WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.359 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. I want to start 00:00:02.359 --> 00:00:06.200 today by asking you to visualize something. Picture 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:09.539 the last time you applied for a job. You probably 00:00:09.539 --> 00:00:12.679 spent hours, maybe even days, tweaking your resume. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:15.259 Oh yeah, obsessing over it. Totally. You obsessed 00:00:15.259 --> 00:00:17.839 over the font, the bullet points, maybe you even 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:19.600 wrote one of those cover letters that you just, 00:00:19.660 --> 00:00:21.379 you know, deep down no one's ever going to read. 00:00:21.699 --> 00:00:25.629 You hit submit and then just silence. Nothing. 00:00:25.629 --> 00:00:27.890 Just the void. The dreaded black hole. Exactly. 00:00:28.210 --> 00:00:30.570 The black hole. But today, we're going to flip 00:00:30.570 --> 00:00:33.409 the script. We are not looking at this from the 00:00:33.409 --> 00:00:36.689 perspective of the anxious applicant. Right. 00:00:36.729 --> 00:00:39.729 We are looking at the machine on the other side 00:00:39.729 --> 00:00:43.109 of that submit button. We are diving into the 00:00:43.109 --> 00:00:45.869 massive, complex, and frankly, sometimes completely 00:00:45.869 --> 00:00:49.450 baffling engine that is recruitment. It really 00:00:49.450 --> 00:00:51.609 is an engine, isn't it? I think so. Because based 00:00:51.609 --> 00:00:53.310 on the research we have today, this isn't just 00:00:53.310 --> 00:00:56.750 about hiring a guy. It's the fundamental plumbing 00:00:56.750 --> 00:00:59.310 of the entire economy. It really is. And it's 00:00:59.310 --> 00:01:01.520 so fascinating because. Everyone, and I mean 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:03.640 everyone, interacts with recruitment, but very 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:05.819 few people actually understand the mechanics 00:01:05.819 --> 00:01:07.900 of it. We all just see our little piece of it. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:10.040 Exactly. We tend to view it through this really 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:13.579 narrow lens, usually just our own, you know, 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:16.060 desperation to get hired or the frustration of 00:01:16.060 --> 00:01:17.939 trying to fill a seat on our team. Right. But 00:01:17.939 --> 00:01:19.739 when you look at the source material we have 00:01:19.739 --> 00:01:22.939 today, which is this comprehensive breakdown 00:01:22.939 --> 00:01:26.920 of the entire recruitment landscape, you realize 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:30.819 it's a multi -billion dollar industry. And it 00:01:30.819 --> 00:01:34.099 involves psychological warfare, legal minefields, 00:01:34.099 --> 00:01:38.640 algorithmic gatekeepers and the hunt for mythical 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:40.920 creatures. Well, hold on. Mythical creatures. 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:42.799 We'll get to that. Let's just say that in the 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:44.480 recruitment world, finding a purple squirrel 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:47.500 is like the ultimate goal. I am already hooked 00:01:47.500 --> 00:01:49.849 on the purple squirrel. Yeah. But. Okay, we have 00:01:49.849 --> 00:01:51.870 to lay the groundwork first. Let's start with 00:01:51.870 --> 00:01:54.370 the definition. When we say recruitment, are 00:01:54.370 --> 00:01:57.269 we just talking about HR posting a job ad on 00:01:57.269 --> 00:01:59.709 some website? Right. Because that feels way too 00:01:59.709 --> 00:02:03.209 simple. It is too simple. The formal definition 00:02:03.209 --> 00:02:05.989 we're working with here is the overall process. 00:02:06.329 --> 00:02:08.430 The whole thing. The whole thing. Identifying, 00:02:08.650 --> 00:02:12.050 sourcing, screening, shortlisting, interviewing, 00:02:12.150 --> 00:02:14.849 and finally... appointing candidates. OK, so 00:02:14.849 --> 00:02:16.990 it's the entire life cycle. The entire thing. 00:02:17.050 --> 00:02:19.430 And that applies to everything. It applies to 00:02:19.430 --> 00:02:23.189 a Fortune 500 CEO. It applies to a barista at 00:02:23.189 --> 00:02:25.569 a coffee shop. And interestingly, it even applies 00:02:25.569 --> 00:02:28.789 to unpaid roles. Wait, really? So finding a volunteer 00:02:28.789 --> 00:02:32.699 for the PTA bake sale is technically... Absolutely. 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:35.960 The mechanisms are surprisingly similar. You're 00:02:35.960 --> 00:02:38.120 still identifying a need. You're sourcing a person 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:40.080 and you're screening them for suitability. Can 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:42.080 you bake brownies without burning them? Exactly. 00:02:42.219 --> 00:02:45.060 The currency might be different. Gratitude instead 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:47.740 of a salary. But the engine is the same. And 00:02:47.740 --> 00:02:49.979 we also need to broaden our idea of who is doing 00:02:49.979 --> 00:02:52.020 the recruiting. Right. Because the stereotype 00:02:52.020 --> 00:02:55.969 is just that. frazzled HR generalist drowning 00:02:55.969 --> 00:02:58.490 in paperwork. And that person exists, sure. But 00:02:58.490 --> 00:03:00.870 recruitment today involves hiring managers, specialized 00:03:00.870 --> 00:03:03.710 recruitment agencies, public sector bodies, executive 00:03:03.710 --> 00:03:05.949 search firms. The headhunters. What we usually 00:03:05.949 --> 00:03:08.710 call headhunters, yeah. And increasingly, artificial 00:03:08.710 --> 00:03:11.969 intelligence. The robots. We cannot ignore the 00:03:11.969 --> 00:03:14.789 robots. We definitely can't. AI has fundamentally 00:03:14.789 --> 00:03:17.770 changed the landscape. It's taken us from paper 00:03:17.770 --> 00:03:21.650 shuffling to high -speed algorithmic sorting. 00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:25.180 So our mission today, then, is to decode how 00:03:25.180 --> 00:03:28.240 companies actually find people, uncover the hidden 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:30.439 biases in that system, both human and machine, 00:03:30.659 --> 00:03:33.520 and figure out why, despite all this incredible 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:36.020 technology, finding the perfect candidate is 00:03:36.020 --> 00:03:38.659 still so incredibly difficult. Which brings us 00:03:38.659 --> 00:03:41.599 to the very first step, the process. Let's break 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:44.060 this down. Because to an outsider, it looks like 00:03:44.060 --> 00:03:47.080 total chaos. But there is a standard flow, isn't 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:49.780 there? There is. It usually flows from job analysis 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:52.719 to sourcing, then screening, interviewing, and 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:55.599 finally hiring. Okay. And I want to pause on 00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:57.800 that first one, job analysis, because this is 00:03:57.800 --> 00:03:59.840 where most companies fail before they even start. 