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A national lockdown created 15,000,000 unemployment claims in the past weeks. We have a few tips for anyone that finds themselves on the job hunt.
Companies are laying off and furloughing employees at an unprecedented rate and there are tens of millions of people thrust into a position they weren’t expecting only a month ago: an active, urgent job search.
The Hirewell team is doing our part, as best we can. We’re offering two sessions of our Executive Candidate Marketing service to anyone who needs assistance, no charge. Two weeks in, the demand has unfortunately exceeded our expectations. We are doing our best to keep up and have created a form to better track responses (sorry to anyone that hasn’t gotten a response) Click here for more information.
The first question we heard is always “where do I start?” You can only control what’s in your control, so just start moving forward, one foot after another.
Personally, here are the first 5 things I’d do:
1. Clear your head.
As much as you need to jump right into it, deal with your emotions first, otherwise they’ll hold you back. Take a day or two to get yourself into a headspace where you’re ready to take on any challenges and execute.
2. Tell your inner circle.
Family, friends, and the professional colleagues you know will go to bat for you. You don’t need to have your ‘narrative’ on lock yet (more on that in a minute) with this crew, in fact talking to them will help you figure that out. And you may find out quickly in these conversations that you have more options than you realize.
3. Sort out your finances.
Money is why we do this whole ‘work’ thing, after all. Figure out exactly how much runway you have. Set a budget, get a handle on your spending, and determine exactly how much time you have to find something and if you need to get a side gig in the meantime.
4. Construct your narrative.
Who are you, what do you want to do, and why are you the best to do it. This is the story you’ll be prepared to tell to anyone who will listen, be it in a networking conversation or formal interview. Put this into motion in your resume, LinkedIn, social media, etc. (More on this to come, we promise.)
5. Create a plan.
You’re going to create a multichannel approach (applying to jobs, reaching out to old contacts, talking to recruiters, networking your way into new companies, etc.) and it’s going to be a daily effort. With the amount of active job seekers, it’s absolutely a numbers game. You’ll need to stay mechanical in your approach to ensure your activity level is where it needs to be, and that you’re knocking interviews out of the park when they happen. Success in this doesn’t come by accident, it comes from developing a plan of attack.
And remember, we’re here if you need us. Feel free to reach out to contact@hirewell.com.
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Plenty has been written about AI over the past two years. For much of that time, AI has been more hype than reality. I THINK 2026 is when that starts to change.
Here’s the first in a three part series of where we see AI going in the recruiting world.
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For the last few years, most companies treated AI like a recruiting assistant. It helped draft job descriptions, summarize resumes, and speed up outreach. Useful, sure. But it didn’t fundamentally change how hiring worked. And oftentimes, things needed to be double checked before hitting send.
I think that’s going to change.
In 2026, we’re seeing the rise of agentic HR. These are systems that don’t just support recruiters. They can execute work autonomously inside defined guardrails.
That shift is forcing talent leaders to rethink what recruiting teams are actually responsible for and what still requires a human.
From Copilot AI to Agentic Recruiting Systems
Traditional recruiting AI waited for humans to click “next.”
Agentic systems don’t.
They can interpret real-time funnel data, align to hiring goals, and take multi-step action. That includes adjusting sourcing spend, coordinating interview schedules, and triggering workflow changes without manual oversight.
This isn’t automation layered onto old processes. It’s the early version of a self-driving recruiting function.
The Metric That Matters More Than Time-to-Fill
Time-to-fill and cost-per-hire still matter. They just don’t fully capture what’s changing.
A concept showing up more in 2026 is Return on Autonomy. It measures the value created when humans and autonomous systems are paired intentionally.
In plain terms, the question is simple.
Are we using technology to eliminate busywork, or are we just doing the same work faster?
Because speed doesn’t help if it leads to worse decisions, a weaker candidate experience, or more noise in the funnel.
Why This Changes the Role of TA Leadership
As agentic systems absorb transactional work like screening, scheduling, and coordination, the role of recruiting leadership shifts.
The best TA leaders are spending less time managing process and more time doing what actually drives hiring outcomes. That includes aligning hiring to business priorities, building trust with candidates, and improving decision quality.
The real opportunity of 2026 isn’t more AI. It’s that recruiters finally get to focus on the work that requires being human.
The Mistake Companies Are Making Right Now
Here’s the trap.
Companies adopt advanced recruiting technology but keep the same habits. Long approval chains. Inconsistent communication. Unclear evaluation criteria.
When that happens, speed increases, but trust collapses.
Candidates don’t experience innovation. They experience silence, confusion, and a process that feels even more impersonal than before.
In 2026, the human experience of hiring is becoming a differentiator again because so many companies are getting it wrong.
What Talent Leaders Should Be Thinking About Now
You don’t need a total rebuild tomorrow. But you do need clarity.
The companies winning in 2026 are asking the right questions.
What parts of our hiring process truly require human judgment?
Where are we slowing things down out of habit?
Are recruiters trained for strategic work, or just process management?
Do our systems increase transparency, or just efficiency?
These aren’t technology questions. They’re leadership questions.
What’s Next
Agentic HR is changing how recruiting works. It’s also creating a new challenge.
As employers deploy autonomous systems, candidates are doing the same. The result is an emerging AI-on-AI hiring arms race that’s flooding pipelines with highly optimized but low-trust applications.
Next in this series: The AI-on-AI Hiring Arms Race and How to Protect Hiring Quality Without Breaking Trust
A lot of companies are going to try to AI their way into faster hiring this year and still end up with worse results. If you want to build a recruiting model that actually works in 2026, one that balances speed, quality, and credibility, we can help. Reach out if you want a second set of eyes on your hiring approach.
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