

Talk Talent To Me
Rob Stevenson: Recruiting, Employer Branding, and Career Growth Expert.
Starring recruiting leadership from everywhere under the talent acquisition sun, Talk Talent To Me is a fast-paced rough-and-tumble tour through the strategies, metrics, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry. Brought to you by your pals at LHH.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 29, 2022 • 26min
Metaview CEO & Co-Founder Siadhal Magos
Today on Talk Talent To Me, we are joined by the founder of Metaview, Siadhal Magos. Metaview trains their clients to become better interviewers through providing transcripts of the interviews and giving feedback on their skills. Tuning in, you’ll hear some examples of the feedback they will give, their ‘gold standard’ of interviewing, why the average employee is not very good at conducting interviews, and how Metaview helps their clients identify their best interviewers and use them as an example for other employees. We also discuss some unique ways clients have used Metaview’s tools and why the highest performing employees aren’t always the best interviewers. Next, look into why employees should run the same interview and how to prevent burnout. Lastly, Siadhal gives us some tips on what leaders can do to improve their interviewing process. Join us to find out more! Key Points From This Episode: Introducing today’s guest, Siadhal Magos. Siadhal explains what Metaview does. Some examples of the feedback the company will give clients. Metaview’s ‘gold standard’ of interviewing. Why the average employee is most likely not good at conducting interviews. How Metaview’s clients identify their good interviewers and how the company assists them. Who Metaview aims their training at; the interviewer. How customers have used Metaview’s tool in a way Siadhal didn’t expect them to. How people are finding that their highest performing employees aren’t necessarily their best interviewers. Why employees shouldn’t run too many interviews as it risks burnout. Why interviewing for one specific role increases efficiency over interviewing for many different roles. What leaders can do to ensure that their companies are conducting good quality interviews. Tweetables: “What we don’t want is for everyone who adopts Metaview to end up interviewing exactly the same. What you want people to do is use this ability - to coach more of their interviewers to be - what they consider their best interviewers.” — @smagos [0:08:59] “We’re staunch believers in the power of the data within interviews.” — @smagos [0:15:31] “We are just trying to augment people’s ability to run great interviews and make great decisions.” — @smagos [0:16:23] “The most important thing as an interviewer - is to understand the competencies you want to know about by the time you leave that interview.” — @smagos [0:25:23] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Siadhal Magos on Linkedln Siadhal Magos on Twitter Metaview Talk Talent to Me Hired

Jun 27, 2022 • 37min
Fiserv VP of Talent Acquisition Bryan Schreiber
Today, we chat with VP of Talent Acquisition for Global Business Solutions at Fiserv, Bryan Schreiber. Bryan walks us through how recruitment has changed over the years, whilst still remaining true to a single core philosophy: Building relationships. We get to understand that the more honest a company is and the more they work on building that initial relationship with a potential employee, the more likely they are to find the right candidates and indeed keep them. Key Points From This Episode: Engagement and company culture is what will keep retention numbers up. Many companies are attractive so job seekers are looking at many places at the same time; a big problem for recruiters. It’s important to make prospective employees aware of your company’s ethos. Successful recruitment can happen in any industry, as long as you know how to engage. In executive recruiting, people generally know exactly what they want. As a recruiter, you should know what you’re selling, and keep selling it. It’s all about relationship Recruiters and hiring managers should have a great relationship with one another. Behavioral stacks are great indicators for recruiters. It’s not a bad idea to stay at one company for a while and build those relationships. Tweetables: “To be able to explain that in a way that a candidate can understand and connect the dots back to their own life, that’s engagement.” — Bryan Schreiber [0:17:33] “Gain a real understanding of the environment and the people—those relationships will support you for life, even if you leave.” — Bryan Schreiber [0:36:51] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Talk Talent to Me Hired

Jun 24, 2022 • 48min
LIVE in NYC: NBCUniversal VP Global TA Suzan Vulaj & Shutterstock VP Valerie Vadala
NBCUniversal's VP of Global TA Suzan Vulaj & Shutterstock's VP of TA Valerie Vadala join Rob LIVE from the Canary Club in New York City to kick off Talk Talent To Me's 2022 Roadshow.

