In this Talent Grind Live session, Alex Mann and I dove deep into the current state of recruiting, the impact of AI, and how professionals can position themselves for success in this evolving landscape.

We started by acknowledging the challenging economic environment. As Alex put it, channeling Gerald Ford: "The state of the union is not good." This sentiment reflects what many recruiters are experiencing - a frozen job market with companies cutting back to the bone and overloading their existing employees rather than bringing on new talent.

What's particularly interesting is that while there appears to be some uptick in recruiting activity, it's not necessarily translating to new recruiter hires. Instead, companies are demanding more from their existing talent acquisition teams:

"In the last week I've done multiple digit calls with recruiters and I have heard less about hiring recruiters and more that we need tools to help us because the demand is so high... recruiters have been told 'do more with less, and we're gonna give you the AI tools to try and figure out how to make that happen.'"

The Economy and Recruiting: "The State of the Union Is Not Good"

🎙️ From 50 to 800: Hard Truths and Smarter Hiring in Hypergrowth

Guest: Dixie Vargas | Host: Michael Doran, Founder of TeamSourced & Talent Grind

Welcome to Meet My Network — the show where top recruiting minds share raw insights, real growth stories, and unfiltered lessons from the field.

In this episode, Dixie Vargas shares what it really takes to scale a company from 50 to 800 employees, what most people get wrong about hypergrowth hiring, and how to stay strategic and sane during explosive company expansion.

📈 Whether you’re a recruiter, talent leader, startup founder, or ops pro — this one’s packed with must-know takeaways to survive and thrive in scaling environments.

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Intro: Meet Dixie Vargas

02:04 – The early days: Scrappy beginnings in recruiting

06:30 – Scaling from 50 to 800: What changed and what broke

11:55 – Hiring under pressure: Lessons from startup chaos

15:40 – Building trust with hiring managers

20:18 – The mental side of recruiting in hypergrowth

24:10 – Redefining recruiter value: Business partner vs. order taker

29:15 – Navigating burnout and building sustainable teams

32:42 – Technology, AI & what’s next for TA

36:00 – Final advice: Recruiting is human work

👀 What You’ll Learn:

- How to scale recruiting systems without burning out

- Why talent leaders must influence beyond headcount

- What it takes to keep quality high when speed is everything

- How AI and empathy can coexist in modern recruiting

🔔 Subscribe to stay updated on future episodes!

👍 Like, comment, and share if this resonated with you.

📌 Follow Michael Doran

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldoran

📌 Learn more about Talent Grind

Website:Talent Grind Substack

#RecruitingLeadership #HypergrowthHiring #StartupTalent #DixieVargas #TeamSourced #TalentGrind #MeetMyNetwork #HiringStrategy #ScalingStartups #RecruiterLife #RecruitingPodcast #TechRecruiting #StartupRecruiting

In the latest episode of the Meet My Network podcast, I had the privilege of diving deep with Mark Leon, a seasoned professional who has transformed the way we think about recruiting and talent marketing. Mark's journey is a testament to the power of human connection and strategic thinking in the world of talent acquisition.The Unexpected Path to RecruitingMark's story begins like many in our profession - not as a carefully planned career, but as a serendipitous discovery. Starting as a resident advisor in college, he was introduced to the world of human resources through a mentor who saw potential in him. What started as uncertainty quickly became a passionate pursuit of understanding people and their potential.Pioneering Recruitment MarketingOne of the most fascinating aspects of Mark's career is how he became a pioneer in recruitment marketing before it was even a defined role. At Aon Consulting, he pitched and implemented the concept of creative talent sourcing and community building - a revolutionary approach at the time.His work at Warner Media is particularly impressive. In just three months, he expanded their talent community from 27 to 17,800 people. But for Mark, it was never just about numbers. He discovered something far more profound - the human stories behind each potential candidate.Beyond Numbers: The Human ElementMark shared a powerful moment from his Warner Media project where he connected with aspiring professionals from around the world. One story that particularly struck me was about a young transgender woman in game development who feared breaking into the industry. These conversations revealed that recruitment is about so much more than filling roles - it's about understanding individual journeys and potential.Embracing Change and TechnologyWhen it comes to AI and technological changes, Mark offers a refreshingly balanced perspective. Drawing from a quote by Robert Zemeckis, he believes in continuous adaptation: "Film, like anything else, is about continuous change. You adopt it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You don't lose your traditional values."For Mark, AI is a tool - valuable for developing templates, job descriptions, and optimizing processes. But the core of recruiting remains deeply human: building relationships, understanding nuanced communication, and seeing potential beyond the obvious.Key Takeaways* Recruiting is an art of human connection* Be curious and open to unexpected opportunities* Technology should enhance, not replace, human interaction* Look for the stories and potential behind every candidateA Message to RecruitersMark's journey is a powerful reminder that our profession is about more than filling roles. It's about understanding human potential, creating opportunities, and sometimes, changing lives.As we navigate an increasingly technological world, let's remember the core of what makes recruiting powerful - our ability to see, understand, and champion human potential.Listen to the full podcast episode to hear Mark's complete insights and inspiring journey. And as always, keep embracing the human side of recruiting.Subscribe to Talent Grind for more insights from recruiting leaders who are changing the game.

