The Chad & Cheese Podcast

Thanksgiving week means it's time for our annual Jive Turkeys edition of the podcast. This year, the boys take on Twitter's failed hiring platform after Elon Musk's acquisition, Kid Rock's inconsistent behavior and impact on Bud Light, Grindr and Xing's questionable shifts into job matching, Joonko's collapse due to unethical practices, and OpenAI's leadership upheaval with Sam Altman and Greg Brockman quitting abruptly. Next up: iCIMS' CEO's sudden resignation of Brian Provost, and Silk Road's rebranding to Rival-HR ... this after multiple leadership changes. It's a fun-filled episode of industry missteps, unethical behavior and sudden, drastic changes within these companies or individuals ... ultimately labeling them as our Jive Turkeys for 2023. Gobble! Gobble!

Recorded live at the HR Tech Conference from the Fuel50 booth in Las Vegas, this episode features Larry McAlister, a three-time CHRO and author. We discuss his book "The Power to Transform," which serves as a field guide for building a human-centered, tech-enabled work culture. The episode also covers various topics, including the importance of HR technology, the need for HR professionals to embrace technology, and the impact of generative AI on the industry. Larry emphasizes the importance of self-care for job seekers and offers advice on how to make oneself more marketable in the evolving job market. The podcast also touches on the potential ethical issues and risks associated with AI in recruiting. Larry can be found on LinkedIn or at his website, LarryMcAlisterBook.com, and his book is available on Amazon. To learn more about Fuel50, visit https://fuel50.com.

The world is a volatile place. Inflation, conflict, elections and AI, to name a few, have meant a lot of things in business are taking a pause. Mergers and acquisitions are no exception. However, things are still moving, and signs of new life are everywhere. That's why we invited Georgios Markikus, managing partner at Venero Capital Advisors to the Textkernel booth in Paris at UNLEASH World to chat about the state of M&A. From the recent Clevy acquisition by Fountain to the current thawing of markets to how hungry private equity is at the moment to make things happen. Turns out, there's a lot of dry powder out there, which not only makes this interview interesting, but necessary for anyone who makes their living in workforce businesses.

King Kong vs. Godzilla. Rocky vs. Apollo Creed. Democrat vs. Republican. People love a good showdown, and the world of work is no different. This week's show highlights the trending conflicts between Google against OpenAI, Deel against Rippling, RTO against WFH, Labor against Capital ... and most importantly, Elon against Everybody. Beyond that, the boys are talkin' layoffs at Beamery, Josh Bersin's Galileo™, and Twitter ... er, X's new job search design. With Thanksgiving in America right around the corner, consider this week's show a solid appetizer for what's sure to be an overrated meal of dry turkey, runny potatoes, and undercooked stuffing.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

If rubbernecking pertained to podcasts, this one might be at the top of the list. It's just one car crash after another, and you'll find it hard to look away as you figuratively drive by. Whether it's Stepstone stepping in it, again, or Xing thinking the job board business is a good pivot from its failed attempt at taking on LinkedIn, we have you covered. Appetite for destruction not quenched? Then how about an all-Sell round of Buy-or-Sell, that'll have you in stitches. In fact, it got so bad, it turned into a commercial for one of House of HR's businesses. Gotta love Lieven for always talking us off the ledge. Call your therapist, or grab a beer, at least, and tune in now.

Can we interest you in voice-driven AI algorithms to offer personality insights for the candidates you're looking to hire? Your current crop of employees? A start-up called Koios is betting that you will. OK, so skills-based insights are all the rage right now, thanks to organizations like Plum, HiringBranch and others, but personality insights? The boys are skeptical, but welcome Tom Sherwood, co-founder and CEO at Koios on Firing Squad to find out what all this witchcraft is about. Does he leave unscathed? Abracadabra, Holmes! You gotta listen to find out.