Jun 17, 2022 • 27min
Robust Intelligence VP of People & Talent Riffat Jaffer
Today we are joined by VP of People and Talent at Robust Intelligence, Riffat Jaffer. Listening to Riffat tell the story of her career journey and her 15 years of experience in the industry, we begin to understand what has cultivated her immense passion for talent acquisition and employee experience. Along the way, we hear all about her challenges, triumphs, and experiences in companies that shaped the path she is on today. This episode is full of advice, stories, and takeaways that will change your perspective on hypergrowth within a business, the normalization of internal hiring processes, and the importance of growth potential. Key Points From This Episode: A look into the HR role Riffat plays in Robust Intelligence. Looking at Riffat’s career background in the talent acquisition industry. The journey Riffat has followed to end up at Robust Intelligence. Understanding why Riffat prefers working within smaller, rather than larger, companies. The ways Riffat solves problems at smaller companies with fewer resources. The functioning, working, and scaling of recruiting in different sized businesses. Understanding when and how to normalize processes within your business. The technical debt of not having a uniform and normalized interview process. Looking at a company’s potential for successful hypergrowth. How to assess a company’s potential for hypergrowth. The elements of Riffat’s job that she is passionate about. Looking at characterizing people, their motivations, and their love for their jobs. An important reminder to remember growth potential when hiring. Tweetables: “We hire people that want to do more than their core job. So, at startups, the mindset is always, we can do anything, and we can do it better.” — @staffingqueen [0:08:13] “Think about diversity and make sure that your positions are being looked at and applied to by a diverse group of candidates.” — @staffingqueen [0:12:19] “Integrating both employee experience as well as the recruiting cycle is really critical and essential.” — @staffingqueen [0:20:03] “Figuring out where each candidate is in [their] journey really helps make them successful once they’re in the job.” — @staffingqueen [0:22:44] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Riffat Jaffer Email Riffat Jaffer on LinkedIn Riffat Jaffer on Twitter Robust Intelligence Robust Intelligence on LinkedIn Sequoia Capital Wealthfront Google Talk Talent to Me Hired

Jun 13, 2022 • 33min
Sysco Labs TA Manager Erica Schroen
TA Manager Erica Schroen joins to discuss her role at Sysco Labs, how the larger Sysco ecosystem supports her talent team, and how she's charting her recruiting career growth. Key Points From This Episode: A welcome to today’s guest, Erica Schroen COVID-created work dynamics and tips on making friends in your 30s. The background story behind how Erica ended up in recruitment at Sysco Labs. How Erica’s instinctual competitive nature saw her forge a successful career. The satisfaction and fulfillment of giving a job offer letter. The connection between Sysco Labs and the greater Sysco Technologies. Understanding Erica’s team’s focus within Sysco’s customer experience division. The agility of a small team with the resources, tools, and support of a big company. Examples of campaigns, partnerships, and changes Erica has cultivated. The need for honest, transparent communication when advising on hiring processes. The next steps in Erica’s career journey. Tweetables: “It was selling them why they needed to work with me, why was I the industry leader, and why were they going to pay me a percentage of someone’s salary to find them.” — Erica Schroen [0:07:37] “For me, it was about placing the person where they wanted to grow and learn and see their next step.” — Erica Schroen [0:11:23] “What I’ve learned the most is that it’s those constant check-ins. Whether you like it or not, you got to do it and you got to let them know the progress and the pulse of what’s going on.” — Erica Schroen [0:27:07] “I have realized it is better to speak up sooner rather than later.” — Erica Schroen [0:27:26] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Erica Schroen on LinkedIn Erica Schroen on Instagram Sysco Labs Talk Talent to Me Hired

May 31, 2022 • 1h 2min
Full Career Coaching Session: Sarah Baker Andrus & Tessa Groll
Come See TT2M LIVE! Register below: New York City - The Canary Club - June 1st San Francisco - Shelton Theatre - June 8th London - The Steel Yard - June 16th Kin Insurance Recruiter (and formerly Rob's boss) Tessa Groll sits down with returning champion & Career Coach, Sarah Baker Andrus for a full career coaching session. Sarah asks Tessa leading questions about what fulfills her in her work, how she approaches her role, and gives advice on how she can stay in the driver's seat of her newfound career in the talent space.

