Elite Talent Recruiting

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How the current state of hiring and applying in 2026 is going for most ... 😳 Advertising: "Automate your entire hiring process with AI" Candidates: "I'm not showing up to an interview if I have to meet with an AI agent" Companies: "Why are we not attracting quality applicants?" Advertising: "Screen everything with AI" Candidates: "I've applied to 400+ jobs and haven't heard back from a single one" Companies: "We have thousands of applications and maybe 10% are even relevant" Advertising: "AI will source and send mass outreach to hundreds of candidates a day" Companies: "We can reach thousands of top candidates on autopilot" Candidates: "I'm getting spammed by companies I don't even remotely qualify for" Advertising: "Easy Apply to hundreds of open jobs in one click" Candidates: "Let me update my resume with ChatGPT so it passes the AI screening... I have no idea what my resume even says anymore" Companies: "I have no idea what this person actually does" And recruiters trying to get everyone to listen: (See meme pic below haha) -------------- I'll leave you with something a guest said on my podcast this week (who btw is a leader + has done 100s of hiring): "If I have to go into an interview and it's with an AI agent, I'm pressing exit immediately. If I'm not worth their time to bring a human to talk to me... it ain't worth my time either." He's not wrong. AI is a tool. A powerful one. But somewhere between automating everything and hiring nobody... we forgot that hiring is still a human process. On both sides. Listen to full podcast here: https://lnkd.in/e9dwxU6t Watch the full podcast here: https://lnkd.in/e8rMfgjr

Trending News in the PreSales World and Hiring happening right now...🤯 → Pre-sales talent is one of the hottest and most expensive categories in B2B tech right now. The 2026 Sales Engineering Compensation & Workload Report shows median SE base salaries up 16% year-over-year. Revenue teams are responding by automating standard demos to preserve senior SE time for high-value deals.. a direct signal that the SE you place is expected to work differently than 3 years ago. → Nearly 1 in 3 hiring managers regret a recent hire, because of the application overwhelm and not being able to vet properly. Traditional interviews are being called "barely better than chance" in mainstream press coverage. → 72% of employers globally report difficulty filling AI-skills roles; overtaking engineering and IT as the hardest category to fill for the first time, per → Enterprise buying committees now average 11–13 internal stakeholders, and RevOps teams are rapidly replacing fragmented email chains with Digital Sales Rooms (DSRs) to prevent pipeline stagnation. Multi-threaded evaluation is no longer optional at the enterprise level. → Reply rates on outbound email are falling, not because outbound doesn't work but because static lists and generic sequences haven't changed in a decade. The teams winning are running intent-based routing: using traffic and behavioral signals to decide who gets automated sequences vs. human-reviewed outreach (Rakuten Advertising built $2.5M in pipeline with this model, zero headcount added). → Deliverability is a real risk heading into H2 2026. Gmail, Yahoo, and Apple Mail policy updates have pushed inbox placement rates from 92–95% down to 74–81% for brands that haven't updated their technical stack. Are you seeing these happening inside your own organization?!

Nobody talks about how lonely leadership (or being a founder) can be. You're making decisions that affect entire teams. Navigating pressure from every direction. And most of the time... you're doing it without a real peer to talk to. and especially right now where most of the world is remote... SO! I'm bringing together a small group of senior leaders in NYC on June 16th. I'm talking about VPs, Pre/Post Sales Leaders, C-Level, Founders etc to a rooftop for drinks and real conversations with no strict agenda! The idea is simple: walk out with 3 intros worth having and 1 conversation worth continuing. 🙂 We have limited spots because of the venue and we are already 50% sold out! if you want to attend and are going to be in NYC on June 16th from 6-8pm sent me a DM (this is invite only)

This week in hiring and AI... here's what you probably missed 👇 1. 80% of companies cut headcount for AI initiatives but saw no ROI, according to new Gartner data. Workforce reductions occurred equally among high and low-ROI companies. This is why you should invest in the right human hire, not just automate. 2. Forward Deployed Engineer demand is still surging: 800% monthly FDE job listing growth. Jan–Sept 2025, 290 active postings across 139 companies as of April 2026. Salesforce just launched a Forward Deployed Engineering partner network in May to scale Agentforce implementations. 3. 70% of HR professionals report difficulty recruiting for full-time roles, with the primary gap being soft skills (communication, problem-solving, creativity), not technical skills. 4. AI hiring legal risk is materializing: The Mobley v. Workday class action (first AI-hiring discrimination suit) survived certification with 200M+ class members. EEOC previously settled with iTutorGroup for $365K.