Today's guest on the High Volume Hiring Podcast is John Baldino, President at Humareso, a leading HR strategy and outsourced administrator for businesses of all types.  He's also the cohost of the But First, Coffee, a live, weekly, podcast. John and cohost Jackye Clayton bring candid, insightful conversations about the world of work, leadership, and all things people. Cohosts Jeanette Leeds and Steven Rothberg of College Recruiter job search site talk with John about how much more difficult it has become for organizations of any size to plan almost anything, including their future staffing needs...and some solutions that may surprise you.

It's fair to say that there's a lot wrong with recruitment in 2026, for candidates, employers, and others. But it's not all bad. In fact, some of what is working has only started to work well this year. Today's guest is David Noe, human resources and brand advocacy manager for Payroll Partners, Inc and host of the SpeakEasy HR podcast. David brings to the discussion a wealth of knowledge from the world of recruiting by small- and medium-sized businesses, some of which are rapidly scaling up by hiring dozens or even hundreds over a few months. And he also brings the perspective from the other side of the table: the candidates who are impacted by the recruiting practices of employers of all sizes. Cohosts Jeanette Leeds and Steven Rothberg of College Recruiter job search site share some of their experiences, as well as lot of envy for the fine collection of bourbon bottles within easy reach of David should a little celebrating be warranted.

Today's guest on the High Volume Hiring Podcast says that he loves reference checks, which might sound odd until you understand that he's sat on just about every side of the desk during his 20 years in the HR tech space. James Lord is the Head of Americas for Refapp, which develops intuitive digital tools that help recruiters and hiring teams make accurate, secure, and seamless hiring decisions. Refapp modernizes the reference checking process by giving references the flexibility to respond when it suits them, in a way that’s easy, professional, and safe. Cohosts Jeanette Leeds and Steven Rothberg of College Recruiter job search site talk with James about the difference between background and reference checks, when reference checks should happen in the hiring process, best practices for what questions to ask, and how to get actionable information back within 24-hours.

Months ago, we saw a post on LinkedIn from recruiting extraordinaire Amy Miller then of Amazon and now of Portal Space Systems. In the post, Amy asked why we can track a pizza delivery from Domino's but ATS don't allow candidates to track where they're at in the hiring process. Today's guest on the High Volume Hiring Podcast, Chris Connors of candidate.fyi, commented that their product does exactly that. Our cohosts, Jeanette Leeds and Steven Rothberg of College Recruiter job search site, talk with Chris about the benefits to the candidates and employers of adding a candidate portal on top of the existing ATS. Yes, candidates can use them to track their progress, but also schedule interviews, watch employment branding videos, submit documents, and more. In 1897, Francis Church wrote, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause", in an editorial in the New York newspaper, The Sun. Turns out, in 2026, yes Virginia, we can both improve the efficiency of how we hire while also making that hiring experience far better for candidates.

Employers hiring at scale often employ a lot of people who are paid hourly and whose wages are too low for them to afford health insurance. Those workers tend to be less loyal, less engaged, and more likely to quit as soon as they can find a job with health insurance. Our cohosts, Jeanette Leeds and Steven Rothberg of College Recruiter job search site, interview Michael Gomez of MGI International on today's episode of the High Volume Hiring Podcast. His previous role was VP HR at Tasty Restaurant Group, a franchisee of Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin-Robbins, Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut with 7,000 employees in 23 U.S. states. At Tasty, Michael contracted with WorXsiteHR, creator of Healthworx, a no-cost medical plan managed by a non-profit, to allow lower income, part-time, and seasonal workers access to useable and affordable healthcare. Michael loves how the plan is ERISA and Section 125 compliant, no-cost to both employee and employer, and generates substantial employer FICA tax savings.

Emily Baxter, director of non-profit WE ARE ALL CRIMINALS, joins the High Volume Hiring Podcast to discuss the impact on people and employers of 1/4 of the U.S. population having criminal convictions and the opportunities that exist to employers of employing these people. Not only do these people deserve a second chance when many of us have had far more chances than that, but the data show that they often outperform the other 3/4 who also committed crimes but didn't get caught. Organizations like MOD Pizza and Dave's Killer Bread understand that excluding from their workforce people who happened to have been caught is detrimental not just to society, but to their businesses. Employers should take the convictions into account and refrain from placing someone recently convicted of embezzlement into a financial role, but hiring those with convictions leads to more a more productive workforce with lower turnover and, therefore, reduced recruitment costs.

Michael Ang, founder of advertising agency, JobElephant, is the guest on today's episode of the High Volume Hiring Podcast to discuss how colleges and universities are making better use of technology to overcome some of their hiring challenges. When one thinks of a post-secondary institution hiring, they may think just about professors, but universities are like little towns and typically employ hundreds to thousands of support staff including administrators, food service, lodging, security, maintenance, information technology, accounting, and more. Cohosts Jeanette Leeds and Steven Rothberg of College Recruiter job search site discuss with Michael whether all of that hiring, some of it high-volume, is all stuck in the 1990s. Some might think so. And they'd be wrong to think so.

Trent Cotton, the Head of Talent Insights & Analyst Relations for ICIMS, returns to the High Volume Hiring Podcast to discuss a new report about how employers and candidates are using AI. Some believe that all employers are using it and using it well. Some believe that all candidates are using it and using it well. Is the reality, however, something quite different? Cohosts Jeanette Leeds and Steven Rothberg of College Recruiter job search site dig into the findings of the report with Trent. In addition to Trent giving some well-deserved credit to contributors Madeline Laurano and Tim Sackett, some of what is discussed may come as no surprise to you, but some will surprise even the most knowledgeable as well-founded but somewhat dated perception is often quite different current reality. Go to https://www.icims.com/company/corporate-newsroom/research/ for the ICIMS April 2026 Workforce Report.

It's rare when you run across an employer who has a campus recruiting function but is not hiring at scale. Although campus recruiting programs are typically also high-volume recruiting programs, there are notable differences. Today's guest on the High Volume Hiring Podcast is the co-founder and chief evangelist of Abode, which helps employers engage early-career talent from the moment they sign their offer. Parker Pell, as a member of Gen Z, brings a first-hand experience to the conversation. Cohosts Jeanette Leeds and Steven Rothberg of College Recruiter job search site talk with Parker about the difficulties faced by those recruiting on-campus, including how to meet the expectations for speed while also meeting those for authenticity. Are there some well-meaning efforts by employers that they should stop? Are there some low-hanging fruit opportunities that they should start?

Today's special episode of the High Volume Hiring Podcast was part of Michael Glenn's Employer Branding EXP and featured guest Rachel Allen, 7-Eleven's head of TA, and cohosts Jeanette Leeds and Steven Rothberg of College Recruiter job search site. 7-Eleven transformed its high-volume hiring following its acquisition of a major competitor with a very different approach to recruiting. They had different brands, tech stacks, and conflicting hiring and operating models. Hiring was slow, causing the loss of candidates to competitors, which also led to candidate ghosting. Store leaders became accountable for labor optimization, including hiring. 7-Eleven created "Rita", an AI-driven, conversational recruiting assistant chatbot powered by Paradox, and transformed a LOT of its recruitment-related process. 95% of the process was automated. Time-to-hire went from weeks to 3 days. Store leaders save 40,000 hours per week, which allowed more time for effective onboarding and training.