Welcome to Hiring Happy Hour, where we celebrate the human side of hiring. Join host, Nicole Hammond, and as she pulls back the curtain on the people shaping the future of work- the innovators, dreamers, and change makers behind today’s hiring technology experience.
Hiring Happy Hour
Claim This Podcastby SmartRecruiters
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30 episodes
Updated Daily
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Podcast Overview
Welcome to Hiring Happy Hour, where we celebrate the human side of hiring. Join host, Nicole Hammond, and as she pulls back the curtain on the people shaping the future of work- the innovators, dreamers, and change makers behind today’s hiring technology experience.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
1/13/2026
1 verified contact email on file for Hiring Happy Hour
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Recent Episodes
August 4, 2026
The Road to an Autonomous Enterprise - Shiran Yaroslavsky - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 029
<p>SmartRecruiter’s Winston just turned one. What started as an AI hiring agent is starting to look like the first piece of something much bigger. In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with Shiran Yaroslavsky, SVP of Product Management at SmartRecruiters, to mark one year since Winston's launch. Shiran looks back at the decision to pause an entire roadmap to rebuild Winston from the ground up, and forward at what comes next: agents that don't just complete tasks in isolation, but collaborate across a shared data layer to move hiring toward something closer to autonomous. It's a conversation about what it takes to build AI people actually trust, and where that leads next.</p><p>Takeaways:</p><ul><li>Don't settle for AI that just speeds up your current process. Push your team to ask if the tools you're adopting are actually bold enough to change how hiring gets done, not just faster versions of the same workflow.</li><li>Before rolling out a new hiring tool, talk to the people using it every day. Understanding recruiters' and candidates' real pain points, not assumed ones, is what determines whether a tool gets adopted or ignored.</li><li>Pilot new AI tools with a small group of trusted teams before a full rollout. A curated group of early users can surface what actually works in the field, long before you scale it across your organization.</li><li>If you're changing how your team hires, be upfront about it early. Transparency about a transition, even an imperfect one, builds more trust with your organization than presenting a finished solution out of nowhere.</li><li>Watch how deeply a tool gets used, not just whether it gets adopted. A recruiter using AI on a handful of roles versus the majority of their open positions tells you very different things about whether it's actually working.</li><li>Before you add another AI tool to your stack, map out where your candidate and hiring data already lives. Tools that can't share context with the rest of your systems create more friction than they remove.</li><li>When you're leading your team through a shift toward AI-assisted hiring, explain the why, not just the what. Recruiters and TA leaders who understand the reasoning behind a change are far more likely to embrace it. </li></ul><p><br></p><p>Quote of the Show:</p><ul><li>“Trust is the foundation. You start from trust; you can't do anything without it." - Shiran Yaroslavsky </li></ul><p><br></p><p>Links:</p><ul><li>LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiran-yaroslavsky/</li><li>Website: https://www.smartrecruiters.com/</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Ways to Tune In:</p><ul><li>Substack: <a href="http://hiringhappyhour.com">HiringHappyHour.com</a> </li><li>Spotify: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1Pnhu7Njmi09N6Yzye59Nf">https://open.spotify.com/show/1Pnhu7Njmi09N6Yzye59Nf</a> </li><li>Apple Podcasts: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/hiring-happy-hour/id1868802369">https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/hiring-happy-hour/id1868802369</a> </li><li>Amazon Music: <a href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d60912b0-8925-4bba-aff1-f5230a0cc793">https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d60912b0-8925-4bba-aff1-f5230a0cc793</a> </li><li>iHeart Radio: <a href="https://iheart.com/podcast/317223012/">https://iheart.com/podcast/317223012/</a> </li><li>Podchaser: <a href="https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/hiring-happy-hour-6340769">https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/hiring-happy-hour-6340769</a> </li><li>YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@HiringHappyHour">https://www.youtube.com/@HiringHappyHour</a> </li><li>Transistor: <a href="https://podcast.hiringhappyhour.com/">https://podcast.hiringhappyhour.com/</a></li></ul>
July 28, 2026
Thoughtful AI, Not Automated Everything - Alastair Schirmer - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 028
<p>Can you actually get a team to embrace constant change without burning them out on it? In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with Alastair Schirmer, Global Head of Digital Innovation at Randstad Enterprise, to talk through what it actually takes to build a talent tech stack that holds up under pressure. Al breaks his approach into three pillars: purpose, experience, and data connectivity, and explains why the principles behind a decision matter as much as the decision itself. The conversation moves into how organizations can adopt AI and agents without overwhelming their people, why "freedom within a frame" beats rigid rollouts, and where humans should stay firmly in the loop, especially when it comes to negotiation, relationships, and creativity. If you're rethinking your tech stack or trying to bring your team along on an AI transformation, this one is full of grounded, practical thinking.</p><p><br>Takeaways:</p><ul><li>Anchor your tech stack decisions in purpose first. Know who does what work, where, and why before you evaluate any tool or platform.</li><li>Don't overlook experience as a design pillar. Candidates, employees, and hiring managers all need the process to feel intuitive, not just functional.</li><li>Treat data connectivity and AI as connective tissue, not an afterthought. Interoperability is what turns disconnected systems into an actual ecosystem.</li><li>Give teams freedom within a frame instead of rigid, all-or-nothing processes. Guardrails paired with agency drive adoption faster than another big rollout ever will.