#6 - Recovering candidate

No exaggeration, the 186 miles of cycling I did this weekend took everything out of me. When you look at all the people at the starting line and they are all wayyyyy more in shape than you, you know you are in for a long weekend. I've been in a Gold Bond bath for the week, but am very glad to have participated in a fantastic event. The Pan Mass Challenge is a 10/10 event and if you ever want to participate in a charity cycling tour, please do this one.

This week's Wrap features Paradox leading AI screening in recruitment, balancing friendships while moving into leadership with Lars Schmidt , AJ Thomas ?? and Q Hamirani , an AI tool for candidates from Yoodli AI Communication Coach , ZipRecruiter acquiring Breakroom to match Glassdoor , Colin Ferrell and one of the greatest leaders, Ernest Shackleton. Enjoy!

Where to use AI in your hiring process

Adam Godson and the team at Paradox have a great resource for recruiters looking to use AI in recruiting. No one likes sitting through a screening interview. Save your recruiters for the personal conversations you need later down in the funnel and let AI take care of the screening and ranking. By starting with AI and having the system pass the baton (yes, I still have the Olympics on the brain), you can reserve your hiring team's energy for interviewing and ultimately evaluating a candidate. Download the guide here.

Balancing friendships and leadership

My friend Lars Schmidt had a great episode on his Redefining Work podcast (Congrats on season 12!). When you move into a leadership role, it's not easy navigating past relationships you had with coworkers now that you are in charge. Lars and friends highlight leading by example and setting clear boundaries and expectations as part of the solution in working with friends, but that's what the best people leaders do regardless. I'd also add empathy to the list. Be flexible to what your staff is going through. If you are able to do all of these, you will have a staff that will not only respect you, but want to do great work for you.

If any of my readers are moving into a leadership role and looking for how to lead by example, inspire your team, and delegate effectively, I encourage you to read about Ernest Shackleton and how he saved his Endurance crewmates from certain death in the Artic. In fact, it's my Wiki of the Week! Check out the full episode of Redefining Work here.

Finally a candidate-focused AI tool

I write a lot about how companies can use AI to get through the hiring process faster, but what about candidates? Enter Yoodli , an AI tool that candidates can use as a personal interview coach. We've all experienced or heard of situations where candidates had to submit a one-sided interview, only to have an AI system reject them them without any real feedback for why their application went to the garbage can besides a canned email saying "Unfortunately, the hiring team has decided to pursue with other candidates at this time..." As more AI tech gets implemented to screen candidates out of an opportunity, I expect more tech to emerge to help them get around auto-rejections and to an actual person. In the AI age, actually connecting to a human hiring experience will do wonders for employer brands. Hat tip to Glen Cathey for bringing this to my attention and you can check out Yoodil here.

Glassdoor has a new competitor in ZipRecruiter

ZipRecruiter has acquired Breakroom , a UK based employer review platform with a specific focus on frontline industries. Three cheers to more transparency to how companies treat their frontline workers! Full release here.

Spotlight - Colin Ferrell

We all need a dose of positive news.

I'll be honest. I didn't expect any news about Colin Ferrell this week, let alone any that I cared about. He's a fine actor, but there is so much garbage that comes out of actors mouths that I don't look in their direction for advice or inspiration, minus some notable exceptions. Michael J. Fox used his notoriety to raise over 2 billion for Parkinson's Research. The Gina Davis Institute has made strides in equal gender representation in media for women. Rather than using a cause as a soapbox for more attention to themselves, they realize the power of their reach and dedicate themselves to education and change.

Colin Ferrell is an admittedly "very private person," but gave an exclusive interview with PEOPLE Magazine | PEOPLE.com to shed light on parents raising children with severe disabilities and the struggles those children often encounter when becoming adults and aging out of the system.

“Once your child turns 21, they’re kind of on their own,” Farrell says. “All the safeguards that are put in place, special ed classes, that all goes away, so?you’re left with a young adult who should be an integrated part of our modern society and more often than not is left behind.”

If you do anything today, watch the video.

Wiki of the Week - Ernest Shackleton's journey to salvation in the Artic

History, mystery and more from my wanderings on Wikipedia

There is no greater picture of leadership than Ernest Shackleton. Intending to become the first man to cross Antarctica sea to sea, his ship The Endurance became moored in pack ice and ultimately sank, standing Shackleton and his 28 crewmen. After camping out on the ice for months, he realized his only chance at saving his men was to take a lifeboat over 800 miles in some of the harshest seas in the world, and a 36 hour march across a frozen tundra to a whaling station. He made it and not one of his 28 men perished. Check out the full story on Wikipedia here and for a deeper dive, read Alfred Lansing's The Endurance. You can even enjoy some Shackleton whiskey as a toast to the man.