Hi, I’m Michael, a recruiting exec based in the SF Bay area, who specializes in startup recruiting and HRTech building. I previously built recruiting functions at Oyster, Bolt, and Dropbox. Now I am co founder at TeamSourced, where we offer a free platform along with our recruiting service business.On this substack, I share frameworks, case studies, stories, and links from inside the recruiting and future of work worldsTalent Grind is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriberGet full access to Talent Grind at talentgrind.substack.com/subscribe (https://talentgrind.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

In this insightful video, recruiting expert Michael Doran explores the delicate balance between AI advancement and irreplaceable human intuition in the hiring process. Drawing from over 25 years of recruiting experience, Michael explains why - despite rapid AI evolution - certain aspects of interviewing remain distinctly human. Discover why experienced recruiters can instantly gauge candidates' genuine interest and capabilities through subtle cues that AI simply can't detect. Learn how AI will transform recruiting by automating routine tasks while elevating the human elements that truly matter. Michael shares practical insights on how recruiters should adapt to this changing landscape, mastering both AI tools and honing their interpersonal skills to stay relevant. Perfect for recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates looking to understand how technology and humanity will converge in tomorrow's hiring processes.#shorts #AIRecruiting #FutureOfHiring #HumanIntuition #RecruitingTechnology #TalentAcquisition #InterviewTips #CareerAdvice #RecruitingTrends #HiringInnovation #TechAndHumanity

In this eye-opening short, recruiting expert Michael Doran challenges the conventional tech leadership paradigm in Silicon Valley. Learn why the traditional engineering-first mentality often leads to treating employees like "servers in a datacenter" that can be swapped out when burned out. Michael shares candid insights from his years working with tech giants, calling for a profound shift toward leadership that prioritizes psychological safety and genuine employee development. Discover why he believes future CEOs should emerge from recruiting backgrounds instead of just engineering, sales, or finance – because recruiters understand every position in the company, build relationships across departments, and operate with compliance at their core. This is essential viewing for anyone working in or aspiring to leadership in tech.#shorts #SiliconValleyLeadership #TechHumanResources #RecruitingInsights #TechCulture #LeadershipTransformation #PsychologicalSafety #EmployeeRetention #FutureOfLeadership #TechCareer

In this video, recruiting expert Michael Doran reveals powerful strategies for tracking down exceptional talent when traditional methods fail. Learn how top recruiters go beyond LinkedIn to find specialized candidates, including the fascinating story of how Marc Lipkin tracked down a government cybersecurity expert by identifying their country club membership and getting their contact information directly! Discover why the best talent often isn't visible on conventional platforms and how to develop the resourcefulness needed in today's competitive hiring landscape. Michael shares practical techniques for building targeted candidate lists, leveraging AI tools to enhance your search capabilities, and developing the creative thinking required to find hidden talent. Whether you're a seasoned recruiter or hiring manager looking to elevate your talent acquisition strategy, these unconventional networking approaches will help you connect with candidates your competitors can't reach.#shorts #CreativeRecruiting #TalentAcquisition #NetworkingStrategies #HiddenTalent #RecruiterTips #ExecutiveSearch #TalentSourcing #HiringStrategies #CandidateOutreach #RecruitmentInnovation

In this video, recruiting veteran Michael Doran shares his fascinating experience working at Divine Interventures during the first dot-com bubble. Discover how Michael landed a role as the technical recruiter for Chicago's hottest internet company in the late 90s, building their entire tech team from the ground up. He reveals what it was like to be an early-career recruiter with 20,000 shares of the holding company, having lines of people waiting to talk to him at networking events, and even hanging a Porsche poster in his cubicle with the company president's encouragement. Then, witness the dramatic turn when Divine went public just as the internet bubble burst, completely changing his career trajectory. This raw, firsthand account offers valuable lessons about economic cycles, career resilience, and adapting to sudden market changes that every professional should understand.#shorts #DotComBubble #TechRecruiting #CareerJourney #StartupLife #InternetBubble #ChicagoTech #EarlyCareer #RecruiterStories #EconomicCycles #CareerResilience #TechIndustryHistoryRetry

From Meet My Network - Episode 3

In this video, recruiting expert Michael Doran shares his inspiring story of how he networked his way into Google despite facing multiple rejections.

Learn how he cold-messaged Laszlo Bock on LinkedIn after reading a New York Times article, persisted through three "soft rejections" over four months, and finally landed his dream job that changed his career trajectory.

Michael reveals the exact strategies he used, including his persistence in asking "what other hoop do I need to jump through?" when faced with rejection. This experience ultimately brought him to the Bay Area and transformed his professional life.

Whether you're aiming for FAANG companies or any dream employer, these networking tactics and resilience strategies will help you break through rejections and open doors others can't.

#shorts #googlerecruiter #NetworkingTips #JobSearchStrategy #PersistencePaysOff #TechCareers #RecruitingAdvice #LinkedInNetworking #DreamJobTips #CareerChange #TalentAcquisition