’s role in candidate assessment and hiring decisions.

If you'd like the slides, check out the link in the newsletter.

Where does TA need to play a bigger leadership role around candidate quality and fraud risk mitigation?

And if you’re already implementing strategies that are making an impact, please share. He’d love to learn more about what you're doing.

I've been writing about the risks of candidate fraud since January 2024. Things are moving quickly, and in my recent talk at LinkedIn Talent Connect in San Diego, I decided to focus on the TA leader's role in driving candidate quality and quality of hire, which now includes a big focus on reducing f

09/12/2025

Is it time we return to in person interviews again?
➡️ Cheating and fraud risk,
➡️ candidate experience and realistic job/culture previews, and
➡️ return to office requirements are driving companies to interviews in person. ➡️ Some hiring teams also believe they can better interview for soft skills if they're sitting across from a person, human to human.

In John Vlastelica's latest LinkedIn Talent Solutions blog article, he explores the pros and cons of returning to more in-person interviews, the prep we'd need to do to return to in-office interviews, how we need to show up as talent advisors with hiring managers before deciding, and the conversation TA leaders need to have with business leaders around the upside and downside of returning to in-person interviews. Plus a reminder that many hiring teams still need to up-level their interviewing skills (just because you move from zoom to in-person doesn't mean you'll automatically interview and select better - in fact, it make make things worse.)

❓ Is your company doing more in-person interviews now vs last year? Why?
❓ Is it mostly because of fraud risk, return to office, or something else?
Please share. We'd love to learn more about what you're doing or planning to do, and why.

Is in-person interviewing making a comeback? Industry leader John Vlastelica offers practical insights on what this shift could mean for hiring teams and how to get ready.

06/05/2025

Candidate Fraud: It's going to be a much bigger focus for TA and security teams in 2026. If you're a TA leader, are you having conversations with your hiring manager community, your recruiters, your CIO, your security teams, your legal teams about the risks? In John Vlastelica's latest LinkedIn Talent Solutions Talent Blog post, he shares some specific examples of:

✅ what's happening now,
✅ what might happen if we stay on this path,
✅ what companies are doing to mitigate risks,
✅ what you can do now, and
✅ what kind of conversations you should be having.

It'a a dense article with a list of 10 things TA leaders should be doing now.

We'd love to hear from you - please comment: what are you seeing, are you concerned about cheating and fraud enough that you're already making changes, and what do you think 2026/2027 will look like? Will we return to in-person interviews as the new norm next year?

And if you find this article valuable, please share it. We'd love to get more reach, and see what we can learn about what we should all be thinking about and doing this year to prepare for next year.

Read Article:

Is candidate cheating undermining your hiring process? Industry leader John Vlastelica shares his insights on what you can do to mitigate the risk.

06/04/2025

On May 22, 2025 at the annual recruitDC Conference in Falls Church, VA, Recruiting Toolbox Principal Consultant Ben Gotkin shared with attendees "3 Common Truths About Hiring Managers", and how understanding these can help Recruiters to build stronger, more invaluable partnerships with their Hiring Managers. Those 3 Common Truths include:

* Hiring Managers want everything faster (but have poor self-awareness about their own impact on speed)
* Hiring Managers want their recruiter to understand their business better (and won’t trust you if you don’t)
* Hiring Managers want you to be the expert (your credibility with them will suffer if you don’t show up as one)

The article below is a recap of this session and provides more insights into how to build strong partnerships with hiring managers based upon role clarity, trust and confidence.

Learn how aligning with hiring managers, using data-driven insights, and understanding the business can drive faster, smarter hiring decisions.