Hundreds of applications. Zero callbacks. That's the reality for a lot of senior professionals right now. And it's not because they're underqualified.

The job market has quietly shifted. More competition, more AI-generated resumes flooding the same roles, and a hiring system that was built to process candidates, not advocate for them. Something had to give.

So what does it look like when the entire model gets flipped on its head?

In this episode of Procurement Pulse, Friddy sits down with Adam Feinberg, founder of My Personal Recruiter, to unpack what reverse recruiting actually is, why it's gaining traction right now, and what it reveals about the state of hiring in 2026.

Friddy and Adam get into how the traditional recruiting model has always served the employer and left job seekers to navigate a system stacked against them. They also tackle the AI question nobody is asking out loud: as more candidates use AI to bulk-apply and auto-generate resumes, does any of it even matter anymore? And if everyone looks great on paper, what actually separates the people who get hired?

Friddy also makes a prediction about where AI in recruiting is ultimately headed that stopped Adam in his tracks.

What We Discuss:

00:00 What reverse recruiting is and why it didn't exist before

03:03 How the job search actually works when someone else is running it for you

06:11 Who the job market is hardest on right now and why

10:08 The AI resume arms race and why it may be backfiring on candidates

14:53 Friddy's counterintuitive prediction: AI will matter less, not more

23:38 What happens to entry-level jobs and the leaders who were supposed to come from them

30:32 Where the job market goes from here

Interested in My Personal Recruiter? Use code SCOPE10 for 10% off.

Connect with us:

SCOPE Recruiting | https://www.scoperecruiting.com/

Connect with Friddy | https://www.linkedin.com/in/fhoegener/

Connect with Evan | https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-cave

Connect with Adam | https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-fineberg/

About Procurement Pulse: Real conversations with supply chain and procurement professionals who've been on both sides—building teams, solving problems, and staying ahead of what's coming next.

About SCOPE Recruiting: SCOPE Recruiting is a boutique supply chain recruiting firm where every recruiter is a former supply chain professional. Co-founders Friddy and Melissa, both ex-ABB global category managers, built the company after seeing how many “generalist” recruiters didn’t truly understand supply chain, procurement, or logistics roles.

By hiring professionals first and teaching them recruiting second, SCOPE delivers better matches, higher retention rates, and faster hiring results across manufacturing, procurement, logistics, and supply chain leadership.

If you're building a supply chain team and the usual recruiting approach isn't working, check out scoperecruiting.com.

You contact 5 suppliers. Maybe 10. You pick one. Done.

But what if the best supplier for your product was never even on your list?

That's not bad luck. That's how the old system was designed. Gatekeepers with "books of vendors" who steered you toward whoever paid them the highest commission, not who was best for you.

In this clip from Procurement Pulse, Ricky Ho, Co-founder, SourceReady, explains why sourcing without AI is fundamentally a luck game, and how the old purchasing agent model in Asia created hidden conflicts of interest that buyers are still dealing with today.

What's covered:

00:00 The purchasing agent model: gatekeepers, hidden commissions, and who really won

01:22 Why sourcing without AI means you're probably missing better suppliers

01: 58 How AI can vet 1,000 factories in minutes (what takes humans weeks)

Connect with us:

SCOPE Recruiting | https://www.scoperecruiting.com/

Connect with Friddy | https://www.linkedin.com/in/fhoegener/

Connect with Evan | https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-cave

Connect with Ricky | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricky-ho-a25a05104/

About Procurement Pulse: Real conversations with supply chain and procurement professionals who've been on both sides—building teams, solving problems, and staying ahead of what's coming next.

About SCOPE Recruiting: SCOPE Recruiting is a boutique supply chain recruiting firm where every recruiter is a former supply chain professional. Co-founders Friddy and Melissa, both ex-ABB global category managers, built the company after seeing how many “generalist” recruiters didn’t truly understand supply chain, procurement, or logistics roles.

By hiring professionals first and teaching them recruiting second, SCOPE delivers better matches, higher retention rates, and faster hiring results across manufacturing, procurement, logistics, and supply chain leadership.

If you're building a supply chain team and the usual recruiting approach isn't working, check out scoperecruiting.com.

Are you hiring for today or for 24 months from now?

In this episode, Darryl Fitzpatrick, CRO of Intellek, challenges the "plug-and-play" hiring mindset that's dominating procurement and supply chain recruiting right now.

His point: Everyone's chasing unicorns - ready-made experts who can hit the ground running on day one. But what happens when you hire someone without a development plan, clear milestones, or learning infrastructure in place?

You're not just setting them up to struggle. You're telling top talent that you haven't thought beyond their first 90 days.

The companies winning the talent war aren't just offering better comp packages. They're showing candidates a defined career path, meaningful metrics, and proof that people succeed there. That's what keeps unicorns from walking out the door six months in.

If you expect results in 6, 12, 24 months, you need to invest in getting people there, not just hope they figure it out.

What we discuss:

00:00 Hiring with Future Intentions

02:51 The Challenge of Attracting Talent

04:43 The Importance of Learning and Development

Connect with us:

SCOPE Recruiting | https://www.scoperecruiting.com/ Connect with Friddy | https://www.linkedin.com/in/fhoegener/ Connect with Evan | https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-cave

Connect with Daryl Fitzpatrick https://www.linkedin.com/in/darylfitzpatrick/?originalSubdomain=uk

About Procurement Pulse: Real conversations with supply chain and procurement professionals who've been on both sides—building teams, solving problems, and staying ahead of what's coming next.

About SCOPE Recruiting: SCOPE Recruiting is a boutique supply chain recruiting firm where every recruiter is a former supply chain professional. Co-founders Friddy and Melissa, both ex-ABB global category managers, built the company after seeing how many “generalist” recruiters didn’t truly understand supply chain, procurement, or logistics roles.

By hiring professionals first and teaching them recruiting second, SCOPE delivers better matches, higher retention rates, and faster hiring results across manufacturing, procurement, logistics, and supply chain leadership.

If you're building a supply chain team and the usual recruiting approach isn't working, check out scoperecruiting.com.