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:01.919 Job analysis sounds incredibly dry. It sounds 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:03.479 like a spreadsheet meeting I would try to skip. 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:05.379 It is a spreadsheet meeting, but it's a critical 00:04:05.379 --> 00:04:08.300 one. This is where the organization has to document 00:04:08.300 --> 00:04:11.979 the KSAOs. KSAOs. Okay, that sounds like a secret 00:04:11.979 --> 00:04:14.219 police force or something. It stands for knowledge, 00:04:14.460 --> 00:04:17.100 skills, abilities, and other characteristics. 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:21.199 Basically, you have to document exactly what 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:23.660 is required for the job. And I mean exactly. 00:04:23.939 --> 00:04:25.879 Okay. Give me an example of how this goes wrong 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:28.000 because I'm sure it goes wrong all the time. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:29.980 All the time. Okay. So imagine a hiring manager 00:04:29.980 --> 00:04:33.379 says, I need a marketing manager. HR says, great, 00:04:33.500 --> 00:04:35.339 what do they need to do? Right. The manager says, 00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:38.540 you know, marketing stuff, run campaigns, be 00:04:38.540 --> 00:04:42.850 creative. That sounds... Kind of reasonable, 00:04:42.910 --> 00:04:44.850 actually. It's terrible. It's completely vague. 00:04:45.129 --> 00:04:48.569 Does run campaigns mean digital ads on TikTok? 00:04:48.889 --> 00:04:51.430 Or does it mean billboard strategy? Does creative 00:04:51.430 --> 00:04:53.730 mean they can use Photoshop? Or does it mean 00:04:53.730 --> 00:04:56.029 they're a good copywriter? So it's about specificity. 00:04:56.110 --> 00:04:58.790 Extreme specificity. If you don't define the 00:04:58.790 --> 00:05:01.610 KSAOs properly, you end up searching for a phantom. 00:05:01.889 --> 00:05:03.930 It's like sending the recruiters out to find 00:05:03.930 --> 00:05:06.110 food instead of telling them you need organic 00:05:06.110 --> 00:05:08.490 bananas and whole milk. And that leads to this 00:05:08.490 --> 00:05:11.740 kickoff call, right? The scoping call. This is 00:05:11.740 --> 00:05:15.180 the negotiation table. This is where the recruiter 00:05:15.180 --> 00:05:18.300 who knows the market sits down with the hiring 00:05:18.300 --> 00:05:21.600 manager who knows the job and they have to align. 00:05:21.860 --> 00:05:23.800 They have to agree on what they're even looking 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:26.720 for. Yes. If they don't agree on what good looks 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:29.319 like from day one, the rest of the entire process 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:32.459 is just a colossal waste of money and time. Okay. 00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:34.839 So once they have their list, their very specific 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:37.379 list, they go hunting. This is the sourcing phase. 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:39.519 And I want to get into the weeds here because 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:41.800 to me, this sounds like the difference between 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:44.779 fishing and hunting. That is actually a perfect 00:05:44.779 --> 00:05:47.399 analogy. Most people think recruitment is fishing. 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:49.839 You bait a hook. You bait the hook, which is 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.420 your job ad. You throw it in the lake, which 00:05:52.420 --> 00:05:55.300 is LinkedIn or Indeed. And you just you sit in 00:05:55.300 --> 00:05:57.259 your boat waiting for the bobber to move. Right. 00:05:57.339 --> 00:05:59.100 And if the fish aren't biting, you just assume 00:05:59.100 --> 00:06:00.959 there are no fish in the lake. You say, oh, there's 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:03.240 a talent shortage. Exactly. You blame the lake. 00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:07.000 But sourcing, real professional sourcing, is 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.240 hunting. You aren't waiting. You are putting 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:12.439 on the camo, grabbing a rifle, and walking into 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:15.779 the woods to find a specific animal that is actively 00:06:15.779 --> 00:06:18.540 trying to hide from you. I love that image, though 00:06:18.540 --> 00:06:20.839 it does sound a little aggressive for HR. It 00:06:20.839 --> 00:06:23.420 has to be aggressive. Because the best candidates, 00:06:23.579 --> 00:06:26.079 those purple squirrels we teased earlier, they 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:28.519 are not looking at job boards. They're not looking 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:31.410 for a job. Not at all. They're happy. They're 00:06:31.410 --> 00:06:33.850 well -paid. They are sitting at their desks right 00:06:33.850 --> 00:06:36.550 now, crushing it for your competitor. They're 00:06:36.550 --> 00:06:38.829 what we call passive candidates. So how do you 00:06:38.829 --> 00:06:40.709 find them? I mean, if they aren't on the job 00:06:40.709 --> 00:06:43.829 boards, do they even exist to a recruiter? This 00:06:43.829 --> 00:06:45.610 is where we get into what the industry calls 00:06:45.610 --> 00:06:48.949 name generation. And honestly, this is the part 00:06:48.949 --> 00:06:51.750 that feels most like corporate espionage. Name 00:06:51.750 --> 00:06:54.790 generation. It sounds so innocuous, like a random 00:06:54.790 --> 00:06:56.750 username creator, but I'm guessing it's not. 00:06:57.009 --> 00:06:59.949 It's pure detective work. Think about it. You 00:06:59.949 --> 00:07:02.230 need to find the lead engineer at a rival firm. 00:07:02.350 --> 00:07:04.750 How do you get their name? I have no idea. Before 00:07:04.750 --> 00:07:07.310 the internet, this was literally calling a company's 00:07:07.310 --> 00:07:10.310 switchboard, pretending to be a vendor or a confused 00:07:10.310 --> 00:07:13.189 client. You'd say, oh, I need to send a thank 00:07:13.189 --> 00:07:15.050 you note to the guy who runs your engineering 00:07:15.050 --> 00:07:17.990 department. What was his name again? Dave. Steve. 