Tim Matteson

“Sourcing and referrals are doing the heavy lifting” per LinkedIN @Gem’s 2026 Recruiting Benchmark Report confirms what I’m seeing every day in searches: the highest quality hires are still coming from relationship‑driven channels, not job boards. A few data points that matter for every Hiring Manager: - Job boards + career site generate ~90% of applications, but only around 50% of hires. Thats a huge volume of candidates, many fake. - Direct sourcing delivers roughly 11% of hires from just 2.6% of applications – a 4x yield. - Referrals convert at 11x, and internal mobility at 32x, compared with inbound applicants. Overall, sourced candidates are nearly 8x more likely to be hired than inbound. If your 2026 plan still leans heavily on “post and pray,” you’re paying for volume instead of outcome. I’m working with several clients right now to rebalance/leverage our skills in targeted sourcing, referral activation, and rediscovering local talent. Message/ email me if you are interested in saving your HR team some time and energy - ckirksey@datamasters.com Source: Gem - #2026RecruitingBenchmarksReport

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Most hiring teams are still optimizing for themselves. But the best candidates? They’re choosing based on what’s in it for them. In this episode of Hire We Go! Ashlie Collins and Alex Her break down how AI, candidate experience, and faster decision-making are reshaping hiring. Watch the full episode 👇 https://hubs.ly/Q049pKp10 #TalentAcquisition #AIinHiring #Recruitment #HRTech

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TA tech stacks have gotten out of control. Many teams are juggling recruiter notebooks, spreadsheets, CRMs, multiple sourcing tools, and an ATS - making reporting messy, slow, and inconsistent. In 2026, the TA teams that win won’t be the ones adding more tools… They’ll be the ones simplifying. ✨ Fewer platforms ✨ Cleaner data ✨ Better visibility ✨ One source of truth That’s why we built Hiregate - a comprehensive Recruiter/Candidate Tracking System that pulls together all of the data from spreadsheets, CRMs, sourcing tools, and your ATS into one streamlined platform. No more chasing down updates. No more fragmented reporting. Just clarity, speed, and a tech stack that actually works with you. If your team is buried in too many tools, it might be time to rethink the stack: 🔗 https://hubs.ly/Q03VZl5F0 What’s one tool you wish you could remove from your workflow tomorrow? 👇Drop your thoughts below #TalentAcquisition #Recruiting #HRTech #RecruitingTech #HiringTrends #PeopleOps #TalentStrategy #FutureOfWork #Hiregate

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Jordan Shlosberg breaks down the future of recruiting—and why automation will handle most of the work while recruiters become orchestrators. Tune in to the latest episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, sponsored by Atlas! Now streaming on all podcast platforms! Links are in the comments!

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Why go contingent? Contingent recruiting cuts down on the risk associated with outsourcing your talent acquisition needs. Clients pay only if they hire a candidate sourced by their recruitment partner. https://lnkd.in/eBReHFK8

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Everyone’s racing to add AI. But if your staffing stack is fragmented, AI just accelerates the chaos. More tools. More duplicate data. More reporting gaps. Leverage doesn’t come from features. It comes from infrastructure. Staffing firms that scale remove friction. They don’t buy more software. Where’s your biggest bottleneck right now? #StaffingIndustry #StaffingTechnology #StaffingLeaders #RecruitingOperations

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Recruiting gets very different when an organization is under real scrutiny. At that point, speed still matters. But speed without strategy is where things start to drift. Aledria Howard talks about what it takes to recruit in high-pressure environments like organizations operating under FDA consent: you have to pivot quickly, scale intelligently, understand the landscape of the business, and have real conversations with C-suite leaders about what is actually missing. That is the key. Not just hearing what leaders say. Listening for the underlying issue. Understanding which leaders to align with. And making sure the talent strategy connects to the real operational gap. Because in those moments, recruiting cannot just be a hiring function. It has to be a strategic function. #LifeSciences #Pharma #Recruiting #TalentAcquisition #HiringStrategy #ExecutiveSearch #Leadership #Qualigence

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Staffing pros: Want to attract better candidates and fill roles faster? Here’s a targeted AI prompt that works as a job description optimizer, turning clunky postings into candidate magnets in seconds 🚀. How it works: Copy & paste the prompt below into your LLM of choice. Want to make these more secure? Ask ChatGPT to write a python script that you can run in a secure environment instead of uploading data. Prompt to use: Rewrite the following batch of job descriptions to improve apply rates and attract more qualified candidates. For each JD, simplify the language, highlight key motivators (pay, schedule, growth), and format for mobile readability. Tailor tone and content to the target industry and candidate audience. Return optimized versions for each role in the batch. Step 1: Rewrite and format for clarity, motivation, and mobile readability - Use everyday language and short, skimmable sentences - Remove jargon and overly corporate phrasing - Emphasize key motivators: pay, schedule, flexibility, growth opportunities - Break up dense paragraphs with bullets (max 6 per section) - Front-load critical details (pay, hours, location, requirements) - Include a clear call to action (e.g., “Start this week”) - Optionally add a one-line, SMS-friendly version (≤160 characters) - Make the JD appealing to the typical candidate in that industry Step 2: Customize tone and structure by industry - Healthcare → caring and professional; highlight license fit, patient load, shift stability - Home Health → friendly and supportive; highlight proximity, independence, flexibility - Live Events → casual and energetic; highlight pay per gig, experience, scheduling - Light Industrial → clear and direct; highlight steady hours, OT, safety - Security → professional and firm; highlight shift hours, licensing, site type Step 3: Output format for each role - Title - Summary (2–3 lines) - Responsibilities (4–6 bullets) - Requirements (3–5 bullets) - Benefits (3–5 bullets) - Call to Action - SMS-friendly version What to upload to the LLM - A batch of job descriptions - For each role, include: title, location, pay, schedule, industry, certifications, and any other critical details Want more prompts? Download our free kit – link in comments You’ll also get: ✨ A screening question generator (best things to ask every applicant) 🦾 Passive engagement prompts (personalized outreach to top talent)

