Hello Geniuses!

Quick announcement.

Recruiting With Dynamite is officially on LinkedIn. WOO! I’ve been told good friends support each other. And you, early adopters of RWD, are so much more than friends at this point…. You are…

And not in the way that companies say it to employees… Yuck! So, please support the page and give us a follow.

Also, for the last few weeks, I’ve been speaking with many of you and crafting a badass program to help get your outreach automation and copywriting game up. We are calling it Outreach Optimizer! It sounds so cool, we should yell it in a cave...

I’ve ran a few of you through what it will entail and have already been told several times that we are pricing it too low. So, until the end of March, (AKA the start of hiring season) I’m running a special to sweeten the deal for those of you who book me for a free Outreach Audit. In the audit, we can go over your copy, automation and/or AI stack and determine where there might be gaps/ room for improvement.

Lastly, I am going to be on vacation next week starting tomorrow, so we will not have a newsletter hitting your inbox that Friday. But don’t fret! I have some awesome content heading your way to make up for it.

Now onto the mains!

Game the Game: Use AI Against AI

The last 4 newsletters have been centered around outreach and getting more replies, more client intakes, or more candidates. We all want to get to bat more often and hit home runs, right? But, none of it will matter if you are not improving your recruiting skills. These skills are what will keep recruiting robots from taking over our jobs. And, as AI gets more powerful for our candidates, it's important that we get better too!

ChatGPT and Generative AI have already changed the game when it comes to screening candidates. From crafting perfectly written (and sometimes fabricated) resumes to writing code for junior engineers in their take-home assignments. The technology has the recruitment industry scrambling for answers.

But fear not! This is great news for smart recruiters who are staying ahead of the curve.

This means that you can create better differentiators and value-added services to set yourself apart, both as an internal and agency recruiter. Some of you might be thinking ”Are we really at the stage where we need AI to screen against AI?” Not necessarily, but I could imagine a future where candidate AI is just talking back to recruiter AI…

Anyway, once you have determined your system, productize it into a USP, make a catchy name for it, and add it to your reengagement campaigns, newsletters and follow ups. Here are some ideas to help craft an awesome USP.

1. Try rotating your screening exercises and use real-world use cases. AI generators are great at taking on general common problems but falter a bit more in specific problems you are trying to solve. Agency Recruiters may want to consider gathering similar code assessments and standardize a rotation of screening exercises they can perform prior to sending candidates off to their clients. This is also a great way, for you to send a single screening assessment to all of your contingency clients, reducing time to hire.

2. Video interviewing and note taking tools are a great way to detect any discrepancies in answers. Tools like Metaview.AI are truly amazing! Not only do they provide full summaries of interviews, but they also allow you to send links of answers to key questions. This is incredibly useful for situations where a hiring manager might want to verify information and call out any bullshit throughout the process. Just keep in mind that it may take multiple interviews to catch a lie.

3. Look into AI & plagiarism detection apps - they're low cost and easy to integrate, but keep in mind that most are only 20% effective in detecting AI-generated content. They can also be gamed from a knowledgeable user by moving content to be rewritten multiple times across different platforms.

4. Providing extended guarantee periods can help ease client worries about hiring unqualified candidates and can even be an upsell for your services. Just be aware that it may leave your working capital in limbo for longer.

5. Do detailed reference checks - be specific about the type of reference you need and ask pointed questions about projects and contributions. For example, don't just ask for an engineering manager or colleague. Ask them to provide a colleague who worked on the containerization project and who can speak technically to your contributions.

6. Accept and adopt AI into your screening process - embrace it and even encourage its use in the recruiting process. By creating an open conversation, you increase trust with the candidate and may even learn of useful ways to infuse AI into the role. I personally think this method is the smartest to integrate as the use of AI will permeate every industry. Those who are learning and adopting it now will be far ahead of those who play catch up.

It's important to know your market and show your clients that you're aware of the risks and how you're mitigating them. Whatever method you decide to use, be sure to document them and standardize it in your process. You can then use these processes and results as key differentiators for your approach to recruiting.

Have fun, test and iterate 🙂 

Product Of The Week

I talked about Metaview.AI earlier and it deserves a special mention as our Product of the Week. This tool is a powerful addition to any recruiting stack.

For internal recruiters, it's a no-brainer since it will soon integrate seamlessly with your favorite ATS platforms. But for agency recruiters pitching both high percentage contingency and retainer services, this is something you should consider and mention in your client pitches. It can be used in intake calls with hiring managers and candidates alike. You can even add seats for interviewers to ensure quality and consistency of the calls and advise both sides accordingly.

We recently used it to sit in on a second-round interview for a Data Science role, and it saved our deal. The interviewer and candidate were having a bit of miscommunication that nearly resulted in a pass. When we received the feedback, we reviewed the Q&A and provided some data points to clear up the misunderstanding. Deal saved!

But my favorite feature is the ability to quickly and easily highlight parts of the call for review, and even let stakeholders jump directly to key moments that are the most interesting to them, reducing the need for redundant questions and sometimes whole interview rounds.

There are plenty of recorder and transcriber apps, but this one is built specifically for recruiters. Check out Metaview.AI and get 5 interviews recorded for free!

Hope you enjoyed the newsletter this week. Don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn and forward the newsletter to your favorite recruiters.

If you want some cool AI content while I’m away, I’d recommend signing up to AI Valley.