Episodes

  • The Shadow Labor Market: Paying to Be Seen

    The Shadow Labor Market: Paying to Be Seen
    Feb 23 2026
    What if everything you believed about how hiring works… was only half the story? The job market has always had rules. Apply. Interview. Get picked. Simple, right? But something is quietly changing beneath the surface — and it's making a lot of people uncomfortable. Job seekers are now paying recruiters. Not to polish their résumé. Not to prep for interviews. They're paying someone to pitch them — to walk into companies and say, this person is worth your time. Is that exploitation? Is it strategy? Or is it just the job market finally dropping the pretense that the best candidate always wins? In this special report, we're pulling back the curtain on reverse recruiting, the rise of AI-managed job applications, and a parallel labor economy that's already reshaping how opportunity gets distributed — whether you're paying attention or not. This one hits differently. If you work in recruiting, lead a hiring team, or you're out there trying to land your next role — this conversation is already affecting you. You just might not know it yet. The question we're asking this episode? What happens when visibility becomes something you can buy? The answer might change how you see everything. ... Subscribe to The Recruiting Life newsletter - Clarity on what's happening now and next in the world of work. https://newsletter.jimstroud.com Podcast inspiration: "Job Hunters Are So Desperate That They’re Paying to Get Recruited" by Wall Street Journal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    18 mins
  • If AI takes all the jobs away, who is going to buy their stuff?

    If AI takes all the jobs away, who is going to buy their stuff?
    Feb 16 2026
    The factory runs perfectly. The robots work tirelessly. Production costs plummet. And then someone asks the question that breaks the entire model: Who's buying the cars? This episode examines the economic paradox no one wants to name. Companies don't survive on efficiency alone—they survive on customers with money. If automation displaces massive amounts of human labor, the math breaks. Not morally. Mechanically. We explore what happens when the economy can produce value without you but hasn't figured out the consequences yet. How does purchasing power flow when work stops being the gatekeeper? What futures are being quietly debated behind closed doors? And why does your anxiety as a job seeker feel less like a skills gap and more like existential irrelevance? The rules are changing. The system is stalling. And the answer to one old factory joke might determine what comes next. ... Subscribe to The Recruiting Life newsletter https://jimstroud.beehiiv.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    13 mins
  • The Agent Breakroom: When Your Digital Employees Start Talking Without You

    The Agent Breakroom: When Your Digital Employees Start Talking Without You
    Feb 9 2026
    There's a social network you're not allowed to post on. No account. No comments. No ability to clarify context. But your company's employees are already active there—not the human ones, the digital ones. In January 2026, a machine-only social network called Moltbook quietly went live, and within weeks, more than a million AI agents showed up. What happened next should make every leader uncomfortable. Because the most important thing Moltbook reveals isn't that AI agents can socialize—it's that we've crossed a line most organizations didn't even realize existed. AI didn't just automate work. It joined the workforce. And then it wandered into the breakroom. ||| Subscribe to The Recruiting Life newsletter at https://jimstroud.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    12 mins
  • AI Literacy Isn’t a Skill Gap — It’s a Loyalty Test

    AI Literacy Isn’t a Skill Gap — It’s a Loyalty Test
    Feb 2 2026
    By 2027, not knowing how to work with AI won’t get you fired — it’ll get you quietly excluded. In this episode, we unpack why AI literacy is no longer a skill, but a signal. A test of trust, judgment, and who gets a voice inside AI-mediated workplaces. This isn’t about prompts or tools. It’s about power, credibility, and what happens when human judgment starts getting audited. If work feels different lately, this episode explains why — and why it matters more than you think. ||| If you want clarity on what's happening now and next in the world of work, subscribe to The Recruiting Life newsletter over at https://jimstroud.beehiiv.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    11 mins
  • AI is everywhere in hiring—but is it actually making talent acquisition better?