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Your recruiting team isn't the bottleneck. Your hiring manager relationship is. Most organizations already know this. Few are willing to say it. After nearly three decades of RPO work, we've seen the same four disconnects show up across every industry, every company size, every market condition. They're not about bad candidates. They're not about weak sourcers. They're about structure, clarity, and accountability at the manager level. Swipe through to see all four. 👉 Which one have you seen do the most damage? Drop it in the comments. #TalentAcquisition #Recruiting #HiringManagers #RPO

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AI is becoming a bigger part of everyday recruiting work. That shift is putting more weight on relationships. As automation embeds deeper into workflows, trust shows up everywhere it matters. 🌟 Between leaders + teams. 🌟 Recruiters + candidates. 🌟 Clients, partners, + the platforms they rely on. On the Full Desk Experience, Kortney Harmon shares a grounded perspective: trust has to come first. Before new systems scale. Before adoption sticks. Before growth holds. This episode explores how recruiting organizations intentionally build trust while technology accelerates. 🎧 Full episode, "Eight Signals Redefining Recruiting Leadership in 2026" in the comments.⤵️ Where does trust matter most inside your firm right now? #FullDeskExperience #FDE

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If your staffing firm still runs everything through email, that’s a red flag. Modern HR teams should expect more than inbox threads and delayed updates. They should expect: • Clear access to qualified candidates • Dashboards to review applications and track progress • Real-time visibility into the hiring process • Hiring analytics that show what’s actually happening When hiring lives inside a system, everything gets clearer, faster, and easier to manage. That’s what modern staffing should feel like.

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The Right Recruiting Partner Doesn’t Just Fill Roles. They Build Trust. Strong #recruiting partnerships aren’t transactional. They’re built through consistency, transparency, and follow-through. When expectations are clear, communication is honest, and quality is prioritized over volume, hiring becomes more efficient, and outcomes improve. The goal isn’t just to hire quickly, but to hire well, with confidence on both sides. That’s the standard I bring to every search. #RecruitingPartner #TalentStrategy #DirectHire #BelleLynnSourcingLLC

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Traditional recruiting is transactional. Subscription recruiting is strategic. With LMK Recruiting’s subscription model, clients gain: ✔ Continuous candidate pipelines ✔ Proactive hiring support ✔ The ability to hire for multiple roles without stacking fees ✔ A recruiting partner who understands their business and industry The result? More predictable hiring, better long-term fits, and less disruption to operations. This is recruiting designed to scale with your business. #SubscriptionRecruiting #RecruitmentStrategy #HiringMadeSimple #BusinessOperations #TalentSolutions

Last month, Brandon Jeffs hit the floor at HR Tech in Las Vegas to ask recruiting leaders how their process has evolved. Hear what metrics TA teams value in 2025, how they balance speed vs quality, and how Gem has helped cut the requisition process in half.

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Gem latest recruiting insights offer a clear snapshot of where the market stands as we move into 2026. Hiring is recovering, but not at pre-2021 levels. Recruiter workloads continue to rise, interview processes are longer, and funnel efficiency remains under significant pressure.😓 What stands out: while job boards drive volume, the most effective hiring channels continue to be internal mobility, referrals, and direct sourcing. Dear community, how are you navigating these shifting dynamics in your own teams? 🤔 Let’s continue the conversation!

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The 3 hires that will make or break your TA team this year Most TA leaders hire for volume. The best ones hire for leverage. Most TA leaders build reactive teams - headcount chasing req count. The best talent acquisition leaders I know build for leverage. They hire fewer people, positioned more strategically. The 3 hires that actually move the needle: 1. A sourcing specialist (not just another recruiter) This person lives in LinkedIn Recruiter, boolean strings, and passive candidate pipelines. They exist so your full-cycle recruiters spend less time hunting and more time closing. One great sourcer can unlock the capacity of 2-3 recruiters. 2. A recruiting coordinator who's actually ops-minded Not just scheduling interviews. Someone who sees process gaps, owns the ATS hygiene, and is thinking about candidate experience at every stage. This hire protects your employer brand silently every single day. 3. A data person (or a recruiter who loves data) Metrics-blind TA teams fly in the dark. Time-to-fill, offer acceptance rate, source quality, interview-to-offer ratio - someone needs to own this and translate it into decisions. Not just dashboards. Decisions. What most TA leaders actually hire instead: another full-cycle recruiter to absorb req load. Which temporarily solves volume, but doesn't fix the structural issues that created the backlog in the first place. Build for leverage. Not just capacity. Which of these three is your team missing right now?

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