Steve Levy is LinkedIn user #204,097. He co-founded ATAP. He was doing AI in hiring at Pitney Bowes before AI had a Wikipedia page. And unlike a lot of "thought leaders" in this space, he never stopped practicing, he's currently at R1 RCM building production AI/ML sourcing prompt stacks while simultaneously training the next generation of ocean lifeguards at Jones Beach (34 years and counting).
If you don't know Steve, Desiree said it best in the intro: babe, what are you doing? Pause the episode. Google him. Come back.
For our biggest episode of the year, Des and Ashley sat down with one of the actual founders of modern TA and asked him to zoom out. What did the profession get right? What did we get embarrassingly wrong? What's AI actually doing? And what do the recruiters listening right now need to be doing to survive what's coming?
Steve came ready. This one is a masterclass wrapped in a roast wrapped in an hour of the funniest, sharpest TA conversation we've had all year.
What You'll Learn
Why "keeping your job vs. doing your job" is the single most important frame for TA right now
The three problems AI won't solve: character, leadership, and knowledge
Why resumes and job descriptions are both "big piles of monkey poop" (and what happens when you smush them together)
The intake question that will stop any hiring manager cold: "What must this person deliver in the first 6, 12, 18 months to be considered a strong hire?"
Why cost-per-hire is "the singularly dumbest metric" ever created
The difference between excellence and perfection (and why we're chasing the wrong one)
Steve's genius interview question for recruiters: "What would you do if LinkedIn went down?"
Why "densely good" is now the new Talentless bar for candidate quality
The Marquis de Sade School of Talent Acquisition intake technique (you have to hear it)
Why board-director behaviors are the same behaviors great TA leaders need
Best Quotes
"You become so good at using a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail." — Steve
"We have a character problem in TA. We have a leadership problem in TA. We have a knowledge problem in TA. AI is not going to solve any of this." — Steve
"Resumes are a big pile of monkey poop. Job descriptions are a big pile of monkey poop. And we think that magically by smushing this stuff together, some system will produce a five-star Michelin meal." — Steve
"We're not a service function. We're an excellence in performance function." — Steve
"Striving for excellence motivates you. Striving for perfection is demoralizing." — Steve (quoting Harriet Braiker)
"I'm not a psychic. I have no psychic abilities. You have to ask a lot of questions. You have to study. You have to learn." — Steve
"I am here for a purpose, and the purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand." — Steve (quoting Og Mandino)
"If your presence adds no value, then your absence makes no difference." — Ashley
Where to Find SteveLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/levyrecruits (fair warning — if he hasn't touched your baby belly, he might not accept your connection request. IYKYK.)
Recruiting Inferno Inc.: 30-year TA strategy practice
ATAP: Association of Talent Acquisition Professionals — join it
Lex Duo: lexduo.net — TA for TA, AI tools for in-house recruiters
R1 RCM: r1rcm.com/careers/r37-lab
hireEZ: Recruiter Therapy, For Recruiters By Recruiters Conference, Outbound Academy
Also Mentioned
Katrina Collier's The Robot-Proof Recruiter — Chapter 5 on intakes (Steve's rec)
Harriet Braiker's The Disease to Please
Og Mandino (the mountain quote)
Connect with Talentless Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts Instagram • LinkedIn • TikTok • YouTube • BlueSky • Threads Newsletter: talentless.beehiiv.com Come see us at RecFest Nashville — announcing our session soon Got a #DumDumTalent story? Email desiree@talentlesspodcast.com
Powered by the WRKdefined Podcast Network.
Sponsors
