The Jim Stroud Podcast

Jim Stroud
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  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The Jim Stroud Podcast is part therapy, part exposé—and grounded in reality. Some weeks, I talk with insiders. Most weeks, I say the quiet parts out loud—no filter, no fluff, and no patience for corporate nonsense. This isn’t career advice theater. It’s the raw, unvarnished side of work: AI misfires, hiring hypocrisy, culture scams, and why the future of work increasingly feels like a Black Mirror episode in business casual. This podcast is for leaders, recruiters, advisors, and job seekers who want unfiltered clarity about what’s actually happening at work—and what it means for the decisions ahead. It’s not for anyone looking for motivational fluff, corporate talking points, or sanitized “best practices.” Because what’s coming for your job, your company, and your peace of mind won’t show up in an all-hands meeting. But you’ll hear it here. This podcast is brought to you in part by The Recruiting Life newsletter—clarity on what’s happening now and next in the world of work. Subscribe at 👉 https://jimstroud.beehiiv.com

  1. 1D AGO

    Interviewing a Ghost: When AI, Deepfakes, and Fake identities Enter the Hiring Process

    AI is transforming hiring—but it’s also enabling a new wave of candidate fraud. In this episode of The Jim Stroud Podcast, Jim speaks with Maryam Mahdaviani, founder of Attesto, about how AI tools, deepfakes, and identity impersonation are reshaping the hiring process. Some candidates now use AI to generate resumes, get real-time interview answers, or even appear on camera using face and voice filters. In extreme cases, one person interviews, another person gets hired, and someone else does the job. Maryam explains why this problem is spreading beyond tech into industries like healthcare, engineering, and business development—and the real security risks companies face when fraudsters gain access to internal systems. They also discuss how organizations can detect suspicious candidates and rethink hiring practices in the age of AI. Learn more: attesto.com Connect with Maryam on LinkedIn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    28 min

  2. MAR 9

    Why Applying to 1,000 Jobs Won't Work (And What Will)

    This podcast brought to you by: "Career Intelligence Weekly" - the newsletter that tracks the invisible job market for smarter career decisions. https://newsletter.jimstroud.com In this episode: At a recent conference, I sat down with recruitment marketing expert Jim Durbin, also known as the “Indeed Whisperer.” With 25+ years in staffing, headhunting, RPO, and internal TA, Durbin shares blunt insights on how hiring really works. We discuss why recruiters underuse Indeed’s resume database, why mass-applying with AI-generated resumes can hurt job seekers, and whether “ghost jobs” are as common as people think. Durbin also explains why both companies and candidates share responsibility for fixing today’s broken hiring experience. A candid conversation about recruiting myths, job search strategy, and how respect and intention can improve hiring on both sides. Connect with Jim Durbin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimdurbin/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    30 min

  3. MAR 2

    The Report that Crashed the Market: The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis

    It started with a single research memo. In February 2026, a scenario paper from a macro firm called Citrini Research sent the Dow plummeting 800 points and triggered phrases like "AI Doomsday" across financial media. But the crash wasn't really about artificial intelligence. It was about something far more personal — the kind of work you do every day. In this episode, Jim Stroud breaks down the concept of the Intelligence Displacement Spiral: the cold, mechanical logic by which AI advancement could quietly dismantle white-collar careers from the inside out. Analysts. Managers. Recruiters. Knowledge workers. The people whose jobs are built on moving, interpreting, and routing information. Sound familiar? This isn't a conversation about factory floors or truck drivers. This is about spreadsheets. About your job description. About the moment you realize that the skills that earned you a premium in the economy for the last 150 years may be the very skills most at risk. But this episode isn't a doom spiral — it's a wake-up call with a roadmap. Jim cuts through the noise of competing narratives (collapse vs. productivity renaissance?) to expose the real shift happening beneath the headlines, and lays out a brutally honest framework for figuring out exactly where you stand. Because the most dangerous response to disruption isn't fear. It's fascination without action. If you work in talent, recruiting, HR, tech, or any knowledge-based field — this one will hit different. 🎙️ Subscribe to **The Recruiting Life** newsletter at https://newsletter.jimstroud.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    17 min

