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Friends,

I want to draw your attention to what I think is an important poll I conducted last week on ‘what recruiters think’ of LinkedIns Open to Work badge. There’s a lot of media out there providing countervailing advice and I hope that the scale of the verdict from a recruiter-dominant network will finally put the matter to rest.

For those of us who are looking for work - I am going to condense the learnings shared in last Friday’s Brainfood Live on the topic and publish as the Open Kitchen essay tomorrow. We’re up to 40,000 subscribers on my second newsletter now, so you can add to the numbers here if you want to read original material and community updates.

Thanks to: Eugène van den Hemel, Carl-Christoph Fellinger, Joey NK Koksal, Peter Fitzroy, Andreea Lungulescu, Jo McCatty, Liz Schwerd, Rob Walker, Manjuri Sinha, Colleen Sauer, Dave Hazlehurst, Jane Middleton, Ross Clennett, Robin Choy, Vicki Saunders, Samira Saltani, Harriet Lavender, Juliana Park, Michael Blakely and Aaron Daniels for your public endorsements of all things brainfood - keeping the show the on road! Scores updated on the Brainfood Hall of Fame.

Can you help? Share this link with a friend in recruitment who needs a boost.

Share Recruiting Brainfood

What Do Brainfooders Think?

I’m going to do a ‘Review of the Year’ series so will be spending time asking you what you thought were the main things that happened this year. Pretty obvious which was the most significant for us. Add yourself to the Brainfood Talent Collective if you’re actively looking.

Brainfood Live On Air - Ep233 - AI-Enabled Candidates - What is the Assessment Plan?

What was once thought to be an urban myth is fast becoming a reality, as AI bots which fill out 1000’s of applications whilst the candidate sleeps will soon overwhelm recruiter inboxes and flood our pipelines such that they become unusable. Does anyone have a plan? We’re going to be talking to some folks who think they do. We’re on Thursday 16th, 2pm GMT - register here

The Brainfood

1. Sam Altman Builds Custom GPT in 4 Minutes

Open AI release of Custom GPT’s opens the door for anyone to build a GPT using their own data, and do so in 4 minutes as Sam Altman demonstrates in this video. This is a significant milestone in the democratisation of AI - we are all now not only users, but producers of AI. This is a multi-level game changer, and I confess to you, that for the first time I am worried about it. Recommend everyone upgrade to paid on ChatGPT if you can and get building your GPTs. At the very least, you got to watch this video.

AI

2. Biggest Directory of GPT’s

Already there is a database to facilitate search for GPT’s. Presumably, there will soon be a GPT which provide recommendations for other GPT’s. All change from here on in folks. H/T to brainfooder Sajithkumar Swaminathan for the share in the online community.

AI

3. The Firm Annual Survey 2024

The FIRM Annual Survey is one of the must reads in our business and this one is no different. 1000+ member organisations surveyed covering topics such as requisition load, KPI’s, annual budgets, use of technology, use of AI. Remember sample bias (membership group, predominantly UK) but very useful nevertheless. Download here

RECRUITMENT OPERATIONS

4. Age and Remote Work Preferences: Dispelling the Myths

I challenge the findings in this report from Appcast, though I am presenting it to you anyway because the source data from job adverts and applications are strong signals. The interpretation is that differences between generational cohorts are exaggerated and that we are more alike than we are different when it comes to remote. I believe this understates the difference between young + single vs partnered up with kids, not a hill I am dying on though 🤣

REMOTE WORKING

5. How Networks Reduce Gender Segregation

The Trojan-horse mechanism predicts that when an individual leaves a workplace in which he/she is in a minority, he/she is likely to be followed by majority-group individuals. This implies, in turn, that an initially segregating move can set in motion a chain of desegregating moves.

From 2021 but I found this article to be a fascinating defence of referrals and network based hiring. Highly readable, loads of new terms to learn (‘homophily’) and definitely brainfood

D&I

6. Update: Applications vs Sourcing

‘Who goes first’ can tell us a lot about the state of the market. Cord’s analysis of the candidate behaviour on their tech talent marketplace show this in great relief - big split in Q2 2022 and divergence ever since.

ECONOMY

7. 10 Skills Recruiters Will Need in 2024 and Beyond

Great to see brainfooder Jan Tegze on Substack and if this type of content is what you can expect, that it will be a newsletter well worth a subscribe. The key to writing a great listicle is add nuance or depth. Jan does both here - have a read.

RECRUITMENT OPERATIONS

8. Here’s What We Know About How AI Will Impact White Collar Work

Some data on what we now already know - white collar workers in the gig economy have been the first to be impacted by Generative AI. Very decent report from the FT on research performed on Upwork, which revealed that both not only was AI taking away work from freelancers, but also reducing the value of that work. Portentous stuff, though not without a signpost to a more secure future (read to the end)

AI

9. Metrics, Cowardice, and Mistrust

I think we have hit peak ‘data driven decision making’. Not to say, that data is irrelevant but that we have come to understand that the provision of data is often skewed to serve narrative. This essay boils it down even further into baser human emotions, cowardice. After all, what is actual human decision making if it is not going against ‘the data’?

PEOPLE ANALYTICS

10. Employee Experience Trends 2024 Report

Another annual must read, Qualtrics 2024 EX report provides a fascinating breakdown on how employees feel about work. Some key insights on stuff we probably already know: front-line workers least engaged, least happy, most likely to attrit. No wonder the sectors which have a large percentage of front line workers also have the most persistent talent shortages. It’s where a lot of the recruitment work is going to be…

CULTURE

The Podcasts

11. This is How AI is Changing Nearly Every Aspect of Work

21x increase in job postings which mention ‘GPT’ - but still account for less than 1% of job postings on LinkedIn. Just one of the number of fascinating numbers surfaced up in this multi-interview podcast from FastCompany. Have a listen.

AI

12. Elon Musk: War, AI, Aliens, Politics, Physics, Video Games, and Humanity

Lightning rod of the day, Elon Musk is also unquestionably a ‘live player’, exercising influence which is comparable to political leaders of major countries. Lex Fridman in conversation, so it’s a 2 hour plus wandering through of subjects. Have a watch.

SOCIETY

13. How Much Does Discrimination Hurt the Economy?

One of the best podcasts on the hidden ways in which the world works. Ranges from anti-semitism, Islamophobia, anti-black legislation in the US and the rest. Grim examples, but lots of learning on why certain groups seem to be succeed in certain contexts, how this success is interpreted and what happens when societies devolve into scapegoatism. Must listen.

D&I

End Note

One more trip abroad (hello Eindhoven this week) and then it’s over for me for 2023, before likely a long trip to Asia-Pac in Q1 2024. It’s been huge news in the AI space, with the release of GPT builder by Open AI likely being the most significant milestone since the launch of ChatGPT itself nearly a year ago.

Got me thinking about what sort of Custom GPT’s the community would benefit most from. Let me know what you think in the poll below…

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That’s it - thanks for reading

Have a great week everyone

Hung