Recruiting and staffing are evolving fast. The tools keep getting smarter… but the way most people use them absolutely isn’t. And that’s exactly why I brought Brad Smith, Chief Strategy Officer at Haley Marketing, back into the studio for a redo after our first recording turned into an echo chamber from hell.

Brad has spent 23 years helping staffing firms of every size build smarter marketing strategies. Over the last few years, he and the team at Haley have partnered with one of the world’s leading AI consulting agencies to figure out how AI can actually help recruiters and staffing companies gain a competitive advantage—instead of becoming another shiny tool people don’t train on, don’t map correctly, and absolutely misuse.

AI isn’t replacing recruiters anytime soon.
But recruiters misusing AI? That’s a completely different story.

In this episode, Brad and I get into:

Why staffing leaders keep looking for a silver bullet instead of a strategy

The truth about prompting (and why most people are using AI like Google)

Mapping, adoption, training—and why these are the real reasons AI fails

How AI is accelerating bad habits when you skip the fundamentals

What’s working TODAY for recruiting, sales, and TA teams

Haley’s 4 free AI tools for staffing companies (and how to actually use them)

How their AI Resume Detector saved me from a $682 mistake 😬

Why “comfortable tasks” are killing recruiter productivity

What small businesses and solo recruiters can do right now to get ahead

And if you're wondering whether AI can really improve your recruiting?
I’ve been using Haley’s free tools for a week… and my posts went from a few hundred impressions to 11,000–14,000+ with zero boosting. It works—if you use it correctly.

Check out the tools we talked about at:
▶️ www.haleymarketing.com/staffingGPT

▶️ And connect with Brad on LinkedIn here https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradmsmith/ — ask him for access to their free AI tools.

If this episode gave you clarity, a wake-up call, or just made you rethink how you (and your team) are using AI, share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Is recruiting a job title… or a professional discipline?

In this episode of Beyond the Bottom Line, I sit down with John Ruffini, Vice President of Professional Development at HealthTrust Workforce Solutions, to break down what recruiting really is and why so many teams are still getting the basics wrong.

John has spent 30 years in the staffing industry. Every recruiter at HealthTrust goes through a two-week bootcamp he built that cuts ramp time by 30%. He has started and rebuilt branches, chaired multiple ASA councils, keynoted Staffing World, and literally wrote the book on recruiting fundamentals with his Amazon best seller “Money Makers – Proven Ways to Increase Sales and Productivity in the World of Professional Recruiting.”

We get real about:

• Why recruiting is a professional discipline, not a job title
• The difference between reactive “post and pray” and true proactive recruiting
• How AI is exposing bad habits faster than ever (and where it actually helps)
• Why ghosting, black-hole ATS experiences, and weak outreach are self-inflicted
• What the best staffing firms and TA leaders are doing to train and develop recruiters today

We also dig into metrics, ramp time, and what it looks like when recruiters actually understand the business impact of their desk—not just their daily activity targets.

About John:
John is VP of Professional Development at HealthTrust Workforce Solutions, past Chair of ASA’s Healthcare, Search & Placement, and Education Section Councils, multiple-time Staffing World presenter, and ASA’s 2024 Volunteer of the Year. He’s the author of Money Makers and the #1 Amazon best seller A Quest for Alex.

Connect with John:

• LinkedIn: search John Ruffini
• Instagram & TikTok: @beabetterrecruiter

Giveaway:
John is giving away a free copy of “Money Makers” to the best Mailbag question about recruiting, training, or leadership that comes in after this episode.

Send your questions for John (or for me) to: info@elevatetalentsolutions.net

And if you’re serious about building better recruiters:

• Check out The Recruiter Training Hub: www.recruitertraininghub.com
• Learn more about Elevate Talent Solutions: www.elevate-talent-solutions.com

Follow the show so you do not miss upcoming episodes and future Mailbag sessions of Beyond the Bottom Line: Balancing Evolution with Execution.

You think you’re saving money on recruiting? Think again.

In this episode, I break down one of the biggest (and most expensive) blind spots in business today — undertraining, under developing, and overpaying recruiters to process instead of recruit. From “post and pray” job posting chaos to AI tools collecting digital dust, it’s time to ask the real question: what do you actually want your recruiting team doing?

Ron shares candid stories from staffing leaders, HR teams, and his own war stories from the field — the ones that prove most companies aren’t short on talent… they’re short on direction.

If your team’s drowning in applicants, ghosting candidates, or spending more on job boards than strategy, this one’s for you.