  4. FEB 23

    The Shadow Labor Market: Paying to Be Seen

    What if everything you believed about how hiring works… was only half the story? The job market has always had rules. Apply. Interview. Get picked. Simple, right? But something is quietly changing beneath the surface — and it's making a lot of people uncomfortable. Job seekers are now paying recruiters. Not to polish their résumé. Not to prep for interviews. They're paying someone to pitch them — to walk into companies and say, this person is worth your time. Is that exploitation? Is it strategy? Or is it just the job market finally dropping the pretense that the best candidate always wins? In this special report, we're pulling back the curtain on reverse recruiting, the rise of AI-managed job applications, and a parallel labor economy that's already reshaping how opportunity gets distributed — whether you're paying attention or not. This one hits differently. If you work in recruiting, lead a hiring team, or you're out there trying to land your next role — this conversation is already affecting you. You just might not know it yet. The question we're asking this episode? What happens when visibility becomes something you can buy? The answer might change how you see everything. ... Subscribe to The Recruiting Life newsletter - Clarity on what's happening now and next in the world of work. https://newsletter.jimstroud.com Podcast inspiration: "Job Hunters Are So Desperate That They’re Paying to Get Recruited" by Wall Street Journal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    18 min

  5. FEB 16

    If AI takes all the jobs away, who is going to buy their stuff?

    The factory runs perfectly. The robots work tirelessly. Production costs plummet. And then someone asks the question that breaks the entire model: Who's buying the cars? This episode examines the economic paradox no one wants to name. Companies don't survive on efficiency alone—they survive on customers with money. If automation displaces massive amounts of human labor, the math breaks. Not morally. Mechanically. We explore what happens when the economy can produce value without you but hasn't figured out the consequences yet. How does purchasing power flow when work stops being the gatekeeper? What futures are being quietly debated behind closed doors? And why does your anxiety as a job seeker feel less like a skills gap and more like existential irrelevance? The rules are changing. The system is stalling. And the answer to one old factory joke might determine what comes next. ... Subscribe to The Recruiting Life newsletter https://jimstroud.beehiiv.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    13 min

  6. FEB 9

    The Agent Breakroom: When Your Digital Employees Start Talking Without You

    There's a social network you're not allowed to post on. No account. No comments. No ability to clarify context. But your company's employees are already active there—not the human ones, the digital ones. In January 2026, a machine-only social network called Moltbook quietly went live, and within weeks, more than a million AI agents showed up. What happened next should make every leader uncomfortable. Because the most important thing Moltbook reveals isn't that AI agents can socialize—it's that we've crossed a line most organizations didn't even realize existed. AI didn't just automate work. It joined the workforce. And then it wandered into the breakroom. ||| Subscribe to The Recruiting Life newsletter at https://jimstroud.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    12 min

  7. FEB 2

    AI Literacy Isn’t a Skill Gap — It’s a Loyalty Test

    By 2027, not knowing how to work with AI won’t get you fired — it’ll get you quietly excluded. In this episode, we unpack why AI literacy is no longer a skill, but a signal. A test of trust, judgment, and who gets a voice inside AI-mediated workplaces. This isn’t about prompts or tools. It’s about power, credibility, and what happens when human judgment starts getting audited. If work feels different lately, this episode explains why — and why it matters more than you think. ||| If you want clarity on what's happening now and next in the world of work, subscribe to The Recruiting Life newsletter over at https://jimstroud.beehiiv.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    11 min

  8. JAN 26

    AI is everywhere in hiring—but is it actually making talent acquisition better?

    This episode brought to you by ProvenBase: https://provenbase.com ... On this episode of the Jim Stroud Podcast, Jim sits down with Michelle Cass, global talent acquisition leader and author of Hired by Humanity, to cut through the AI hype in recruiting. Michelle shares why AI doesn’t fix broken processes or culture—it exposes them. Together, they unpack how automation should amplify recruiters (not replace them), what’s driving recruiter burnout, where efficiency starts harming candidate experience, and which parts of recruiting should never be fully automated. A must-listen for HR, TA, and business leaders navigating AI-driven hiring without losing the human touch. 🎧 Listen now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    24 min
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5 Ratings

About

The Jim Stroud Podcast is part therapy, part exposé—and grounded in reality. Some weeks, I talk with insiders. Most weeks, I say the quiet parts out loud—no filter, no fluff, and no patience for corporate nonsense. This isn’t career advice theater. It’s the raw, unvarnished side of work: AI misfires, hiring hypocrisy, culture scams, and why the future of work increasingly feels like a Black Mirror episode in business casual. This podcast is for leaders, recruiters, advisors, and job seekers who want unfiltered clarity about what’s actually happening at work—and what it means for the decisions ahead. It’s not for anyone looking for motivational fluff, corporate talking points, or sanitized “best practices.” Because what’s coming for your job, your company, and your peace of mind won’t show up in an all-hands meeting. But you’ll hear it here. This podcast is brought to you in part by The Recruiting Life newsletter—clarity on what’s happening now and next in the world of work. Subscribe at 👉 https://jimstroud.beehiiv.com

Information

  • Creator
    Jim Stroud
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    331
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved 2025
  • Show Website
    The Jim Stroud Podcast

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