May 30, 2022 • 31min
Gusto VP of Talent Emil Yeargin
Register for TT2M Roadshow Here: New York City - The Canary Club - June 1st San Francisco - Shelton Theatre - June 8th London - The Steel Yard - June 16th Today we are joined by the VP of Talent at Gusto, Emil Yeargin. Emil has a tech background and an extensive career in talent and recruitment. We discuss Emil’s recruitment goals for Gusto and tap into how leaders respond to the feedback he gives. Emil also explains what makes recruitment successful before diving into his background and an overview of his career up to this point. Emil then dismisses stereotypes surrounding his role and explains why the new generation will be passionate about recruitment. We discuss the new generation’s relationship with technology and how it has evolved over the last few years. Finally, Emil gives advice to those who want to pursue recruitment as their career. Key Points From This Episode: Introducing today’s guest, Emil Yeargin. How things are going at Gusto. How Emil prepares for the meetings at the end of the year so the team gets what it needs. Emil’s goal for reinventing recruitment in Gusto. How leaders take Emil’s feedback about their recruitment skills. Emil explains good recruitment on a very basic level – knowing your organization. An arc of Emil’s extensive career and how he ended up in his current role at Gusto. How he realized that recruitment is about more than just placing someone in a job position. Why the new generation will be very passionate about recruitment as a career. The new generation’s interaction with technology. How Emil thinks HR tech has evolved over the last few years. Advice Emil would give for people who want to have a similar career to his. Tweetables: “How are you going to be impactful in really driving this company to its optimal greatness?” — Emil Yeargin [0:04:43] “I think the next generation unlike us are going to grow up wanting to be recruiters.” — Emil Yeargin [0:17:47] “Drive impact, drive high-level philosophy and drive a culture where you can tie business objectives to your work, so that you feel attached to it.” — Emil Yeargin [0:26:26] “Recruiting is all about narrative. It’s all about being able to tell a holistic cohesive story.” — Emil Yeargin [0:27:33] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Talk Talent to Me Hired Emil Yeargin on Linkedln Gusto

May 26, 2022 • 32min
Comcast Director of TA Keith Friant
New York City - The Canary Club - June 1st San Francisco - Shelton Theatre - June 8th London - The Steel Yard - June 16th We are so excited to welcome the Director of TA at Comcast, Keith Friant. Our chat starts by exploring the humble beginnings of Keith's career, and the importance of embracing all potential job opportunities. Keith goes on to crack open his business model to help us understand the ins and outs of a successful recruitment company. While doing this, he highlights methods Comcast uses, such as the forecasting processes and bottom-up approach, to emphasize the importance of customer experience. We are lucky enough to end off the podcast with a personal nugget of career-driven wisdom from Keith. Key Points From This Episode: Looking at how Keith’s career background led him to recruitment. How Keith organically moved up within Comcast. The growing popularity and success of recruiting as a profession. The evolution of necessary skills, tools, and technology needed to be a recruiter. The importance of focusing on the operational and production side of businesses. The forecasting of growth, hiring, and potential job opportunities. A bottom-up approach to running your company: focusing on customer experiences. Understanding NPS and how Comcast utilizes its survey information and feedback. How Comcast helps its employees grow and move within the business. The importance of skill and competency-based interviewing in the hiring process. Keith’s guide to forging a successful career. Tweetables: “Strategy and being strategic are such overused terminology — the business thinks we’re strategic if we help save them time, help deliver great talent, and help drive diversity.” — @keithfriant [0:06:32] “I don’t think much has changed about what we should be doing but more about how we go about doing it, how are you saving time, how are you adopting best practices, how are you really understanding and listening and consulting with the business.” — @keithfriant [0:07:28] “Having an engaging, succinct, and meaningful candidate experience is so critical.” — @keithfriant [0:14:19] “It is good as a leader to know if you have people on your team looking, so you can either plan for the growth on their team or prepare for the “What’s next?”” — @keithfriant [0:25:06] “Being able to foster an environment of trust, understanding, and empathy in tandem with driving excellent results, understanding your business, and really being able to collaborate with all of your talent partners, I personally think has been the key to my success so far.” — @keithfriant [0:28:11] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Keith Friant on Twitter Keith Friant on LinkedIn Keith Friant on Instagram Comcast Talk Talent to Me Hired