00:07:18.189 --> 00:07:22.550 No way. Social engineering. 100%. You trick the 00:07:22.550 --> 00:07:25.170 receptionist into giving you the org chart. That's 00:07:25.170 --> 00:07:27.329 incredible. Today it's more digital, but the 00:07:27.329 --> 00:07:29.949 mindset is the same. It's analyzing conference 00:07:29.949 --> 00:07:32.670 attendee lists, looking at patent filings to 00:07:32.670 --> 00:07:36.029 see who invented a specific technology, or cross 00:07:36.029 --> 00:07:38.769 -referencing GitHub repositories. So you're building 00:07:38.769 --> 00:07:41.209 a file on someone. You are building a dossier 00:07:41.209 --> 00:07:43.329 on a person who doesn't even know you exist, 00:07:43.629 --> 00:07:45.889 just so you can call them and offer them a job 00:07:45.889 --> 00:07:48.639 they didn't ask for. That is wild. It really 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:50.720 is spycraft. And we're seeing a shift here too, 00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:52.480 right? Right. Because it used to be all about 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:55.540 the applicant tracking system, the ATS. The robot 00:07:55.540 --> 00:07:58.680 gatekeeper, yes. But because everyone has figured 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:01.339 out how to game the ATS with keywords. Right. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:03.199 You just stuff your resume with all the buzzwords. 00:08:03.420 --> 00:08:07.439 We're seeing a return to direct engagement. Candidates 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:09.920 are using networking tools to bypass the machines 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:13.879 and reach decision makers directly. And recruiters 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:16.199 are using those same tools to headhunt directly. 00:08:16.459 --> 00:08:18.980 It's becoming a hand -to -hand combat situation. 00:08:19.379 --> 00:08:21.420 But let's talk about the most basic lever a company 00:08:21.420 --> 00:08:24.199 can pull. If the hunting isn't working and the 00:08:24.199 --> 00:08:27.779 fishing isn't working, usually the answer is 00:08:27.779 --> 00:08:30.439 just money, right? The economics of attraction. 00:08:30.740 --> 00:08:34.139 It's simple but incredibly powerful. The source 00:08:34.139 --> 00:08:36.870 material we looked at... references a study regarding 00:08:36.870 --> 00:08:39.909 application wage elasticity. Okay, let's unpack 00:08:39.909 --> 00:08:42.690 that. Application wage elasticity. It sounds 00:08:42.690 --> 00:08:45.590 like something from an econ 101 nightmare. It's 00:08:45.590 --> 00:08:47.409 actually quite intuitive. The study estimates 00:08:47.409 --> 00:08:50.090 the elasticity at one. Meaning? It means there 00:08:50.090 --> 00:08:52.649 is a direct proportional relationship. If you 00:08:52.649 --> 00:08:55.289 increase the wage you're offering by, say, 10%, 00:08:55.289 --> 00:08:57.610 you don't just get 10 % more applicants. You 00:08:57.610 --> 00:09:00.029 theoretically get a 10 % increase in the quality 00:09:00.029 --> 00:09:02.710 and volume of the entire pool. So if you're offering 00:09:02.710 --> 00:09:04.129 peanuts and you're complaining, you can only 00:09:04.129 --> 00:09:06.879 find monkeys. The math suggests you should probably 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:11.159 stop buying peanuts. Money talks. If you aren't 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:13.659 getting good people, the economic reality is 00:09:13.659 --> 00:09:16.200 that your price point is just wrong for the market. 00:09:16.379 --> 00:09:18.419 It's a groundbreaking concept. Yeah. Pay people 00:09:18.419 --> 00:09:20.320 more, you get better people. Who knew? Right. 00:09:20.460 --> 00:09:22.080 But let's say you don't want to go out to the 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:24.440 open market. Let's say you want to look inside 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:28.200 the house first. This brings us to internal recruitment. 00:09:28.379 --> 00:09:31.179 Right. Promoting from within. This is when you 00:09:31.179 --> 00:09:33.539 select a candidate from your existing workforce. 00:09:33.860 --> 00:09:36.960 It could be a promotion, a transfer, or just 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:39.379 a developmental move. And I imagine the biggest 00:09:39.379 --> 00:09:41.500 pro here is that you know what you're getting. 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:44.220 There are no surprises. You aren't guessing. 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:46.659 Trust is the massive factor. You know their track 00:09:46.659 --> 00:09:48.879 record. You know if they show up on time. You 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:50.919 know if they fit the culture. You know if they 00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:53.159 steal lunches from the community fridge. That 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:55.320 last one's important. It's very important. It's 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:57.940 also usually... quicker and cheaper than hiring 00:09:57.940 --> 00:10:00.620 externally. And think about the morale aspect. 00:10:01.259 --> 00:10:04.100 It encourages skill development because employees 00:10:04.100 --> 00:10:06.779 see a future. If they know they can move up, 00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:09.019 they might work harder. But there's a catch. 00:10:09.700 --> 00:10:11.960 And I love this analogy we were discussing earlier. 00:10:12.500 --> 00:10:14.639 It's the hole in the roof problem. The domino 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:16.659 effect. Yes. Imagine you have a hole in your 00:10:16.659 --> 00:10:19.320 roof. And to fix it, you take a shingle from 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:20.740 the bottom of the roof and you move it to the 00:10:20.740 --> 00:10:23.379 top. Okay. I still have a hole in my roof. I 00:10:23.379 --> 00:10:25.879 just moved it. Precisely. This is the supply 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:28.620 chain problem of internal recruitment. You aren't 00:10:28.620 --> 00:10:30.580 actually adding capacity to the organization. 00:10:30.700 --> 00:10:33.720 You're just shifting the vacancy around. If you 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:36.460 promote a manager to director, you now have a 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:39.200 manager vacancy. So you have to fill that. Right. 00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:41.220 So maybe you promote a senior associate to manager. