PICK YOUR POISON

Hold onto your scotch—Chad and the ladies are back for a cheese-free episode of HR’s most dangerous podcast. This week: StepStone is spinning stats, JT warns of Silicon Valley’s "superstar" obsession, and Emi calls BS on corporate hype. From Olympic Village condom shortages to Nantucket’s cocaine-filled sewers, it’s a chaotic deep dive into the industry’s messiest corners. Don’t be average.

Employer branding is broken and James Ellis is here to fix it. In this episode, we torch “spray & pray” applications, call out ATS robots, and explain why pretty career sites don’t make you choosable. If you think talent is interchangeable, you’re already losing. Snark included. Egos? Not safe.

Indeed’s “smart” screening hits turbulence — launches, pullbacks, and black-box scoring raising eyebrows. The boys unpack the mess, plus LinkedIn’s comedy pivot, Google monetizing Jobs, Phenom’s AI shopping spree, and white-collar extinction hype. Innovation… or chaos?

Bots “enriching hiring and society”? Sure, if by scraping your data, guessing your personality, and ghosting you with a smiley match score. Chad & Cheese break down the Eightfold lawsuit with attorney Rachel Dempsey, unpacking AI black boxes, FCRA risk, and why “ethical AI” might be the biggest buzzword in recruiting.

Recruit kicks things off by squeezing employers with Indeed’s black-box pricing just as the market tightens. Then it’s pure chaos: HR tech shakeups, AI hype rattling SaaS, bots invading job search, and lawsuits circling hiring platforms. Toss in Super Bowl ad shade and job-market anxiety… and yeah, things get spicy fast.

The “Big Reckoning” is coming. AI is speeding up hiring—but also exposing every broken process, silo, and fake “collaboration” in talent orgs. Execs spent the money and now want real results, not pretty dashboards. When better talent doesn’t show up, leaders—not the tech—take the hit. Robots move faster… outcomes stay mediocre. Buckle up.

The duo dives deep into Rippling’s bold Super Bowl debut featuring Tim Robinson, debating whether the "evil genius" move is a brilliant recruitment play or a calculated nod to Wall Street. While Microsoft celebrates a massive LinkedIn revenue milestone.

Are job boards fixing hiring or just selling more clicks? 🤔 Chad & Cheese welcome Lou Goodman (*Job Board Revolution*) and Jobiqo CEO Martin Lenz to torch volume-based hiring, “quality vs. qualified,” broken ATSs, AI agents, and the future of job boards. Are they evolving… or quietly dying?