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After five years, over 100 episodes, and countless rants about hiring dysfunction, The 10 Minute Talent Rant is ...
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Recruiting is hard. Whether your company is growing, experiencing turnover, or you’re looking for specialized skills, finding the right people for the job can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. The process is time-consuming and expensive. Yet, every day that a position is open costs the organization productivity.
It’s no wonder that 64% of companies U.S. outsource at least some of their recruiting efforts. But working with third-party firms can present problems. If you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of firms out there. Separating the good from the bad can be tricky. And we all know working with the wrong firm can be a horrible experience whether you’re a client, a candidate, or even an employee at the firm.
Look, we don’t mean to turn on our own industry, but frankly, we see and hear tales of companies and recruiters that give our profession a bad name. We hope that if job seekers and employers become more aware of these practices, they can avoid the bad apples—and that we can elevate the recruiting industry as a whole.
So grab a latte and have a seat, while we share recruiting practices that range from ill-advised to stunningly disreputable.
1: Firms with mostly inexperienced recruiters (I.e., new grads, or those who are one year out of school) and/or don’t specialize in your field
Many firms make all of their hires straight out of school. That means these new recruiters are not domain experts, don’t have a clue about your career, your company, or what good talent looks like.
Determine if the recruiting firm has the experience you need by vetting them thoroughly. Don’t just ask how they find candidates. Ask if they’ve actually filled the role you’re hiring for and if so, how many times and with what companies. Find out how experienced the team is. But don’t just take their word for it: look the company and recruiters up on LinkedIn. If the recruiters have less than a year of experience, be ready for a flood of resumes that haven’t been properly screened. (It’s what we like to call the “throwing a bunch of spaghetti against the wall in the hope that something sticks” approach!)
2: Companies that submit candidates’ resumes without approval
This practice happens more often than it should. In the quest to fill an open job, some staffing agencies will send a candidate’s resume to the hiring manager without alerting the candidate (the throwing a bunch of spaghetti against the wall approach of recruiting). There’s nothing wrong with sending a resume for a job outside of the candidate’s stated interest—as long as the candidate agrees. With the rise of automation, the race to get resumes over to clients “first” and the insistence on submission metrics by some firms (more on this later)—many firms send resumes out first and ask questions later.
If a recruiting firm frequently sends candidates who are disinterested, unprepared, or who drop out of the interview process, this is a signal that the recruiting firm may not have been upfront with the candidate about the job. This also indicates that a recruiting firm isn’t doing a good job of communicating your company’s value proposition to candidates.
And if you are a job seeker and this happens to you – run away. Fast. And don’t be afraid to let the company know that this is how the firm operates.
3: Companies that oversell candidates
As crazy as it sounds, some recruiting firms fudge a candidate’s resume to get them in the door. I’ve also heard horror stories of companies doing a bait and switch on the interview or tech assessment process.
It’s nearly impossible to find a candidate who meets every job qualification, but some recruiters will insist that their candidate can meet each requirement perfectly. And when you’re a company anxious to fill an opening, that can be reassuring to hear. Unfortunately, it’s usually fake news, and hiring managers at small or new companies who haven’t hired a lot may be the most vulnerable to this tactic.
If a recruiting firm sends you one “perfect” candidate, beware. Recruiters should be transparent about the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate: Yes, Leon only has a year of a particular experience, but he also has four years of another critical skill.
Final Thoughts:
We want to be clear: there are plenty of great recruiters out there, and not all recruiting firms are horrendous. But enough take part in questionable practices that it bears bringing these situations to light. Not only can working with a bad recruiting firm derail your hiring efforts, but there’s also another factor to consider. Candidates often think of the recruiting firm as an extension of the company, and a bad experience with the recruiter can result in a negative impression of your brand. Knowing what questions to ask and what to look for can help you steer clear of awful staffing firms’ worst practices.
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Over the last year, hiring teams have started seeing a wave of new job titles pop up across tech, sales, and operations.
Some are legitimate new roles.
Others are existing jobs with a slightly different name.
And many of them have one thing in common: AI is suddenly part of the job description.
From Go-to-Market Engineers to AI Specialists, companies are experimenting with new roles as they figure out how automation and AI fit into their teams.
But most of these positions aren’t entirely new. They’re evolutions of existing roles.
The Rise of Go-to-Market Engineers
One role that is gaining traction is the Go-to-Market Engineer.
Depending on who you ask, it is either:
- A new role focused on automation and AI-driven growth
- A modern version of Revenue Operations (RevOps)
In practice, it is a bit of both.
As Matt Tokarz recently pointed out after closing a search for an Outbound & Go-to-Market Specialist, the role looked very different from traditional RevOps. The focus was not reporting or CRM hygiene. It was building prompts, leveraging tools like Clay and Smartlead, and enabling SDRs and AEs with backend insights to accelerate pipeline growth.
Instead of traditional RevOps work like reporting and CRM management, the focus was on:
- Building AI prompts
- Creating campaign messaging
- Automating outreach workflows
- Using tools like Clay, Smartlead, and Trigify
The goal was not simply managing sales data. It was accelerating pipeline generation through automation.
AI Isn’t Creating New Functions. It’s Changing Existing Ones
One trend is becoming clear. Companies are not replacing entire departments with AI.
Instead, they are changing how existing roles operate.
Sales teams still need pipeline.
Marketing teams still need content.
Engineering teams still need to build software.
The difference is that employers now expect candidates to use AI tools as part of their workflow.
As Zac Colip noted during the discussion, we are currently in a transitional phase where companies are labeling roles with “AI” as they experiment with how the technology fits into teams.