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:44.080 Now you have a senior associate vacancy. You 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:46.019 keep shifting the whole down until it's at the 00:10:46.019 --> 00:10:48.529 entry level. Which is easier to fill. Presumably. 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:50.830 Theoretically. But think about the disruption. 00:10:51.190 --> 00:10:53.190 You haven't just created one transition. You've 00:10:53.190 --> 00:10:56.009 created four or five. Every single one of those 00:10:56.009 --> 00:10:58.409 people has to learn a new job, get up to speed, 00:10:58.450 --> 00:11:00.669 and establish new relationships. I haven't thought 00:11:00.669 --> 00:11:03.190 about that. You've essentially unsettled four 00:11:03.190 --> 00:11:06.169 layers of your company just to fill one top spot. 00:11:06.450 --> 00:11:09.549 So the churn cost is way higher than just the 00:11:09.549 --> 00:11:11.950 one higher. It creates a lot of internal friction. 00:11:12.629 --> 00:11:15.669 But companies still do it all the time because... 00:11:16.220 --> 00:11:18.539 The risk of bringing in an outsider who fails 00:11:18.539 --> 00:11:21.639 is often seen as much, much higher. Now this 00:11:21.639 --> 00:11:24.379 connects to what is arguably the most powerful 00:11:24.379 --> 00:11:27.460 tool in all of recruitment. The who you know 00:11:27.460 --> 00:11:31.000 factor. Employee referrals. The golden ticket. 00:11:31.299 --> 00:11:33.919 Why is this still so dominant? In an age of AI 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:37.600 and massive global databases, why are we still 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:40.059 relying on... Hey, my friend Bob would be good 00:11:40.059 --> 00:11:42.379 for this. Because the data is just overwhelmingly 00:11:42.379 --> 00:11:45.519 in favor of referrals. It's not even close. Okay, 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:48.440 well, hit on me. First, there's quality. Candidates 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:50.639 hired through referrals tend to stay up to three 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:52.840 times longer than those hired through job boards. 00:11:53.059 --> 00:11:54.879 Three times longer. That's a huge difference 00:11:54.879 --> 00:11:56.940 in retention. That saves a ton of money. It is 00:11:56.940 --> 00:11:59.840 massive. And the reason is fit and pre -screening. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:02.419 When an employee refers someone, they are essentially 00:12:02.419 --> 00:12:04.600 putting their own reputation on the line. Right. 00:12:04.990 --> 00:12:06.590 I'm not going to recommend my friend who I know 00:12:06.590 --> 00:12:08.509 is a total slacker because then I look like an 00:12:08.509 --> 00:12:11.730 idiot. Exactly. You are the filter. You aren't 00:12:11.730 --> 00:12:13.529 going to recommend someone who will embarrass 00:12:13.529 --> 00:12:15.730 you or make your life harder. So the company 00:12:15.730 --> 00:12:18.940 gets a pre -vetted candidate for free. And the 00:12:18.940 --> 00:12:21.860 candidate benefits, too, right? Massively. Because 00:12:21.860 --> 00:12:23.679 they have a friend on the inside, they get a 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:25.960 realistic preview of the job. They know the real 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:28.700 deal. They're not just reading the glossy brochure 00:12:28.700 --> 00:12:31.299 on the careers page. They know the boss is grumpy 00:12:31.299 --> 00:12:33.539 on Mondays or that the coffee is terrible or 00:12:33.539 --> 00:12:35.700 that the hours are actually really long. They 00:12:35.700 --> 00:12:37.299 know the good and the bad before they start, 00:12:37.340 --> 00:12:39.559 so there's less culture shock. They don't quit 00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:41.559 after two months because it wasn't what they 00:12:41.559 --> 00:12:44.419 expected. And I assume it's cheaper for the company. 00:12:44.620 --> 00:12:47.519 Oh, significantly. Think about third -party agencies. 00:12:47.940 --> 00:12:50.600 If you hire a headhunter, they might charge a 00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:54.320 20 % to 25 % finder's fee. Whoa. So if you're 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:57.179 hiring someone at a $100 ,000 salary... You are 00:12:57.179 --> 00:13:00.759 paying that recruiter $25 ,000 just to find them. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:03.320 Yeah. Compare that to paying your own employee 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:06.659 a $2 ,000 or maybe a $5 ,000 referral bonus. 00:13:07.019 --> 00:13:09.740 It's a no -brainer financially. Okay, I promised 00:13:09.740 --> 00:13:11.519 we'd get to it. This is where the purple squirrel 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:14.600 comes in. Please explain this term from the source 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:16.940 material because it's just delightful. It's a 00:13:16.940 --> 00:13:19.899 classic recruitment term. In the industry, a 00:13:19.899 --> 00:13:22.340 purple squirrel is a candidate who is considered 00:13:22.340 --> 00:13:25.519 a perfect fit. Perfect in what way? I mean, they 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:27.799 have the exact experience, the exact education, 00:13:27.899 --> 00:13:30.940 the perfect salary expectations, and they're 00:13:30.940 --> 00:13:33.600 available right now. And they are willing to 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.919 work in your specific, maybe not so glamorous 00:13:36.919 --> 00:13:40.429 location. Right. They check every single box. 00:13:40.610 --> 00:13:44.629 They are so rare that they are essentially mythological. 00:13:45.210 --> 00:13:47.429 Like a purple squirrel. So companies use referrals 00:13:47.429 --> 00:13:49.789 to hunt for these mythical creatures. Exactly. 00:13:49.970 --> 00:13:52.690 Because standard job boards usually bring in 00:13:52.690 --> 00:13:55.389 standard candidates. If you need something incredibly 00:13:55.389 --> 00:13:58.330 specific, I need a Mandarin -speaking underwater 00:13:58.330 --> 00:14:00.870 welder who also knows Python, you're not going 00:14:00.870 --> 00:14:03.029 to find that on Indeed. You tap your network. 00:14:03.169 --> 00:14:05.389 You ask your employees, who do you know? Who 00:14:05.389 --> 00:14:07.889 is the weirdest, most specific expert you went 00:14:07.889 --> 00:14:10.690 to college with? But. And there's always a but. 00:14:11.289 --> 00:14:13.850 If everyone is just hiring their friends, doesn't 00:14:13.850 --> 00:14:17.610 that make the workplace a little clicky? That 00:14:17.610 --> 00:14:20.429 is the double -edged sword. The huge risk is 00:14:20.429 --> 00:14:23.690 an overly homogenous workforce. Right. If you 00:14:23.690 --> 00:14:26.950 only hire people your employees know, you tend 00:14:26.950 --> 00:14:29.090 to get more of the same. Same background, same 00:14:29.090 --> 00:14:31.330 school, same way of thinking, same demographics. 