</li><li>Match the AI approach to the stakes of the task. High-value decisions like negotiation deserve human ownership with AI support, not full automation.</li><li>Resist using AI as a cost-cutting shortcut. The organizations getting the most value are treating it as a way to create more value, not just cut headcount.</li><li>Protect the parts of the job that require relationship-building, judgment, and creativity. Those are exactly the areas that shouldn't be handed to an agent.</li></ul><p>Quote of the Show:</p><ul><li>"Finding the space within the frame for innovation is how you can drive that change approach." - Alastair Schirmer</li></ul><p>Links:</p><ul><li>LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alastairschirmer/</li><li>Website: https://www.randstadenterprise.com/</li></ul><p>Ways to Tune In:</p><ul><li>Substack: <a href="http://hiringhappyhour.com">HiringHappyHour.com</a> </li><li>Spotify: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1Pnhu7Njmi09N6Yzye59Nf">https://open.spotify.com/show/1Pnhu7Njmi09N6Yzye59Nf</a> </li><li>Apple Podcasts: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/hiring-happy-hour/id1868802369">https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/hiring-happy-hour/id1868802369</a> </li><li>Amazon Music: <a href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d60912b0-8925-4bba-aff1-f5230a0cc793">https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d60912b0-8925-4bba-aff1-f5230a0cc793</a> </li><li>iHeart Radio: <a href="https://iheart.com/podcast/317223012/">https://iheart.com/podcast/317223012/</a> </li><li>Podchaser: <a href="https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/hiring-happy-hour-6340769">https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/hiring-happy-hour-6340769</a> </li><li>YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@HiringHappyHour">https://www.youtube.com/@HiringHappyHour</a> </li><li>Transistor: <a href="https://podcast.hiringhappyhour.com/">https://podcast.hiringhappyhour.com/</a></li></ul>
July 21, 2026
Leading Through Change Without Losing the Human Layer - Alison Bosch - Hiring Happy Hour - Episode # 027
<p>What if the fastest way to lead a team forward is to slow down and understand how they already work? In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with Alison Bosch, SVP and Chief of Staff at SmartRecruiters, to talk about the moment she stepped into a much larger leadership role and what she learned about trusting the experts around her. Alison shares how understanding the systems behind an organization, not just the people in it, builds real trust fast, and why building processes with a team instead of for them changes everything. </p><p><br></p><p>The conversation also covers navigating the SAP acquisition, staying grounded through a year of major change, and why human judgment and connection will always matter just as much as the tools built to support it. It's a reminder that trust, not speed, is what actually moves a team forward.</p><p> </p><p>Takeaways:</p><ul><li>When you're handed a role that feels bigger than you, lean on the leaders already in the seat instead of trying to prove yourself alone. Trust and humility move you forward faster than control ever will.</li><li>Before changing anything in a new role, take time to understand the systems already driving results. Bulldozing in with immediate changes usually costs more trust than it earns.</li><li>Build processes with your team, not for them. People commit to systems they helped shape, not ones handed down to them.</li><li>During periods of major change, active listening matters as much as guidance. Sometimes people just need to be heard before they're ready for direction.</li><li>Make your work visible to your team and leadership, not for credit, but so others understand how it supports the bigger mission.</li><li>AI and automation can speed up execution, but the human judgment layer connecting people to the right opportunities will never go away. Technology supports the work; it doesn't replace the relationships behind it.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Quote of the Show:</p><ul><li>“ AI and technology continue to make execution faster, cleaner and simpler at the administrative and core level. But what is going to remain, what will always remain, is the ability to connect people. Connect people so that they can help each other, and that human judgment layer always has to exist.” - Alison Bosch</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Links:</p><ul><li>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alison-bosch-4360366/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BkleLf484TYSZZSSCm3W8YA%3D%3D">linkedin.com/in/alison-bosch-4360366</a></li><li>Website: https://www.smartrecruiters.com/</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Ways to Tune In:</p><ul><li>Substack: <a href="http://hiringhappyhour.com">HiringHappyHour.com</a> </li><li>Spotify: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1Pnhu7Njmi09N6Yzye59Nf">https://open.spotify.com/show/1Pnhu7Njmi09N6Yzye59Nf</a> </li><li>Apple Podcasts: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/hiring-happy-hour/id1868802369">https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/hiring-happy-hour/id1868802369</a> </li><li>Amazon Music: <a href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d60912b0-8925-4bba-aff1-f5230a0cc793">https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d60912b0-8925-4bba-aff1-f5230a0cc793</a> </li><li>iHeart Radio: <a href="https://iheart.com/podcast/317223012/">https://iheart.com/podcast/317223012/</a> </li><li>Podchaser: <a href="https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/hiring-happy-hour-6340769">https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/hiring-happy-hour-6340769</a> </li><li>YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@HiringHappyHour">https://www.youtube.com/@HiringHappyHour</a> </li><li>Transistor: <a href="https://podcast.hiringhappyhour.com/">https://podcast.hiringhappyhour.com/</a></li></ul>
30 total episodes available
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- What is Hiring Happy Hour?
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This podcast updates daily.
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This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
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Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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