It's earnings season, which means our show's usual suspects are opening up the books and showing off their numbers. Unfortunately, unless your name is Upwork, Uber and DoorDash - darlings of the gig economy - the numbers aren't all that exciting. Spoiler alert: Indeed, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter and Dice disappointed pretty much every shareholder. While job sites are losing, however, labor continue to win in light of the recent UAW smackdown of Detroit's Big Three. In addition to carmakers, airlines are getting in on the act, and don't be surprised if more segments start blowing up, thanks to so much China hating going on at the moment in the West. What's more? Google for Jobs keeps evolving, RTO policies keep sucking, especially for mental health disabilities and challenges and Russia continues to ruin everything. This is why we can't have nice things, but at least we still have podcasts like this one to spread joy around the world.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

Ya' down with LLM? How artificial intelligence is leveraging Large Language Models to power solutions like ChatGPT is redefining how recruiting and hiring is done. Problems is, it's early innings, which means the masses don't quite understand the ramifications and how to harness the new tech in order to take their staffing strategies to a new level. That's why we invited Textkernel CEO Gerard Mulder on the podcast to make sense of it all. Textkernel’s LLM Parser, powered by GPT-3.5, represents a groundbreaking fusion of Textkernel’s proprietary industry knowledge with ChatGPT, making this dynamic combination the next generation in parsing technology, offering recruiters and HR professionals unparalleled levels of accuracy, efficiency, and insights into candidate data. Yeah, it's kind of a big deal, and the boys grill Mulder on the benefits, competitive landscape and potential threats. We also cover Textkernel's recent acquisition of Joboti, and dive into what potential moves the company might be eyeing in the future. Recorded live from the Textkernel booth in Paris at Unleash, you won't want to miss this conversation with long time Chad & Cheese sponsor.

Things tend to get a little kooky around Halloween, which the world celebrated this week, and the news around work was a bit discombobulated too. Our eighty-something president laid down an executive order regarding AI regulation, labor unions struck a big blow to The Big Three, and LinkedIn cuddled up to frenemies like Beamery, Eightfold, and Radancy. Plus, OnlyFans-inspired dismissals strike the same school twice, and an epic duel of Who'd Ya' Rather pitting Yourco's David against Traba's Goliath. The boys even throw in some KFC rejection letter entertainment, brought to you by social media, and the demise of WeWork. Thanks, internet!

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

Employee retention. Ever heard of it? It’s kind of a big deal. See, employers would rather hold on to the existing crop of workers than have to go back to the well year after year. Ever heard of the gaming industry? Yeah, it’s kind of a big deal too, and hold onto those employees are particularly tricky. Good thing we ran into Madeline Laurano, the founder and chief analyst of Aptitude Research, while we were in Paris at Unleash, because she actually gave a presentation on the topic and decided to hangout with your boys in the Textkernel booth for some knowledge droppin’.

Did you happen to catch ERIN at the SHRM show this summer? If you did, you’re probably wearing a Chad & Cheese T-shirt right now. You also probably learned about a start-up in the employee referral space who just raised millions for their business. In case you missed it, employers say referrals are their No. 1 source of hire. For these reasons alone, we had to invite Mike Stafiej, CEO at ERIN, on the show to break it all down for us. We also make fun of Cardboard Chad. Confused, gotta listen.

It's Halloween time again, and as usual, this episode is full of tricks and treats from the world of work. We're talkin' layoffs at Bullhorn and Nomad Health, Radancy acquiring Brazen, Employment Hero claiming unicorn status and more. What's more, you ask? How about Amazon introducing human-like robots into its warehouses and Cruise driverless cars getting pinched by the government regulators. The biggest trick of all probably goes to all the Return-to-Office mandates dropping on the heads of unsuspecting workers, like moms and the disabled. Of course, we end on a treat, talkin' about adult film star Riley Reid's new AI girlfriend app, that promises to be as naughty as you want her to be ... virtually, of course. Carve a pumpkin, grab a glass of witch's brew and enjoy this week's episode of HR's most dangerous podcast.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

The low standards around child labor laws in America are enough to make anyone think they're taking crazy pills. Shockingly, many states and local governments are going backward when it comes to protecting our most vulnerable, particularly in agriculture. That's why we invited Reid Maki, Child Labor Advocacy Director at the National Consumers League and Child Labor Coalition on the podcast. It's a sobering discussion on the state of working kids and immigration failures throughout the country and its heartland. It's also a discussion, however, about how change can happen for the betterment of everyone. We are failing our kids and it's high time we make a change. Knowing is the first step.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

Week Two of Chad & Cheese's back-to-back travels is a tour de force that finds the boys in Paris for Unleash - taking residency at the Textkernel booth - after a stint in Vegas for HR Tech. The recruiting news never sleeps, of course, so the boys are covering alerts out of LinkedIn, Stack Overflow, The Martec, Yardstik and Citibank this week. Additionally, there's an extensive list of shoutouts from their European adventures and a few special birthday announcements. Grab a baguette and a chunk o' fromage, Pierre! There's a podcast révolution goin' on up in here!