But that may not last forever.
Why Many “AI Job Titles” May Disappear
Right now, AI still feels new enough that companies highlight it in job titles.
But eventually, AI will likely become a baseline expectation, not a specialty.
Think about it like cloud technology or data analytics.
At first, companies hired “cloud specialists.” Now most engineers are expected to understand cloud infrastructure.
The same shift will likely happen with AI.
Instead of hiring “AI-enabled marketers” or “AI engineers,” companies will simply expect employees to know how to work with AI tools.
The Talent Pool Is Still Small
One challenge with these emerging roles is simple: there aren’t many candidates with real experience yet.
Many of these positions didn’t exist two years ago.
In one recent search, we started looking for a candidate locally in Chicago. Eventually we expanded nationwide because the pool of people with relevant experience was extremely limited.
This is a common issue with emerging roles:
- Companies want experienced candidates
- But the roles themselves are still new
That gap will likely persist for the next few years.
Hybrid Roles Are Becoming More Common
Another noticeable shift is that roles are becoming more hybrid.
Instead of hiring for narrow responsibilities, companies are combining multiple functions into one position.
As Matt Mulcahy highlighted, one example is the rise of Forward Deployed Engineers, a model popularized by Palantir.
These engineers:
- Work directly with clients
- Gather product requirements
- Write user stories
- Build the software themselves
What used to involve several roles, including product managers, engineers, and solution architects, can now sometimes be handled by one person. AI development tools are part of what makes this possible.
AI Adoption Is Happening at Different Speeds
Not every industry is moving at the same pace.
As Ashley DuBois pointed out, some sectors, such as transportation, are applying AI to specific workflows like load booking and operational automation.
At the same time, some companies are adding “AI” to job titles even when the core responsibilities remain largely traditional.
In many cases, it is still essentially an IT manager role with AI familiarity layered in.
This reflects a broader transition period where companies want to signal modernization and candidates want to signal relevance.
Automation Is Changing Operations Roles
In logistics, AI is increasingly handling scheduling, tracking, and coordination tasks.
According to Brittany Lasky, operational roles such as logistics coordinators may experience the greatest impact from automation.
However, freight brokers who manage negotiation and strategic RFPs remain in demand.
AI can optimize processes. It does not replace relationship management or strategic negotiation.
Across industries, a pattern is emerging.
Execution becomes automated. Strategy becomes more valuable.
Finance Roles Are Becoming More Analytical
Automation is also reshaping finance and accounting roles.
As Adam Slater noted, accounts receivable jobs that once focused on high-volume manual processing are evolving into more analytical positions centered on reporting and insights.
The work is not disappearing. The expectations are increasing.
Organizations are now hiring for:
- stronger technical skills
- analytical thinking
- systems understanding
Even roles traditionally considered administrative now require deeper technical capability.
Analyst Roles Are Expanding
AI is not eliminating analyst roles. It is expanding them.
Financial analysts are also expected to understand tooling, sourcing, and data transformation.
In many cases, two or three roles are being combined into one.
This raises a long-term question.
If entry-level roles become more complex or disappear entirely, how will organizations develop senior talent in the future?
Sales Development Is Becoming More Human
The traditional model of high-volume cold calling is changing.
According to Jack Smith and Emily Canna, teams are shifting toward:
- personalized LinkedIn videos
- voice memos
- highly tailored messaging
At the same time, companies are moving away from activity-based KPIs and focusing more on outcomes such as demos set and SQLs generated.
In a market saturated with automated outreach, authentic communication has become a competitive advantage.
Several clients have said it directly. They want a human in the seat.
Go-to-Market Teams Are Rebuilding the Fundamentals
Every six to twelve months, hiring trends in go-to-market teams shift.
As Jennifer Salerno noted, companies move through cycles.
One quarter it is BDRs.
Then RevOps.
Now it is go-to-market engineers.
Many companies experimented heavily with AI to accelerate pipeline generation.
What those experiments exposed were structural gaps, particularly in outbound strategy.
AI can support execution. It does not replace a well-built top-of-funnel engine.
Inbound momentum can hide weaknesses. Outbound forces clarity.
The companies gaining traction right now are not chasing trends. They are rebuilding the fundamentals of their go-to-market strategy.
What This Means for Hiring
For employers, the takeaway is straightforward. Job descriptions and expectations need to evolve alongside technology.
Across functions, we are seeing the same shift play out. AI is not eliminating entire roles. It is changing how those roles operate and increasing the baseline skill set required to perform them well.
Hiring managers should start thinking less about traditional titles and more about capabilities. That often means prioritizing candidates who can:
- Learn and adapt to new tools quickly
- Think in terms of systems, automation, and workflows
- Combine technical and business skills within a single role
In many cases, the perfect candidate with the exact title simply does not exist yet. The strongest hires are often people who have developed adjacent skills and shown the ability to adapt as the tools evolve.
The Bigger Trend
The broader trend is that AI is accelerating a shift that was already underway.
Roles are becoming more hybrid. Expectations are increasing across nearly every function. And repetitive tasks are being automated, leaving more strategic work behind.
Sales teams still need pipeline.
Operations teams still need coordination.
Finance teams still need reporting and analysis.
Engineering teams still need to build software.
What is changing is how the work gets done and what skills are required to do it well.
Right now we are in a transitional phase where companies are still labeling roles with “AI” as they experiment with new workflows and technologies.
Over time, that label may disappear.
AI will simply become part of how work gets done.
And the roles themselves, while evolving, will look more familiar than the titles might suggest.
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