20 Recruiters Making 150,000 Hires with Shay Johnson

How do just 20 recruiters handle over 150,000 hires and 7 million annual applications? On this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman chat with Shay Johnson, VP of Strategic HR Partnerships at Compass Group, to explore the future of high-volume hiring. Shay breaks down how the global food service leader modernized its talent pipeline to eliminate candidate drop-off, targeted candidate re-engagement, and a full conversational ATS experience. Catch this episode to hear how AI interviewing agents, smart bot detection, and candidate coaching are turning tedious administrative tasks into high-value human connections.

What do a big couch, a can of Stella, and four of the biggest personalities in recruitment have in common? They’re all live from RecFest this week, covering the hottest topics in the world of hiring. Chad, Joel, Mo’, and J.T. are on hand to talk about everything from an HR tech founder facing up to 20 years behind bars to the great iced-latte-in-job-interviews debate sweeping the land. First up, the crew covers all things RecFest USA live from the Shaker Recruitment Marketing booth, each offering a unique take on the world’s hottest recruitment conference. You may have heard about the recent controversy over an iced latte that made its way into an interview—and then drew criticism from a practitioner. Yeah, that gets covered. Then it’s news time. The team discusses the recent guilty plea by the former CEO and founder of Joonko, who is looking at as much as 20 years in prison after allegedly ripping off investors to the tune of $27 million. Next, the gang turns to Harver’s acquisition of Symphony Talent, a move destined to rattle recruitment ad agencies for years to come. Does the future favor the agency? The group weighs in. Then comes a Chad & Cheese first: a representative from Findem makes a sponsored announcement about the company’s latest product drop, Findem Studio. To wrap things up, the crew looks at ZoomInfo’s newly launched Talent Autopilot, a sourcing tool the company hopes will shake up the industry by tapping a dataset it calls second to none.It’s a fun wrap-up from Nashville at the end of RecFest’s first big day. Now pass the hot chicken.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment.

Is the resume dying — or is it just lying and on life support while AI agents pump out 11,000 fake-looking apps a minute. On this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, Joel and Chad sit down with Etan Bernstein of the Velocity Network Foundation, an HR lifer who wants to stop the whack-a-mole and put a chip in the talent system the way banks killed mag-stripe fraud. Self-reported CVs, ghost jobs, North Korean bots, and vendors who get paid for the chaos all get roasted. Etan’s pitch: one open protocol, worker-owned credentials, and trust at the source instead of another detector. If you’re still screening slop with more slop, this one’s going to sting. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction to the industry's trust issues 02:23 - The shift from traditional resumes to AI-generated profiles 04:11 - The impact of AI on fraud and exaggeration in resumes 06:10 - The problem with fragmented HR data systems 08:33 - Building trust through verifiable data 10:48 - The economic impact of chaos in HR tech 15:36 - The flood of resumes and legal compliance challenges 19:38 - The vision of an open, shared protocol for HR data 21:27 - The role of LinkedIn and other platforms in verification 24:24 - The digital footprint and future of verification

This week on Chad and Cheese, Joel and JT unpack four stories that actually matter if you hire, manage, or look for work. Buckle-up buttercup! Meta just reversed two of its most controversial internal bets: pushing individual contributors back into middle-management seats after the layoffs, and pausing a monitoring program employees believed was training their AI replacements. The hosts dig into what the internal data showed, why “no managers, full surveillance” keeps failing at scale, and what it does to a brand that used to be a résumé flex. Then they hit a Business Insider piece on “LinkedIn lunatics”—the people who post like their career depends on it. JT is in the article. They talk about why the platform now rewards proof of knowledge over old job titles, why companies that police employee posting may have a bigger problem than they think, and where LinkedIn’s real money might be heading next. Who’d You Rather pits two freshly funded plays against each other: Jack and Jill, a conversational-AI recruiter that just raised $40 million, versus Boomerang HR, an alumni-network platform that raised $12.7 million. One host goes big and conversational. The other bets the niche player survives the giants. They close on Bernie Sanders and Mark Takano’s bill to phase the work week from 40 hours to 32 with no pay cut. JT has already run a shorter week. Joel likes the theory and questions whether Slack and after-hours email would let anyone actually unplug. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction and episode overview 04:03 - AI's real threats and opportunities 07:58 - The political landscape of AI regulation 10:08 - The future of AI agents and their impact 12:05 - The evolution of social media and LinkedIn 13:56 - The concept of LinkedIn as a platform for validation 16:10 - The changing nature of employee branding and social media 18:00 - Controversial advertising and brand strategy 20:01 - Upcoming events and travel plans 21:54 - Fantasy football league update 24:03 - Meta's internal policy reversals and lessons 25:57 - The future of work and AI in HR 28:10 - The importance of human oversight in AI systems 29:56 - The potential of AI to monetize individual expertise 31:58 - Who'd you rather? Company comparisons 33:59 - Historical lessons on technology and automation 36:09 - The importance of employee activity on social media 37:58 - The role of AI in recruitment and job seeking 39:55 - The shift from corporate control to individual branding 42:00 - The untapped potential of employee advocacy 43:55 - Legal and ethical considerations in AI and surveillance 46:03 - The coming digital renaissance and new monetization models 48:01 - Predictions for the future of AI and work 50:05 - The impact of new legislation on work hours 52:12 - The benefits of a shorter workweek and flexible work policies 54:03 - The cultural shift towards work-life balance 56:06 - The importance of boundaries and boundaries management 58:03 - Humor and light-hearted moments in the discussion 59:56 - Close