When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton simply replied, “Because that's where the money is.” The same might be said for JobIndex's lawsuit against Google for copyright infringement, claiming the world's most popular search engine is taking their content and publishing it to Google for Jobs without permission. Anyway, the boys dig into this claim and voices, tempers and hilarious soundbites commence. But wait, that's not all. They also dig into cover letters and why AI either does or doesn't make a bit of difference. (Spoiler alert: There's a story about a perfume-drenched CV.) Then ending on a high note, it's Who'd Ya' Rather with CareerFairy and Mintago.

Mind Games was a song penned by John Lennon. This interview has nothing to do with the famous Beatle, but up-skilling your workforce through the power of gamification is all the rage right now. That’s why we invited Geri Morgan, chief people officer at Intellum, an Atlanta-based learning technology company, on the show. Turns out, Geri is doing some amazing things with gamification that every employer could learn from. You probably won’t get Pac-Man Fever, but you’re likely to practical tips on how to improve retention and empower your workforce like never before.

The boys are snapping necks and cashing checks this week from the HR Tech Conference in Las Vegas from the Fuel50 booth. After giving some much-deserved love appreciation to Friends of Chad & Cheese that we’re in attendance, the boys dig into the latest news from show sponsor Harri, covering the latest round of funding with the company’s CFO, who jumped in during the show. If that’s not enough for a shortened roadshow, the guys discuss takeaways from the conference and wonder why startups in certain parts of the country have a tough time with naming their companies. Oh yeah, and a breakdown of U2 at the Sphere goes down. It was a beautiful day, indeed.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

When Google launched their job search engine, dubbed Google for Jobs, a lot of people scoffed, remembering past failures from the world’s largest search engine dipping its toes into employment. Hello, Google Base and Google for Hire? Well, no one’s scoffing now. Google seems to be all-in, with a pay-per-click (PPC) offering coming soon. Optimizing for search results can be challenging. That’s why we invited Alexander Chukovski, founder at Crypto Careers, to take a look at the ins and outs of optimizing for Google when job postings are in play. Crypto Careers connects professionals and businesses building digital assets and blockchain technology, so Alexander knows how to tackle the tough segments. If your jobs are on Google - and they probably are - then this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

Recruiting startups hoping to replace human beings in the hiring process - or at least minimize them - litter the landscape. Chatbots, for example, are all the rage. At least one startup, however, thinks you can have the best of both worlds: scale and high touch. Amber Wanner, founder and CEO of Vette, brings her message to the Firing Squad to see if Chad & Cheese can be convinced that there’s still a place for humans in Human Resources. Does she survive? Gotta listen to find out.

This episode could've been a double album it's so full of amazing content ... Chad & Cheese: The White Album, if you will. We're talkin' layoffs at Snagajob and Meta, Indeed telling customers, "There's nothing to see here," LinkedIn embracing its inner Guns 'n' Roses, OpenAI taking aim at Apple's iPhone, Tesla getting nervous about the UAW strike, Who'd Ya' Rather with Hiring Branch and Transfr and Chipotle's "cobotics," collaborative robots that work with, rather than replace, humans. It's a nice compliment to Chipotle’s Chippy and Autocado automation. Drink it all in, because the boys are travelin' for the next 2 weeks, so we made sure this one was the Big Mac of podcast episodes.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

The European show is typically filled with one or the other: An American company in Europe, or a European company in America. This week, lucky listener, includes BOTH. America’s Uber, on the heels of dealing with similar legislation in California, now finds itself juggling an EU who wants to treat giggers as full-time employees. (Cue the higher-rates, longer waits fear mongering!) On the other end of the continental expansion is Deutschland-HQ’d Personio growing its footprint in America with an office in New York City. What’s more? How about a lively conversation spurred by the latest round of Buy or Sell, featuring Heyu Works, Recrubo, Freework and Kenjo.

The word audit scares most people. Hello, IRS? But sometimes audits can be your best friend for getting a good night’s sleep, especially when A.I. recruiting is involved. With laws being passed all the time that could put your company in jeopardy, you need some solid advice. That’s why we invited Guru Sethupathy, founder & CEO of FairNow AI to help us make sense this A.I. audit stuff. FairNow is a platform for simplifying and automating fairness compliance. They help businesses by auditing and monitoring AI algorithms in hiring. FairNow is on a mission to help companies build trust in their A.I. and if you’re looking at giving your vendors a deep dive to make sure they keep you out of the crosshairs of law enforcement, then this episode if a must.

