Talent Talks with Nolan Cox: Recent Episodes
Nolan Cox
Whether you are a seasoned recruiter, a brand new Head of Talent who’s feeling over their head, or just looking for a glimpse into the wild world of talent acquisition, we’ve created this space to talk shop about the talent ecosystem and build community as we navigate the ups and downs of our industry together.
The last few years have been a whirlwind for startup growth, and it's incredibly challenging to understand the outflow of investment capital and its impacts on hiring.
In this episode, Matt and I as we sit down with Alex Camacho. Alex started his career recruiting for Google and Mixpanel, and now leads his own consulting practice where he has advised over 80 startup founders. We discuss how VC investment trends have evolved over the last three years, and what the current market indicates for both founders and job seekers. We also compare employer markets against candidate markets, and how high-performing talent teams are currently finding success. Lastly, Alex leaves us with some amazing words of wisdom on how recruiters can best position themselves to win amidst a lack of hiring appetite from companies.
Layoffs are incredibly difficult, and successfully navigating through them is no easy task!
In this episode, Matt and I had the opportunity to chat with Drew Plack, a talented recruiting leader who was recently impacted by the layoffs at Meta. Join us as Drew shares his journey from the initial impact of the layoff, what he did in the following weeks to move forward in a positive way, and his action-oriented approach that led him to land a series of interviews for his next opportunity. Lastly, we discuss how people can use challenging situations to reinvent themselves professionally and take meaningful steps toward future success.
For this episode, Matt and I continue our conversation with John McSorley. We take a critical look at how organizations are evaluating and navigating remote work vs. a return to the office, and how this is reshaping company culture and employee interaction. We also discuss how recent waves of layoffs have fundamentally altered the idea of employee trust and loyalty to their company. Finally, as we dig into the potential future of HR, People Ops and Recruiting, we explore how teams could be structured and what functions could be kept internal vs. being outsourced, and what this means for professionals in this space.
For this episode, Matt and I had the amazing opportunity to speak with acclaimed CPO and Entrepreneur, John McSorley about the future of HR, current disruptions in recruitment, and the future of team engagement. Matt and I recognize the world of recruitment is changing at a pace never seen and John brings a unique perspective on leading Human Resource teams for pre/post-IPO startups, as well as Fortune 500 champions.
There are several topics we explore in this episode. First, we further address the challenges talent leaders face with the amount of industry-wide noise that is dominating startups over the past 12 months. Next, we address the evolution of change management among leaders and how our world of 2019 looked very different in 2021, and even more change in 2023. Lastly, we look ahead to the future of the role of Human Resources and People leaders in the new world, post-Covid.
After Matt and I finished recording our Season 2 Kickoff episode, we both realized we had only begun to scratch the surface and needed to take a deeper dive into what is currently going on in the world of recruiting right now.
There are several topics we explore in this episode. First, we further address the massive amount of industry-wide layoffs that have been happening in recent months. Next, we how to navigate them as both an employer and employee. Lastly, we look ahead to some new developments that could potentially reshape the recruiting landscape and the startup industry as a whole.
Welcome back, and thank you for joining me for Season 2! This season comes with some exciting changes. First and foremost, Matt Abbott will be joining me as my new co-host.
To kick off this season, Matt and I discuss the current state of recruiting, the job market, and the challenges facing the tech/startup industry. With the recent economic downturn and the looming threat of a full blown recession, we address the proverbial elephant in the room and set the stage for what's to come in future episodes.
Join me this week as I sit down with Mandy Zavala to discuss how to craft a world-class candidate experience. Mandy has spent her career working as a tactical recruiter and talent leader at several of the most well-known tech companies in the world, and brings a wealth of knowledge to this conversation.
In this episode, Mandy and I discuss her philosophy on candidate experience, and how it's evolved over the course of her career. We break down what the best teams have done to help their candidates thrive during the interview process, and some of the biggest pitfalls to avoid. Finally, Mandy provides some expert advice on how recruiting teams can level up their candidate experience to lay the foundation for future growth.
Tune in this week as Matt Abbott and I explore how leaders can guide their teams through difficult situations via effective communication. As the President of The Sourcery, and with 20+ years of recruiting experience under his belt, Matt is no stranger to leading teams through the good times and the bad.