00:14:31.549 --> 00:14:33.870 And that just kills diversity. It creates a serious, 00:14:33.990 --> 00:14:37.049 serious barrier to diversity. And from a pure 00:14:37.049 --> 00:14:41.009 business standpoint, it risks innovation. A homogenous 00:14:41.009 --> 00:14:43.950 workforce, as the source notes, is at risk of 00:14:43.950 --> 00:14:46.509 failing to produce novel ideas. You end up with 00:14:46.509 --> 00:14:49.590 an echo chamber. So you save money and time on 00:14:49.590 --> 00:14:51.909 the front end, but you might lose out on the 00:14:51.909 --> 00:14:54.470 next big idea because everyone in the room thinks 00:14:54.470 --> 00:14:56.809 exactly alike. Correct. It's a balance between 00:14:56.809 --> 00:14:59.049 efficiency and creativity. If everyone in the 00:14:59.049 --> 00:15:01.289 room always agrees, you're probably not innovating. 00:15:01.289 --> 00:15:03.370 You're just maintaining. Okay, let's move to 00:15:03.370 --> 00:15:05.379 the next stage. You've sourced your candidates. 00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:08.139 Maybe you found a few potential purple squirrels 00:15:08.139 --> 00:15:10.820 through referrals or some light corporate espionage. 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:13.200 Now you have to filter them. This is the screening 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:14.919 phase. This is where we try to predict the future. 00:15:15.059 --> 00:15:18.080 We are trying to predict how a person will perform 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:21.100 in a job they've never done based on very limited 00:15:21.100 --> 00:15:24.289 data. Companies use a whole variety of mechanisms 00:15:24.289 --> 00:15:27.269 here. Psychological testing, physical ability 00:15:27.269 --> 00:15:30.750 tests, literacy tests. And psychometrics. What 00:15:30.750 --> 00:15:33.009 is that exactly? Yeah, so psychometrics are basically 00:15:33.009 --> 00:15:35.690 software tools used to assess personality and 00:15:35.690 --> 00:15:38.450 performance. Things like the Myers -Briggs or 00:15:38.450 --> 00:15:41.289 the DISCI assessment. The goal is standardization. 00:15:41.570 --> 00:15:44.529 To make it fair. In theory. Standardized tests 00:15:44.529 --> 00:15:46.509 have been found to improve selection validity 00:15:46.509 --> 00:15:49.649 while avoiding discrimination. If everyone takes 00:15:49.649 --> 00:15:52.029 the same test it should be a level playing field. 00:15:52.190 --> 00:15:54.129 But I want to circle back to something about 00:15:54.129 --> 00:15:56.750 screening. We talked about software, but there's 00:15:56.750 --> 00:15:59.629 a much older, much more analog screen that we 00:15:59.629 --> 00:16:02.230 are still using every single day. The college 00:16:02.230 --> 00:16:04.610 degree. Paper ceiling. Right. And looking at 00:16:04.610 --> 00:16:06.190 the research here, this seems to be one of the 00:16:06.190 --> 00:16:09.210 biggest inefficiencies in the entire global economy. 00:16:09.529 --> 00:16:11.470 We're not just talking about a few people being 00:16:11.470 --> 00:16:13.950 left out. No, we are talking about millions and 00:16:13.950 --> 00:16:16.370 millions of people. The source material highlights 00:16:16.370 --> 00:16:19.570 a specific demographic called stars, S -T -A 00:16:19.570 --> 00:16:22.549 -Rs. Skilled through alternative routes. Exactly. 00:16:23.070 --> 00:16:25.610 These are the 70 million workers in the U .S. 00:16:25.610 --> 00:16:28.570 alone who have the necessary skills, maybe learned 00:16:28.570 --> 00:16:31.149 it in the military or through a community college 00:16:31.149 --> 00:16:34.850 or just years of grinding away in a lower level 00:16:34.850 --> 00:16:37.250 role. But they don't have that bachelor's degree. 00:16:37.549 --> 00:16:38.950 And because they don't have that one piece of 00:16:38.950 --> 00:16:42.210 paper, the ATS, that robot we talked about, automatically 00:16:42.210 --> 00:16:45.210 deletes their application. Before a human ever 00:16:45.210 --> 00:16:48.210 even sees their name, it is a tragedy of wasted 00:16:48.210 --> 00:16:51.009 potential. It's staggering when you think about 00:16:51.009 --> 00:16:53.549 it. It really is. You have a shortage of talent. 00:16:53.649 --> 00:16:55.789 You have companies complaining constantly that 00:16:55.789 --> 00:16:57.909 they can't find workers. And yet you have a filter 00:16:57.909 --> 00:17:00.769 set up to automatically reject 60 percent of 00:17:00.769 --> 00:17:02.750 the workforce because they didn't spend four 00:17:02.750 --> 00:17:05.690 years in a lecture hall 20 years ago. It's just 00:17:05.690 --> 00:17:07.890 laziness, isn't it? The degree is just a proxy 00:17:07.890 --> 00:17:11.539 for is this person smart and disciplined? It's 00:17:11.539 --> 00:17:14.220 a lazy proxy and it's a dangerous one because 00:17:14.220 --> 00:17:17.279 it creates this massive barrier to economic mobility. 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:20.420 If you can do the job, but I won't hire you because 00:17:20.420 --> 00:17:22.240 you couldn't afford university when you were 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:24.920 18. I'm not just hurting you. I'm hurting my 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:27.299 own company by artificially shrinking my talent 00:17:27.299 --> 00:17:29.440 pool. And this connects to cultural fit, too. 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:32.240 I feel like cultural fit is often just code for 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.819 do I want to have a beer with this person? It 00:17:34.819 --> 00:17:37.900 often is. Multinational organizations especially 00:17:37.900 --> 00:17:40.819 emphasize fitting into the prevailing culture. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.259 But often fit is just a proxy for people we are 00:17:44.259 --> 00:17:47.039 comfortable with. It can completely override 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:50.180 raw skill and competence. So you hire the guy 00:17:50.180 --> 00:17:52.400 who likes the same sports team as you. Rather 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:54.180 than the star who could actually double your 00:17:54.180 --> 00:17:56.420 sales but maybe has a different background. Now 00:17:56.420 --> 00:17:58.160 I have to drop this fun fact from the history 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:00.900 books because it absolutely blew my mind. The 00:18:00.900 --> 00:18:04.059 source claims that the selection process. the 00:18:04.059 --> 00:18:06.940 interview, the testing, is often attributed to 00:18:06.940 --> 00:18:09.720 a specific inventor. Yes, Thomas Edison. The 00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:11.920 light bulb guy. Seriously, the very same. From 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:15.319 light bulbs to job interviews. That man really 00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:17.960 liked to judge things, didn't he? He was obsessed 00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:21.220 with efficiency. The story goes that he created 00:18:21.220 --> 00:18:24.460 this incredibly rigorous test for potential employees 00:18:24.460 --> 00:18:27.359 because he wanted people who had a broad range 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:30.039 of general knowledge, not just specialists. So 00:18:30.039 --> 00:18:32.240 what did he ask? He would ask obscure questions 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:35.460 about geography or weights and measures, things 00:18:35.460 --> 00:18:38.339 that had nothing to do with the actual job. So 00:18:38.339 --> 00:18:39.980 if you didn't know the capital of North Dakota, 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:42.640 you couldn't be an engineer at his factory. Basically. 00:18:43.180 --> 00:18:45.799 He treated human capital much like components 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:48.789 in a machine. He wanted to weed out the defective 00:18:48.789 --> 00:18:50.710 parts before they ever got into his factory. 00:18:50.890 --> 00:18:52.670 Which raises a question we'll have to touch on 00:18:52.670 --> 00:18:56.150 later. Yeah. Are we still using a 19th century 00:18:56.150 --> 00:18:59.210 industrial mindset for 21st century knowledge 00:18:59.210 --> 00:19:01.750 jobs? That is the lingering thought, isn't it? 00:19:01.829 --> 00:19:04.029 It is. Yeah. But let's stick to the 21st century 00:19:04.029 --> 00:19:06.089 for a moment. We talked about internal hiring, 00:19:06.210 --> 00:19:09.069 but sometimes you have to go outside. Why bring 00:19:09.069 --> 00:19:11.849 in a stranger? To break that homogeneity we discussed. 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:15.180 External recruitment brings in fresh ideas, new 00:19:15.180 --> 00:19:17.940 perspectives, and it opens up a much, much larger 00:19:17.940 --> 00:19:20.859 applicant pool. And this is where niche firms 00:19:20.859 --> 00:19:23.640 come into play. If I'm hiring a nuclear physicist, 00:19:23.940 --> 00:19:26.640 I probably shouldn't use the same recruiter who 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:29.299 hires retail staff for the mall. Probably not 00:19:29.299 --> 00:19:31.500 a good idea, no. If you're in the energy industry 00:19:31.500 --> 00:19:35.019 or aerospace or biotech, you want a niche firm. 00:19:35.529 --> 00:19:38.369 These recruiters, they know the specific demographic 00:19:38.369 --> 00:19:40.609 shifts like an aging workforce in the energy 00:19:40.609 --> 00:19:43.130 sector, and they build these long -term relationships. 00:19:43.430 --> 00:19:45.549 So they're not just transactional. Not at all. 00:19:45.650 --> 00:19:48.130 These recruiters might place the same specialized 00:19:48.130 --> 00:19:50.329 engineer three or four times over the course 00:19:50.329 --> 00:19:52.329 of their 30 -year career. They're like sports 00:19:52.329 --> 00:19:54.809 agents for nerds. Very much so. They know the 00:19:54.809 --> 00:19:57.609 market value of that specific talent better than 00:19:57.609 --> 00:19:59.829 the companies themselves do sometimes. And then 00:19:59.829 --> 00:20:02.210 there's social recruiting. The source mentions 00:20:02.210 --> 00:20:05.250 a study from Cyprus that found, what, 73 .5 % 00:20:05.250 --> 00:20:07.990 of companies had a social networking account 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:11.029 for recruiting. It is the new normal. Facebook, 00:20:11.289 --> 00:20:15.809 LinkedIn, Twitter, or X, I guess. Pros are obvious. 00:20:16.109 --> 00:20:18.630 Yeah. It's cheaper, it's faster, and it attracts 00:20:18.630 --> 00:20:21.390 what the source calls computer literate young 00:20:21.390 --> 00:20:24.450 individuals. It boosts the brand image. But, 00:20:24.450 --> 00:20:27.390 I sense a but. But there is a creepiness factor. 00:20:27.670 --> 00:20:29.849 I was going to say. If a recruiter is looking 00:20:29.849 --> 00:20:33.650 at my Facebook photos from 2012, that feels a 00:20:33.650 --> 00:20:36.569 little invasive. That's the issue. Privacy and 00:20:36.569 --> 00:20:39.349 discrimination. If I can see your profile picture, 00:20:39.710 --> 00:20:41.950 your family photos, your vacation snaps, and 00:20:41.950 --> 00:20:43.769 your political posts before I even interview 00:20:43.769 --> 00:20:46.390 you, bias can creep in instantly, unconscious 00:20:46.390 --> 00:20:50.529 or not. Oh, he posts about that politician. Denied. 00:20:50.670 --> 00:20:53.650 Exactly. Or, oh, she has three young kids in 00:20:53.650 --> 00:20:55.650 her photos. Maybe she won't want to work late. 00:20:56.109 --> 00:20:58.589 These are illegal biases in many places, but 00:20:58.589 --> 00:21:00.430 if you see the photo, you can't unsee it. It's 00:21:00.430 --> 00:21:02.369 in your head. Plus, people's profiles are often 00:21:02.369 --> 00:21:04.329 completely outdated. I think my LinkedIn still 00:21:04.329 --> 00:21:07.089 says I'm enthusiastic about synergies, which 00:21:07.089 --> 00:21:09.569 was true 10 years ago, but maybe not today. Exactly. 00:21:09.730 --> 00:21:11.670 The information isn't always reliable. It's a 00:21:11.670 --> 00:21:13.789 snapshot from a time you might not even recognize. 00:21:14.289 --> 00:21:17.329 Okay, what about RPO, recruitment process outsourcing? 00:21:17.450 --> 00:21:19.970 This sounds like inception for hiring. It kind 00:21:19.970 --> 00:21:21.990 of is. This is for companies that just want to 00:21:21.990 --> 00:21:24.789 hand the keys over. It's a form of business process 00:21:24.789 --> 00:21:26.990 outsourcing where a third party takes over the 00:21:26.990 --> 00:21:29.589 entire hiring function. So you're hiring a company 00:21:29.589 --> 00:21:32.089 to hire your people for you? Yes. They become 00:21:32.089 --> 00:21:33.910 the company's recruiting department, essentially. 00:21:34.269 --> 00:21:36.529 If you're a massive tech company and you need 00:21:36.529 --> 00:21:39.130 to hire 5 ,000 people in a year, you might not 00:21:39.130 --> 00:21:41.470 have the internal team to do that effectively. 00:21:41.650 --> 00:21:44.569 So you hire an RPO provider to build the pipeline, 00:21:44.849 --> 00:21:47.150 do all the screening, and manage the interviews. 