Most teams treat AI like a shiny tool and brainstorming like a meeting. Both are wrong. In this week’s The Next Step, we dig into AI as a leadership skill—how you think, ask, and decide—not a software purchase. And we pair it with a dead-simple 3-day brainstorm cadence that actually ships original ideas.Steal these ideas:* AI as a teammate: How to prompt like a leader (framing, constraints, counterfactuals).* Persuasion > answers: Use AI to build cases stakeholders say “yes” to—pricing, tradeoffs, risk.* Day 1–3 cadence: Why short sprints beat marathon “brainstorms” (and produce distinct concepts).* Proof over puffery: Turn fuzzy claims into testable statements your CFO won’t roll their eyes at.If you lead TA/EB and want fewer generic ideas and more decisions that stick, this one’s your playbook.Three Ears Media: http://threeearsmedia.comThe Bound Back Factor: http://thebouncebackfactorbook.comThe YA Leader’s Guide to AI: http://choosable.work/ai—James(P.S. Share with a manager who still thinks buying a tool = having a skill.) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit employerbrandheadlines.substack.com

If your careers content and your outreach feel… fine—but not moving needles—this week’s The Next Step hands you a tiny workflow that does big things.It’s one process you can run two different ways: first to pressure-test your careers messaging against real target profiles, then to flip it and spot tension inside a competitor’s public story. The output isn’t “opinions”—it’s a simple grid you can take into the room and finally retire the “I like blue” debate.No pricey platforms. No vendor pitch. Just tools you already have and prompts you can copy-paste. Run it once this week and you’ll have a clearer careers page plan and outreach that actually gets replies.Watch here → (link)Because nobody has time to argue with HiPPOs!Talk soon,JamesP.S.If you want more practical recruiting ideas like this delivered to your inbox every weekday, check out my daily newsletter at ideaoftheday.substack.com. One idea, every day, designed to make your recruiting life easier.P.P.S.Do you think your employer brand is working? Or do you know? In 72 hours, you can get a full diagnostic report for free. FREE!!! Check it out.-j This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit employerbrandheadlines.substack.com

Here's a question for you: How much do your hiring managers really love those hour-long intake meetings you schedule?If you're being honest, they probably don't. At all.But what if I told you there's a way to cut your intake meetings down to 10 minutes while getting BETTER information and making yourself look like an absolute recruitment genius in the process?It all comes down to asking the right questions the right way - and letting AI do the heavy lifting.In this week's episode of The Next Step, I break down a simple 5-question framework that transforms how you gather information from hiring managers. Instead of sitting through awkward silences and generic corporate answers, you'll get authentic, detailed insights that actually help you understand what the role is really about.The best part? You show up to your intake meeting with a draft job posting, LinkedIn content for both you and your hiring manager, and a complete social media strategy already prepared.Your hiring manager's reaction? "What just happened? That was amazing. How did you do that?"This isn't about fancy expensive tools - just smart use of the AI you're probably already paying $20/month for.Ready to become your hiring managers' favorite recruiter?[Watch the full episode here →]Because nobody has time for boring intake meetings that don't actually move the needle.Talk soon, JamesP.S. If you want more practical recruiting ideas like this delivered to your inbox every weekday, check out my daily newsletter at ideaoftheday.substack.com. One idea, every day, designed to make your recruiting life easier.P.P.S.Do you think your employer brand is working? Or do you know? In 72 hours, you can get a full diagnostic report for free. Check it out. -j This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit employerbrandheadlines.substack.com

I built a fully working Chrome extension in under 10 minutes.No coding. No tools. Just ChatGPT and a good prompt.In the latest episode of The Next Step, I walk through the exact process—from idea to execution—of building a browser tool that scrapes job posts and rates their quality.If you’ve ever thought “I wish Chrome could just do ___,” this is the episode you need to see. It’ll get your wheels turning on what you could build next.📺 Watch it here 📺-Jamesp.s. Want to know what the world’s most disruptive companies are doing to recruit? And maybe how you can beat them? Check out my report on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list. It’s based on 50 career sites, 44 culture pages, and more than 5,000 LI posts. and it might be the thing that get’s your CFO excited about your work!p.p.s. I’d like your feedback. Would you take a short course where I taught you how to build a choosable employer brand? Go vote on this LI poll and let me know.-j This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit employerbrandheadlines.substack.com