May 25, 2022 • 21min
Insider SVP of People & Culture Nailah Banks-Embden
Talk Talent To Me LIVE RSVP: New York City - The Canary Club - June 1st San Francisco - Shelton Theatre - June 8th London - The Steel Yard - June 16th Today on Talk Talent To Me, we are joined by Nailah Banks-Embden, SVP of People and Culture at Insider. Nailah explains how she was able to introduce a culture of inclusivity and diversity at Insider and how she was able to make culture a priority for the company. Nailah also delves into how Insider is going to focus on career development this year before giving us an overview of how they will help employees use their abundance of resources effectively. She tells us how she knew that Insider was ready for a change and what that entails as well as who will be responsible for their future plans. Finally, Nailah tells us what her hopes are for the future of the company and gives a word of advice to people who aspire to forge their career in the same direction she has. Key Points From This Episode: Introducing the guest Nailah Banks-Embden. An overview of Nailah’s background and how she ended up in her current role at Insider. Why experience in recruiting and connecting with experts in the field is imperative. Nailah explains the process of interviewing for her current job. What Nailah was looking for at the time of interviewing for her current job with Insider. How she reflected and figured out what she wants in her career. The importance of allowing employees to be themselves in company culture. How she was able to ensure that Insider was ready for a culture of inclusivity. How she went about turning that culture into policy for the company. How Insider is going to invest in career development this year. The strategy at Insider is to help employees use their resources most effectively. How Nailah knew that the company had outgrown its previous systems. Nailah explains who will be responsible for all the content Insider plans to create. What her ideal outcome of all these changes is. Nailah’s opinion of Slack as a source of communication. Discussing the abundance of software used today. Advice Nailah would give to people aspiring to have roles such as hers. Tweetables: “One of my number one values is authenticity and bringing my whole self to work and not having to compartmentalize who I am when I'm at work.” —Nailah Banks-Embden [0:09:23] “Don't be afraid to take a risk. Take that leap and if it doesn't work out, you gain experience, you learn from it, and you're better the next time you embark on a new role.” —Nailah Banks-Embden [0:22:36] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Talk Talent To Me Nailah Banks-Embden on Linkedln Insider Hired

May 20, 2022 • 32min
Criteria CEO & Co-Founder Josh Millet
Josh Millet, CEO & Co-Founder of Criteria, breaks down our old, outdated ideas of standard hiring processes and explains the importance of using newer and improved science-based assessment tools. Josh founded his company, Criteria, 15 years ago and uses his experience in software development and organizational psychology to delve into the flaws of our hiring systems. Josh highlights the gap between the scientific evidence and the indexing measures that organizations are using to hire their employees and gives some insight into how to minimize this gap. We gain an understanding that, although experience and academic achievement seem related to success, they should not be the only factors influencing your ability to get hired. In order to implement this process, organizations need to rethink the boundaries of their talent pool and use new methods to filter potential employees. This episode is helpful for both the employee and employer, delving into how to be better prepared for the hiring process and how to implement this process for better business outcomes! Key Points From This Episode: A welcome to today’s guest, Josh Millet. A look at Josh’s career background and the origin of his company, Criteria. Exploring different jobs Josh had before he discovered his ideal place in the working world. The influence of organizational psychology on his business plan. Exploring the business's goals while understanding the needs of its target market. Understanding the gap between scientific research and organizations' hiring practices. How hiring based on resumes and interviews recognizes the wrong talent signals. How Criteria creates objective and standardized assessments for measuring talent signals. A brief history of why companies are indexing incorrectly, leading to inaccurate evaluation. Shifting the interview process from hypothetical problem-solving to work-based situations. The ineffective, non-diversifying, and problematic outcomes of focusing on resumes. The importance of hiring adaptable, problem-solving, and versatile employees for the evolving business world. How Josh created effective, bias-reduced, and objective assessments as a tool to funnel a talent pool of candidates. The importance of intentionality in all aspects of the talent-acquisition process. Tweetables: “Demanding experience, especially for entry and mid-level type roles, is really systematically excluding early career folks.” — @joshmillet [0:06:47] “A better way to predict performance and measure potential is to look for stronger talent signals rather than indexing heavily off the weaker ones like years of experience and educational pedigree.” — @joshmillet [0:10:40] “The more complex the role is, the more important learning ability is.” — @joshmillet [0:16:32] “Assessments and structured interviews essentially establish rules and objectivity that allow you to make more informed talent decisions that aren’t swayed by things that really aren’t predictive of success.” — @joshmillet [0:23:31] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Josh Millet on Twitter Josh Millet on LinkedIn Criteria Talk Talent to Me Hired