00:21:47.849 --> 00:21:50.650 Let's pivot to the darker side of things, ethics 00:21:50.650 --> 00:21:54.009 and law. Because when you're dealing with people's 00:21:54.009 --> 00:21:56.970 livelihoods, the stakes are incredibly high. 00:21:57.269 --> 00:21:59.710 And the source material has a whole section on 00:21:59.710 --> 00:22:02.019 this. They are. And the legal landscape varies 00:22:02.019 --> 00:22:05.240 wildly by country. Generally, in most Western 00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:07.859 countries, employers must screen for legal immigration 00:22:07.859 --> 00:22:10.420 status. That's a baseline. And in the US, we 00:22:10.420 --> 00:22:13.440 have the EEOC. Right. The Equal Employment Opportunity 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:15.759 Commission. They prohibit discrimination based 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:19.259 on race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:21.500 national origin. That's the standard in the US. 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:25.039 But the source highlights this really interesting 00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:27.599 nuance in Germany. Yeah, I saw that. Public universities 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:30.000 in Germany don't have to advertise jobs. That 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.539 sounds weird. Generally, no, unless it's for 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:35.299 a tenured full professor. For other academic 00:22:35.299 --> 00:22:37.200 positions, they aren't required to advertise. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:39.619 And the anti -discrimination laws there only 00:22:39.619 --> 00:22:42.039 apply to advertised jobs and the wording in the 00:22:42.039 --> 00:22:44.500 ad. Wait, wait. So if they don't advertise it, 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:46.799 the rules don't apply. It creates this potential 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:49.359 loophole where if you just hire someone quietly, 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:51.640 you can bypass some of those checks and balances. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:54.039 It just shows how different these national systems 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:56.259 can be. That sounds like a recipe for the old 00:22:56.259 --> 00:22:58.859 boys club. just tapping your friend on the shoulder 00:22:58.859 --> 00:23:01.519 for a job which leads us directly to corruption 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:04.940 recruitment is identified as a key corruption 00:23:04.940 --> 00:23:07.920 risk especially in the public sector but it happens 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:12.240 everywhere nepotism is the big one hiring unqualified 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:15.180 friends or family but there's also a practice 00:23:15.180 --> 00:23:19.000 called recycling that sounds eco -friendly but 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:21.599 i have a feeling it's not it is definitely not 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:24.970 it's when a bad employee Maybe someone who's 00:23:24.970 --> 00:23:28.789 abusive or incompetent or corrupt is moved from 00:23:28.789 --> 00:23:31.349 one department or company to another rather than 00:23:31.349 --> 00:23:33.309 actually being fired. You're just passing the 00:23:33.309 --> 00:23:35.329 trash around the organization. Yeah, exactly. 00:23:35.609 --> 00:23:37.970 And then there's just failing to validate backgrounds 00:23:37.970 --> 00:23:40.569 properly. And consequences here aren't just, 00:23:40.630 --> 00:23:42.829 oh, we hired a bad accountant. No, the source 00:23:42.829 --> 00:23:45.309 is pretty grim on this. In safety critical roles 00:23:45.309 --> 00:23:48.029 or executive positions, the wrong hire can lead 00:23:48.029 --> 00:23:51.630 to actual disasters. We were talking PR nightmares, 00:23:51.970 --> 00:23:55.019 bankruptcies. Or in industrial settings, natural 00:23:55.019 --> 00:23:58.180 disasters or loss of life. If the person making 00:23:58.180 --> 00:24:00.859 the safety decisions is incompetent and was only 00:24:00.859 --> 00:24:03.039 hired because they were the boss's nephew, people 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:05.980 can get hurt or killed. This brings up safer 00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:08.160 recruitment. This isn't just about safety gear. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:10.680 It's a specific term regarding vulnerable groups, 00:24:10.779 --> 00:24:13.460 right? Yes, specifically regarding children and 00:24:13.460 --> 00:24:15.640 vulnerable adults. Guidelines like those from 00:24:15.640 --> 00:24:19.000 the NSPCC in the UK focus on suitability. It's 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:21.640 not just, can you teach math? It's, are you safe 00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:23.980 to be in a room alone with a child? A totally 00:24:23.980 --> 00:24:26.180 different level of scrutiny. A much, much deeper 00:24:26.180 --> 00:24:28.779 level of vetting and behavioral analysis is required 00:24:28.779 --> 00:24:31.039 to prevent harm. We also need to talk about disability 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:33.720 and recruitment. There's so much bias here and, 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:36.640 frankly, a lot of just... Flat out misconceptions. 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:41.039 Huge bias. The word disability itself often carries 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:44.000 these negative connotations for employers. They 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:45.940 immediately fear it means lower productivity 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:48.359 or higher costs. They think, oh, this person 00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:51.259 will need expensive accommodations. But the research 00:24:51.259 --> 00:24:53.960 says the complete opposite. Completely otherwise. 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:57.319 The research shows no difference in daily production. 00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:00.559 In fact, disabled workers often adapt better 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:03.980 to new environments. Think about it. A person 00:25:03.980 --> 00:25:06.579 with a disability navigates a world that was 00:25:06.579 --> 00:25:09.319 not designed for them every single day. So they're 00:25:09.319 --> 00:25:11.420 natural problem solvers. They're natural problem 00:25:11.420 --> 00:25:13.759 solvers. They are incredibly resilient. They 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:16.380 have to be. So you aren't hiring a charity case. 00:25:16.579 --> 00:25:19.619 You are hiring... A world -class problem solver. 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:22.119 Exactly. And there are even financial incentives. 