The news this week is hot. In fact, in the time it took to write that sentence, the news got a little hotter. We're talkin' picket lines, Josh Bersin trash-talkin', LinkedIn is your new crazy uncle HOT. We're talkin' Amazon is droppin' billions to invest in generative AI companies, job boards are bailin' on ChapGPT job searchin', Getty Images sealin' its content from AI hot. And we're talkin' NFL stars goin' into porn after football HOT! Someone get us a cold beer and a fire extinguisher!!!

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

“Is recruiting dead?” On this episode, Chad Sowash goes straight for the jugular and doesn’t let up. Fortunately, Amy Butchko, VP of TA at Maximus, is light on her feet and takes everything the boys throw at her and counters like the true champ she is. This interview was part of ATAP’s recent online event and covers all things A.I. when it comes to hiring. From audits to legal minefields to messaging to budgeting and everything in between, this one’s got it all, including Q&A with the live audience of recruiting veterans.

Effective LinkedIn outreach can be the difference between a recruiter on Skid Row and one on Easy St. One start-up that promises to put headhunters on the fast track to champagne ‘n' cocaine is HyperJob, a solution that says it”ll replace your plain-text job descriptions with interactive job microsites. The solution, founded by Janis Kreilis, CEO and co-founder, uses A.I. to evaluate LinkedIn profiles and craft individual messages with artificial intelligence from there. Hmmm, another start-up relying on LinkedIn for its success. What could possibly go wrong? Gotta listen to see if HyperJob survived the Firing Squad or not.

The world seems to be balancing a lot of good news with the bad news these days. At least that’s an improvement from the days of COVID when it was all bad. Anyway, that same balance impacts the recruiting industry, and thus this episode. The good news: Amazon, Salesforce are hiring and companies like HiBob, Druid, Catalyte, Betterleap and others are raising new funds. The bad news: Google just laid-off hundreds of recruiters globally and Oyster, who’s raised $224 million is going through its second round of layoffs this year. Then the boys cover the UAW strike vs. the Big Three, ask whether we really need CEOs when there’s AI and wonder why Elon isn’t turning X (formerly Twitter) into an OnlyFans competitor. Even Rep. Lauren Boebert would approve. Enjoy.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase (https://www.jobcase.com).

I once had a roommate who dated a stripper named Candy. Never thought that would be relevant to a podcast, but here we are. Strange days, but that’s Europe for ya’. On this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast Does Europe, the boys aren’t only (un)covering strippers, but also discussing Google’s latest lawsuit, alleging Big G unfairly competing against job board JobIndex, a new lie detection software that’s bound to be abused by rogue recruiters, and Elon Musk’s X Hiring from a European point of view. Did I mention these are strange days in Europe? Yup, gotta listen.

Text messaging, or SMS, first came into prominence two decades ago by voting on American Idol, but the technology is as hot as ever for employers. It’s starting to look like text recruiting is here to stay. That’s why we invited Rick Koerner, VP of unified communications at UPS on the podcast. Rick has been texting with job candidates for almost a decade, and he brings his best tips and takeaways to the podcast. Along the way, he throws in anecdotes on all things UPS, like how deliveries only happen one right turn at a time to increase efficiency, and his own story about why he doesn’t have a LinkedIn profile. Say what?!?!?

Looking for an episode as spicy as Nashville hot chicken sandwich? Then you’ve come to the right place. Heading into Day Two of Recfest, the boys keep things tight this week, thanks largely to hangovers and healing vocal cords. Topics include a rundown of Recfest, parties hosted by yours truly and insights into all things Nash-Vegas. There is news too, however, and the boys are covering stories from Grindr (yep, they’re back on the pod), Uber taking on TaskRabbit and a certain CEO in Australia saying the things about workers that all other CEOs are thinking. Grab some BBQ sauce, pour a glass of Jack and enjoy this week’s show.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

What a start-up calls itself usually says a lot about it. It can also say a lot about its prospects for future success. Enter Skillit, a company that connects the supply of skilled workers with contractor demand in the $1.6 trillion annually construction industry through its platform for sourcing, skills assessment, hiring, and training. And you thought a name like Skillit would be serving Grand Slam breakfasts at your favorite brunch spot, didn’t you? Nope, and Fraser Patterson, founder, and CEO of the company is on Firing Squad to tell you why he’s the next big thing? Hey, we’ll be the judge of that, pal. Listen and reveal Skillit’s fate.