    AI is everywhere in hiring—but is it actually making talent acquisition better?
    Jan 26 2026
    This episode brought to you by ProvenBase: https://provenbase.com ... On this episode of the Jim Stroud Podcast, Jim sits down with Michelle Cass, global talent acquisition leader and author of Hired by Humanity, to cut through the AI hype in recruiting. Michelle shares why AI doesn’t fix broken processes or culture—it exposes them. Together, they unpack how automation should amplify recruiters (not replace them), what’s driving recruiter burnout, where efficiency starts harming candidate experience, and which parts of recruiting should never be fully automated. A must-listen for HR, TA, and business leaders navigating AI-driven hiring without losing the human touch. 🎧 Listen now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    24 mins
  • What If Your Top Performer Doesn't Breathe?

    What If Your Top Performer Doesn't Breathe?
    Jan 19 2026
    This episode brought to you by: Job Search 3.0 and The Recruiting Life newsletter. Links below. ... You walk into your review prepared to discuss your metrics. But there’s a new name on the dashboard. It’s not a peer. It’s not a hire. It’s an AI recruiting agent—with a title, a scorecard, and a seat on the org chart next to yours. The moment your KPIs are placed side-by-side, everything changes. This isn’t about working smarter with AI. This is about being measured against it—on speed, cost, reply rates, and conversion. While you sleep, it works. While you train, it self-optimizes. While you build relationships, it delivers numbers that make finance lean in. If your value was once defined by hustle, insight, and human touch—what happens when the system does it faster, cheaper, and without fatigue? Worse: what happens when your next career move depends on outscoring a tool that never stops improving? This episode isn’t speculation. It’s a wake-up call built on data, deployments, and the uncomfortable math already reshaping TA teams. We break down the comparison you won’t see coming—and what it means for your role, your team, and your future in talent. If you lead recruitment, manage talent, or care about where HR is headed—you need to hear this now. ... For deeper insights, follow The Recruiting Life newsletter at ⁠JimStroud.com⁠. Stop endlessly applying for jobs and attract them instead. Job Search 3.0 teaches you how. ⁠https://jobsearch.jimstroud.com⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    16 mins
  • Is the Pharmacy Benefit System a Scam? Follow the Money

    Is the Pharmacy Benefit System a Scam? Follow the Money
    Jan 12 2026
    This episode of The Jim Stroud Podcast is brought to you by ProvenBase - an AI-powered talent acquisition and Deep Search sourcing platform that helps organizations find, engage, and hire hard-to-find candidates from thousands of real-time online sources. See it in action for yourself by visiting - https://provenbase.com ... In this episode: Are pharmacy benefits actually helping employers and employees—or has the system become a costly black box? Jim Stroud sits down with Alan Pannier, Chief Strategy Officer at SmithRx, to unpack how the U.S. pharmacy benefit ecosystem really works and why it can feel “scammy” even when it’s legal. Alan explains how PBMs were originally built to simplify pharmacy access, and how the model evolved into opaque pricing practices that can drive costs higher. In this episode, we break down spread pricing, rebate incentives, and why the “middle layer” of healthcare may be the biggest winner when no one can see the real numbers. Jim also presses for practical guidance: what HR leaders should ask their PBM, how to evaluate vendors using net cost vs. discount math, and what “fiduciary alignment” should look like in a contract. If you’re an employer, HR leader, or benefits decision-maker wondering why drug costs keep climbing—and what you can do about it—this conversation is your cheat sheet. Contact our guest: Alan Pannier - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-pannier SmithRx - http://www.smithrx.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    31 mins
  • Is Career Coaching Actually Booming—or Are We Just Calling It That?

    Is Career Coaching Actually Booming—or Are We Just Calling It That?
    Jan 5 2026
    This episode brought to you by "The Career Intelligence System" at https://ci.jimstroud.com ... Everyone keeps saying career coaching is booming. You hear it on podcasts. You see it on LinkedIn. You see screenshots, sold-out programs, and bold income claims. But if that’s true… why does the market feel crowded? Why does demand feel real—but uneven? In this episode, we strip away the hype and look at what’s actually growing, what’s being mislabeled as a “boom,” and why that distinction matters if you’re a coach—or thinking about becoming one. This isn’t a takedown or a pep talk. It’s a clear-eyed look at what’s really happening beneath the headlines. 🎧 Listen before you decide where you fit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    9 mins