00:25:22.299 --> 00:25:24.299 In the U .S., the IRS grants something called 00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:26.880 the Disabled Access Credit to eligible companies 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:29.400 to help with accommodations. So there's a financial 00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:32.200 upside alongside the operational upside of getting 00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:34.920 a resilient, loyal employee. We're coming into 00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:37.279 the homestretch here. Let's talk about strategy. 00:25:37.619 --> 00:25:40.819 How do big companies organize this mess? If you're 00:25:40.819 --> 00:25:42.880 hiring 10 ,000 people a year, you can't just 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:46.470 wing it. No, you can't. For high volume companies, 00:25:46.710 --> 00:25:49.819 they use what's called a multi -tier model. Think 00:25:49.819 --> 00:25:52.240 of it like a customer service help desk or an 00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:54.319 assembly line for recruiting. Okay, lay out the 00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:57.339 tiers for me. So tier one is the contact or help 00:25:57.339 --> 00:26:00.279 desk. These are simple, repetitive queries. Where 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:03.440 do I upload my resume? What is the deadline for 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:05.940 this job? The easy stuff, the FAQs. The easy 00:26:05.940 --> 00:26:09.220 stuff. Tier two is administration. This is the 00:26:09.220 --> 00:26:11.579 paperwork, the process management, scheduling 00:26:11.579 --> 00:26:13.880 the interviews, booking the flights. And tier 00:26:13.880 --> 00:26:16.599 three. Tier three is process. This is the high 00:26:16.599 --> 00:26:18.579 -level fulfillment. This is the actual strategic 00:26:18.579 --> 00:26:21.799 work of finding and selecting the top talent. 00:26:22.259 --> 00:26:24.740 By separating these, the expensive experts in 00:26:24.740 --> 00:26:27.119 Tier 3 aren't wasting their time answering, how 00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:29.200 do I reset my password for the career portal? 00:26:29.420 --> 00:26:31.720 That makes a lot of sense. Efficiency. But then 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:34.319 comes the hard part. Making the final decision. 00:26:34.539 --> 00:26:36.460 You have three great candidates. They all look 00:26:36.460 --> 00:26:39.019 good on paper. They all have nice ties. How do 00:26:39.019 --> 00:26:40.799 you choose without just going on a gut feeling? 00:26:41.059 --> 00:26:43.180 This is where the math comes back in. The source 00:26:43.180 --> 00:26:46.099 mentions something called MCDA. Multiple Criteria 00:26:46.099 --> 00:26:49.019 Decision Analysis. Specifically, a method called 00:26:49.019 --> 00:26:52.420 the Analytic Hierarchy Process, or AHP. That 00:26:52.420 --> 00:26:55.380 sounds intense. Yeah. What is it? It's a way 00:26:55.380 --> 00:26:57.859 to mathematically weigh different factors to 00:26:57.859 --> 00:27:00.420 remove bias. Let's say you're hiring a fresh 00:27:00.420 --> 00:27:02.519 graduate. They don't have a long track record. 00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:04.799 of experience so how do you compare them right 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:08.500 it's tough you use AHP to assign weights maybe 00:27:08.500 --> 00:27:11.440 GPA is worth 20 % their internship performance 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:15.140 is 30 % their soft skills are 25 % and their 00:27:15.140 --> 00:27:18.319 interview scores are the last 25 % you turn the 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:21.519 person into a score you do it sounds cold But 00:27:21.519 --> 00:27:24.240 it helps remove the bias. If you just go by your 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:26.079 gut, you might just hire the person who reminds 00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:28.700 you of yourself when you were 22. Guilty. If 00:27:28.700 --> 00:27:30.740 you use the weighted score, you hire the person 00:27:30.740 --> 00:27:33.180 who actually fits the criteria you defined as 00:27:33.180 --> 00:27:35.339 important from the very beginning. It forces 00:27:35.339 --> 00:27:38.740 you to be objective. So, after all of this... 00:27:38.910 --> 00:27:41.809 The sourcing, the spycraft, the tiers, the algorithms, 00:27:41.990 --> 00:27:44.490 the hunt for purple squirrels. What does it all 00:27:44.490 --> 00:27:46.529 mean for us? What's the big picture here? Well, 00:27:46.650 --> 00:27:48.470 looking at the whole thing, a recruitment is 00:27:48.470 --> 00:27:51.430 a constant tension. It's a balance. A balance 00:27:51.430 --> 00:27:53.750 between speed, which you get from referrals, 00:27:53.930 --> 00:27:56.130 and internal hiring and innovation, which you 00:27:56.130 --> 00:27:58.730 get from external hiring and diversity. And it's 00:27:58.730 --> 00:28:01.490 navigating this minefield of ethics and technology 00:28:01.490 --> 00:28:04.410 all at the same time. Exactly. The system is 00:28:04.410 --> 00:28:08.059 designed to filter. That is its one job. But 00:28:08.059 --> 00:28:10.559 the danger is that it filters out the wrong things, 00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:13.200 like those stars who don't have degrees, or it 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:15.839 lets in the wrong things, like the corrupt hires 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:19.259 or the homogenous cultural fits that kill creativity. 00:28:19.640 --> 00:28:22.500 It really feels like we're at a crossroads. We 00:28:22.500 --> 00:28:24.819 have all this AI and modern tech, but we're still 00:28:24.819 --> 00:28:27.259 using resumes and interviews that really haven't 00:28:27.259 --> 00:28:29.779 changed much in 100 years. We are. And that brings 00:28:29.779 --> 00:28:32.660 us right back to our friend Edison. The provocation. 00:28:33.079 --> 00:28:35.519 If the selection process as we know it is truly 00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:37.839 an invention of Thomas Edison and we are still 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:41.059 using variations of his basic model today, are 00:28:41.059 --> 00:28:44.019 we trying to power a modern AI economy with a 00:28:44.019 --> 00:28:47.299 19th century light bulb filament? That is a lingering 00:28:47.299 --> 00:28:49.920 thought. Is it time to completely dismantle the 00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:52.900 interview as we know it? It might be. The data 00:28:52.900 --> 00:28:55.160 suggests there might be better, more predictive 00:28:55.160 --> 00:28:58.380 ways to do this. Well, on that note, we will 00:28:58.380 --> 00:29:00.839 leave you to polish your resume or maybe burn 00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:03.230 it. depending on how you feel after this. Thanks 00:29:03.230 --> 00:29:05.410 for joining us on this deep dive into recruitment. 00:29:05.609 --> 00:29:06.069 Thank you.