This one started with a truck driver survey, and turned into an AI-powered insight engine.You know those little pulse surveys you send out? They might be more powerful than you think. In this week’s episode of The Next Step, we unpack how a single weekly text to drivers unearthed a ton of untapped strategic value.With a little AI and a lot of curiosity, we turned 13 lines of feedback into operational insights that could impact recruiting, operations—even customer relationships.This one’s for every TA leader or employer brander who’s ever thought, “I know there’s something in this data—I just don’t know what.”👉 [Watch now] – and take the next step.As a reminder, I have a bunch of reports on the State of Employer Branding over at EBL. They are free, and if you want me to run a report on your own industry, competitor set, or just tell you how people are seeing your career site, let me know!Oh! And don’t forget to subscribe to the Talent Idea of the Day. 1 free idea in your inbox every week day to get you thinking and inspired!-JamesP.S.!I’m launching a LinkedIn Live where we take one impossible requisition and fix it—live. I’ll use AI to map the talent market, decode what candidates actually need to hear, and build the right mix of outreach, content, and job-post updates to get traction fast. Got a req that’s eating your lunch? Volunteer it: share the role title, why it’s brutal, a link to the JD, and what you’ve tried so far. I’ll pick one and build the strategy in real time.-J This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit employerbrandheadlines.substack.com

Most recruiters are still sleeping on one of the most useful AI tools out there: Notebook LM.It’s not just another chatbot—it’s a way to build smarter, reusable context for every hiring manager, job family, and role.This week’s episode of The Next Step breaks down exactly how to use it to:* Nail intake meetings before they even happen* Customize job posts with hiring manager nuance* Generate better outreach and interview questions instantlyIf you’re ready to stop reinventing the wheel and start delivering personalized recruiting at scale, this is the episode for you.🎧 Watch now → YouTube Link🧠 Or get the daily idea fix → https://ideaoftheday.substack.com🧠 Employer brand research and tools → https://employerbrandlabs.com-James This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit employerbrandheadlines.substack.com

This week’s episode of The Next Step is hands-on. Like really hands-on.I grabbed a real biotech company (Sarepta—no connection to them), found a role they’re actively hiring for, and used AI tools—ChatGPT and Apify—to reverse engineer exactly what content would help them attract the right person.We scrape the career site.We analyze LinkedIn posts.We upload a real candidate profile.We build a content plan in minutes.And the best part? It’s all stuff you can do today.And you can do it in minutes.If you’ve ever felt stuck wondering what your next recruiting post should say—or how to make your employer brand actually useful—this one’s for you.👉 Watch it here👉 Share it if it helps (I don’t run ads—just word of mouth)Let’s make recruiting less guesswork.-JamesP.S.!Let me help you get more out of your employer brand: Employer Brand Labs This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit employerbrandheadlines.substack.com

Hey there,I was on a coaching call with a client last week, and they brought up something that's been eating at me ever since.They said: "I feel like I'm stuck in an impossible situation. I need to engage subject matter experts, but I'm not one myself. So I end up sounding like every other recruiter."Sound familiar?Here's the thing - you ARE an expert. You understand the talent market, candidate psychology, and how to position companies attractively. But when you're trying to hire a data scientist and you've never written a line of code? Or recruiting nurses when you've never drawn blood?That's where things get tricky.I just dropped a new episode showing exactly how I use AI to solve this problem. It's a 3-step process that turns dense white papers into compelling outreach that actually gets responses.No more "thought you might find this interesting" emails that scream "I'm just another recruiter."The best part? Once you set it up, you can target 10 different people in about 20 minutes.Worth a watch if you're tired of your outreach getting ignored.Talk soon, JamesP.S. - If you've got a challenge you'd love to see me tackle with AI, just hit reply. I'm always looking for real problems to solve.P.P.S. - Want free EB research? Check out Choosable.work. Lots of useful stuff there.-J This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit employerbrandheadlines.substack.com

Quick question: When you're choosing between final candidates, what do you rely on most?If you said "gut feel" or "instinct" - you're not alone. Most recruiters and hiring managers do the same thing.But here's what behavioral science tells us: that "gut feel" is actually unconscious bias in disguise. And it's costing you great hires while letting poor fits slip through.The good news? You can fix this today using AI tools you probably already have access to.I just dropped a new episode of The Next Step showing exactly how to use ChatGPT (or Claude, or Gemini) to build a bias-resistant hiring process from intake meeting to final decision. This isn't theoretical fluff. I walk through a real example using a product manager role so you can see exactly how it works in practice.No expensive software. No complex implementation. Just smart, practical applications that work immediately.[Watch the episode here →]Trust me - after watching this, you'll never look at your hiring process the same way again.Cheers, JamesP.S. Remember: If this is useful, just forward this email to someone who would really appreciate it!And there’s this:What Your Marketing Leader Should Know About Employer BrandTalent Idea Of The Day-J This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit employerbrandheadlines.substack.com

In this week’s episode of The Next Step, I invited Michael Brown from Door 3 Talent to walk me through his LinkedIn sourcing workflow. The twist? I wasn’t the best use case… and that’s exactly why it’s worth watching.▶️ Watch the experiment unfoldDon’t miss an episode! Subscribe on YouTube.And don’t forget: I JUST launched Talent Idea of the Day. It’s free, so go subscribe!And if you’re interested in bringing smart AI-native employer brand thinking to your company, let’s chat!-James Ellis This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit employerbrandheadlines.substack.com