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

SmarterX founder and CEO Paul Roetzer joins the boys for a chat about how AI is reshaping the workforce in ways most don't suspect. Paul sold his marketing agency in 2021 as AI was already writing at near-human level—then ChatGPT showed up and things went into hyperdrive. Bentley and Gallup’s 2026 numbers say most Americans, especially young ones, don’t trust companies that use AI, while Microsoft, Google, and every CRM already do. Paul talks human-centered adoption, Jobs GPT, Copilot/Gemini/Claude stall-outs, why IT shouldn’t own this, and what IBM, Deloitte, and McKinsey actually sell. He walks through his Co-CEO GPT, a nine-month Anthropic/Claude build, HubSpot Breeze, Monday data agents, “human in the loop” versus a phrase he coins live, the 100-person split that becomes an HR problem, recruiting through a flood of AI applications, liberal-arts hires, and what he tells parents when asked about AI and entry level jobs.

Joel, Chad , and Emi break down the intersection of AI recruitment technology, global labor markets, and industry regulation, alongside pop culture banter and sports highlights. Key Topics Covered:Pop Culture & Fantasy Football: Reactions to Steve Ballmer's retro Microsoft commercials and NBA ban, US Open tennis highlights, and fantasy football draft grades. HR Tech & Startups: Spotlights on Sonic Jobs' LLM integrations, Hackajob's Archer agent rebranding following a 3x ARR increase, and previews of global HR events. The H-1B & Union Debate: A look at how H-1B visa restrictions drive different hiring behaviors. Jobs Report Reality Check: An analysis of August's 162,000 job additions, against structural economic shifts, immigration, and tariff impacts. AI Compliance & Job Board Evolution: The European crackdown on fully automated management illustrated by Uber's €825 million Dutch fine, and what the closure of Guardian Jobs signals for traditional recruitment advertising.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment.

On this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, Joel and Chad welcome Lauren B. Jones—founder and CEO of Leap Advisory Partners and author of Real Girls Roadmap to Mastering AI—fresh off the farm in Northern California where the roosters clock in at 4:30 a.m. With nearly 30 years in staffing and recruiting under her belt, Lauren cuts through the AI hype with a no-BS reality check: most companies claim they’re using AI, but only a fraction are seeing real ROI because they’re chasing shiny tools instead of solving actual problems. She breaks down why leaders still need to get the basics right, how to stop the “slop,” and why policy, education, and enablement—in that order—matter more than ever. Plus, they dig into why women approach AI differently, what parents should be teaching their kids, and why treating AI like Google is a fast track to garbage output. It’s practical, a little snarky, and exactly the kind of conversation HR’s Most Dangerous Podcast was made for. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction to Lauren B. Jones and episode overview 02:01 - The current state of AI adoption in staffing and recruiting 04:09 - How leaders can start educating themselves about AI capabilities 06:10 - Framework for organizations: eliminate, automate, AI 07:53 - Using surveys to identify automation opportunities 10:13 - The importance of policy, education, and enablement in AI adoption 11:59 - Global policy landscape and the need for regulation 14:08 - The evolution of AI tools like Jasper and ChatGPT 16:04 - Research findings on women and AI in the workplace 17:54 - The motivation behind writing 'Real Girls Roadmap to Mastering AI' 20:10 - Overcoming overthinking and confusion in AI adoption 22:10 - Advice for parents and children on AI safety and skills 24:02 - The impact of social media and AI on society 26:00 - The role of quality input and human oversight in AI outputs 27:57 - Connecting with Lauren B. Jones and final thoughts