Europe has been a leader when it comes to passing laws that protect individual privacy and support pay equity for years, and a new law taking hold will require a large number of companies to publish salary ranges just a few short years from now. It’s all pretty detailed - and probably pretty confusing to a lot of Americans - which is why we invited Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio and Anita Lettink, future or work speaker & HR tech advisor, to the podcast. We have so many questions, and it’s a good thing they have all the answers. If you’re doing business in Europe, it’s a must-listen. And if you’re in North America, it could be a crystal ball into the future. https://synd.io/blog/eu-pay-transparency-cheat-sheet/

A new survey says 74 percent of women on LinkedIn believe the “relentless flirtations” on the network are too much to bear and either limit their use of the platform or left entirely. That’s a serious problem for LinkedIn, and the boys dig into the issue and offer some possible remedies. LinkedIn isn’t the only one with problems, of course. Deel, an industry player who’s raised a total of $679 million to date, has its feet to the fire following an exposè by The Information. Plus, AI is trying to kill us, or at least the good folks of New Zealand, while kids in America are the new slave labor down on the farm. Then you have Delta who, along with Tom Brady, have formed an unholy alliance that’s wrong on so many levels. At least there’s some good news out of Indeed … wait, what? Gotta listen to find out.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

Newbies in recruiting have a hard time understanding the time when newspapers ruled the world of work and finding talent. Gannett was one of those world rulers. Maybe you know USA Today, for example? Anyway, technology has forced them to evolve to survive, and they sometimes play an invaluable role for employers looking to attract Human Resources. That’s why we had to get Anna Brekka, Director Recruitment Strategy at Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORK, on the pod. Anna is an industry veteran with a robust understanding of the business, so you’d be wise to put on your thinking cap while you listen. Yeah, she brings data to the party too. (By the way, this one isn’t just for the kids; it’s an awesome trip down memory lane for the gray hairs too.)

Looking to celebrate Labor Day with some labor-focused news? Then you’ve come to the right place. Twitter taking on the world of work with X Hiring is officially official as Elon Musk trash talks LinkedIn. Indeed is flexing its muscle by expanding Indeed Flex into storefront locations in Texas. Two startups - TeamSense vs. Nursa - battle it out in a game of Who’d Ya' Rather? Amazon’s CEO is whipping employees back into the office after supporting a very relaxed policy since Covid, and airlines are making life a little easier for travelers who enjoy a little peace and quiet, while making things less comfortable for plus-sized trekkers. Plus, we update you on iCIMS exiting CEO, upcoming parties, and “masterdating.”

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

Summer is winding down and Europeans are coming down from their holiday highs, so it’s a great time to drop some knowledge bombs from the Old Country. Staffing agencies are under fire for what politicians say is price-gauging customers in return for placements in the healthcare space. The care may be subsidized in Europe, but the placements are capitalism at its best (or worst). A toxic combination. A little Who’d Ya' Rather? follows, pitting 11x AI against Borderless. Weird names, but interesting businesses. Who wins? Gotta listen. A story out of Italy closes out the show with a new story about ending benefits for thousands of families and individuals deemed "fit to work.”

In the past, we’ve been critical of SHRM investing money into startups. Seems like a big conflict of interest, but whatever. Since SHRM isn’t running to talk to Chad & Chelsea about it, how about the next best thing: The company SHRM gave money? That’s why we brought Jocelyn King, CEO of VirgilHR to the show. VirgilHR is an interactive technology that lets employees ask HR compliance questions in real-time. Seems like a company ripe for disruption from the likes of ChatGPT, but you’d be wrong (or at least that’s what Jocelyn says). The way that they chose their name is pretty cool too. Heck, it’s an all-around banger of an interview. Enjoy.

As summer drags on, the boys had to get out of the house for a change of scenery, deciding to head to Chicago to see how things at Shaker Recruitment Marketing were doing … as well as do a show in the process. (That means the usual dose of cameras, crowds and a debauchery, of course, just in real life this time.) The boys discuss tons of AI topics, including The New York Times taking on OpenAI and the state of New York regulating employee monitoring. Plus, The America First Legal Foundation is crying reverse discrimination, while Kid Rock is still drinking Bud Lite and Grindr and X, the artist formerly known as Twitter, are looking to be the next LinkedIn (yeah, really). As an added bonus, Shaker president Joe Shaker, Jr. joins us for a fireside chat, focused on the state of programmatic job advertising, to close out an amazing 24 hours in the Windy City.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who’s raised funds, who’s been acquired and who’s on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.