In this episode, Matt and I start by reflecting back to when he was first elevated into a management role and had to start having difficult conversations with his team. We highlight a few of the hardest lessons that were learned, and how those lessons were applied in the future. Next, we discuss what leaders can do to ensure their managers are prepared to have difficult conversations with their teams. Lastly, Matt provides insight into what his gold standard of communication looks like, and what he's doing to lead his team through the current market uncertainty.
Join me this week as I sit down with Mario Espindola to discuss headcount planning. Currently, Mario is the Head of Talent Acquisition & People Analytics at Addi and has spent the last 10+ years helping scale tech companies of all sizes.
In this episode, Mario and I take a deep dive into the headcount planning process, and analyze some of the ways companies (and Talent Partners) have (and have not) navigated it successfully. We discuss how Talent teams, Hiring Managers, and Execs can remained aligned and how to avoid several common pitfalls. Lastly, for teams going through this process for the first time (or just want to level up their process), we outline where to start, what tools could be beneficial, and how to measure success.
Tune in this week as I'm joined by the CEO of Job Portraits, Jacqui Gibson-Clark. With 15+ years of experience in the Creative/Marketing space, Jacqui brings a wealth of knowledge to this podcast exploring the intersection between Employer Branding and Talent Acquisition.
In this episode, Jacqui and I break down the fundamentals of Employer Branding and why it's increasingly important in today's professional environment. Jacqui provides valuable insight into how a company's employer brand can be created, enhanced, and measured, as well as how Talent teams can best leverage Employer Branding to attract the best candidates for the company. We end by discussing a few budget-friendly options to build a better employer brand, and look ahead to how branding paradigms might evolve in the coming years.
This week, I'm joined by a mentor and good friend, Darin Enferadi. Darin is currently the Head of Talent at Kiddom, but has spent the last 13+ years partnering with high growth startups as both a recruiter and strategic leader.
In this episode, Darin and I discuss what it's like making the transition from being a tactical recruiter to a talent leader, and the lessons he's learned along the way. We analyze what leadership traits best allow for scalable success, with several being fairly counter-intuitive (but still critically important!) Lastly, we look at how a talent leader can effectively manage down, and all the way up to the executive team.
This week, I sit down with the CEO of Neptune People, Michael Case.
Michael is an Executive Coaching, Talent Consulting, & Leadership Search expert. Prior to Neptune People, Michael worked as the VP of Recruiting at Instacart as well as the Director of Recruiting at Uber.
Michael and I take a look back at the 2020 Covid lockdown and discuss the impact it had on the startup recruiting world. We examine how both companies and talent professionals built back, and what ended up working out for the best (and also the worst). With the tech world recently experiencing layoffs, rescinded offers, and another bout of market instability, we make predictions on what this could mean for the future of recruiting.
Join me this week as I chat with the CEO/Founder of Kinkor Consulting, Kevin Kinkor.
Kevin has spent the last 20 years working as a Talent Leader at multiple high growth tech companies. After founding Kinkor Consulting in 2014, he has advised countless startups on how to scale their recruiting function, and hire great people.
Kevin and I discuss the ongoing impacts of the Great Resignation, and how many companies are now experiencing the negative effects of poor hiring decisions last year. We speculate on how long this correction will last, and what we can all do to navigate through it.
Welcome to “Talent Talks with Nolan Cox!” For the inaugural episode, I sit down with my friend and the founder of Zander Media, Robin Zander.
Robin is a future of work OG, and has been running Responsive Conference, an immersive event about the evolving nature of work since 2015.
These days, he’s the founder and CEO of Zander Media, a different kind of creative shop that’s produced commercials for Kinkor Consulting, among a wide range of companies and brands.
Robin and I talk about remote and distributed work, which is a topic Robin began talking about on stage in 2015. We discuss how organizations have been forced to evolve as a result of Covid-19 and the upheaval of the last few years. And we talk tactics for building great places to work, to keep talented employees engaged, longterm
Welcome to Talent Talks with Nolan Cox. I’m your host, Nolan Cox, and I'm the Senior Director of Customer Success at Kinkor Consulting. Whether you are a seasoned recruiter, a brand new Head of Talent who’s feeling over their head, or just looking for a glimpse into the wild world of talent acquisition, we’ve created this space to talk shop about the talent ecosystem and build community as we navigate the ups and downs of our industry together.
Releasing on Aug 15, 2022.