The Resilient Recruiter

Recruitment Coach Mark Whitby
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Join "the Recruitment Coach" Mark Whitby as he and his guests unpack the secrets of what it takes to be a profitable and long-lived professional in the recruitment industry.

  1. 16h ago ·  Video

    How to Build a $10M Recruitment Firm With Just 11 People, with Dave Fox

    There's a belief in recruitment that scaling a firm means scaling headcount. Dave Fox has built a different model. His fully remote technology staffing firm, Focus GTS, generates more than $10 million in annual revenue with a team of just 11 people. Early on, Dave assumed he would need 80 to 100 people to build the business he wanted. He also thought a 360 model and broader market coverage would be the right path. Over time, he found a different way to grow: stay close to one specialist market, build a split-desk team of strong people, and make AI part of how the whole business works. Dave is the founder of Focus GTS, a Miami-based technology staffing firm that specializes in the Adobe Marketing Cloud ecosystem. He started in recruitment with the S3 Group, working his way from trainee consultant to manager and director before launching his own business eight years ago. In this conversation, Dave explains why he is done with the "chase game" of constantly pursuing new opportunities. His focus now is on becoming so useful and well-known in his market that clients and candidates come to him. That means creating free tools that solve real problems, publishing useful content, and using AI research agents to stay close to key customers. It also means giving every member of his 11-person team access to Claude and Claude Code, then creating a culture where people share what they are learning. Dave is not suggesting AI is a shortcut to success. He spends 50 to 60 hours a week learning and building with it. But he makes a strong case that agency owners need to rethink the old relationship between headcount, growth, and productivity. In this episode, you'll learn: Why Dave moved from a 360 model to a split-desk structure The assumption that made him think he needed 80 to 100 people Why a smaller, better-paid team can outperform a larger one How Focus GTS became known in the Adobe Marketing Cloud market How free tools and useful content can create inbound conversations How AI research agents help Dave's team stay close to top clients How to make AI a shared team habit rather than a founder-only project The mindset Dave believes agency owners need as AI changes the market Episode highlights: [02:49] Why Dave launched Focus GTS after walking away from a potential partnership [07:53] Building a fully remote technology staffing business [10:46] Why Focus GTS uses a split-desk model [18:18] The AI inflection point that changed Dave's view of growth [23:28] Building free tools for a specialist market [29:42] Using AI research agents on Focus GTS's top five clients [34:52] How to become a celebrity in your recruitment niche [45:25] How all 11 team members learn and use AI together Sponsors: This episode is brought to you by Recruiterflow, an AI-native ATS and CRM built for serious recruiting businesses. Learn more: https://recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow It is also brought to you by Juicebox, the modern AI platform for recruiting. Juicebox combines more than 30 datasets with AI models to support search, outreach, and pipeline management within a single workflow. Learn more: https://recruitmentcoach.com/juicebox Guest Bio: Dave Fox is the founder of Focus GTS, a fully remote technology staffing firm based in Miami. Focus GTS generates more than $10 million in annual revenue with a team of 11 and has been recognized on the Inc. 5000 list. Dave and his team specialize in the Adobe Marketing Cloud ecosystem and use AI across research, marketing, sales, website development, and client delivery. Connect with Dave Fox on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davefoxceo/ Learn more about Focus GTS: https://www.focusgts.com/ Connect with Mark Whitby: Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwhitby/ Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter

  2. 2d ago ·  Video

    How to Build Talent Pools on Autopilot With AI Agents, with David Paffenholz

    David Paffenholz never worked as a recruiter. He studied economics at Harvard, led growth at Snap, and built a couple of consumer products with his co-founder, Ishan, before the two of them turned their attention to hiring. What they noticed was that most of the recruiting tech stack is built for candidates who are already in the funnel, while the harder and more valuable problem sits right at the top: finding the right people and getting them to reply. The platform they built, Juicebox, is now used by more than 5,000 customers, and around 40% of them run AI agents that source candidates autonomously for open roles. One agent per role. Each learns from your feedback, sources a set number of new candidates every day, and tells you when the talent pool needs a different approach. In this special sponsored episode, David walks Mark through what that looks like on a real desk. He covers the four-step outreach sequence Juicebox recommends, why generic AI-written emails hurt response rates and how to keep yours sounding like you, and how the platform searches and ranks candidates without a LinkedIn Recruiter seat. He also makes the case that recruiting will start to look more like executive search, with agents handling the research and sourcing while recruiters spend their time where they create the most value: building trust with candidates and clients. He also shares the honest version of building the company, including the two difficult years when it was just him and Ishan, before Juicebox found momentum. In this episode, you'll discover: How one AI agent per open role sources candidates every day The four-step outreach cadence Juicebox recommends, and why the fourth email waits Why generic AI-written emails hurt your response rate, and how to keep yours sounding like you How to search and rank candidates without relying on LinkedIn Recruiter When to add LinkedIn and phone steps to an automated sequence Why the future of recruiting may look more like executive search What helps recruiters and employers win the best talent The two difficult years before Juicebox found momentum Episode highlights: 01:22 Why David and his co-founder chose to build for recruitment 03:41 The top-of-funnel problem most recruiting tools ignore 10:27 The four-step email cadence that gets more replies 12:00 Why AI-written outreach often sounds generic 24:57 The recruiting org chart of the future 26:49 What one AI agent per role does each day 32:18 Why recruiting will increasingly resemble executive search 51:01 The difficult two years before the business found momentum Podcast Partner This special episode is sponsored by Juicebox, the AI recruiting platform that helps recruiters find and reach the right candidates. Book a demo: recruitmentcoach.com/juicebox About David Paffenholz David Paffenholz is the co-founder and CEO of Juicebox, an AI recruiting platform used by more than 5,000 customers to find and reach candidates. He studied economics at Harvard and led growth at Snap. He and his co-founder, Ishan, built several consumer products before founding Juicebox, which went through Y Combinator in 2022. Connect with Mark Free 30-minute strategy call: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter so you never miss an episode.

  3. Aug 12 ·  Video

    7 Success Secrets of Elite Recruiters with Ben Mena,

    What separates recruiters building momentum from those whose desks are quietly drifting? Benjamin Mena has recorded more than 300 episodes of The Elite Recruiter Podcast. Mark Whitby has done the same with The Resilient Recruiter. Between them, they have interviewed hundreds of high-performing recruiters and repeatedly seen the same success patterns. Ben begins this conversation with an honest admission. His recruiting revenue had been drifting. It was not collapsing, but his attention had become divided and the work he should have completed months earlier had not happened. That changed the conversation. Ben and Mark were not simply identifying what elite recruiters do. They were examining why proven fundamentals remain difficult to execute, even when you know exactly what they are. "The wealth in our industry is built on going day after day, doing the most boring basics." In This Episode, You'll Learn: Why successful recruiters plan the next day before the current one ends How rigorous qualification protects your time, energy and revenue Why hyper-specialization is common among the industry's top billers How engagement fees test whether a client is genuinely committed Why recruiters need to rebuild the sales skills weakened during easier markets How cornerstone clients create a more stable recruitment desk How LinkedIn, podcasts, newsletters and SEO can generate inbound opportunities Why long-term relationships become more valuable as AI changes recruitment Episode Highlights: [02:08] The revenue drift that made Ben delay this conversation [07:18] Defining success beyond recruitment billings [11:33] Why elite recruiters plan tomorrow before today ends [15:21] How rigorous qualification protects time and revenue [21:46] Becoming the go-to recruiter in a hyper-niche market [29:16] Rebuilding the sales skills weakened during easier markets [36:36] Building an inbound engine that compounds over time [46:05] How AI could widen the gap between recruiters About Benjamin Mena Benjamin Mena is the host of The Elite Recruiter Podcast and Managing Partner of Select Source Solutions, an executive search firm specializing in federal recruiting for government contractors. Ben has 20 years of recruiting experience across major defense contracts and complex federal programs. Through his podcast, recruiter community and virtual summits, he brings together top billers, firm owners and industry leaders to share what is working on the desk. Connect With Benjamin Mena The Elite Recruiter Podcast: https://www.eliterecruiterpodcast.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminmena/ If you want to build a recruitment desk around disciplined execution, market authority and relationships that compound, this episode is a must-listen. Podcast Partners This episode is brought to you by Recruiterflow — an AI-first ATS and CRM with built-in data enrichment. Book a demo at recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow. Free Resources Recruitment Freedom Scorecard: https://mark-rf1pexbm.scoreapp.com/ Book a free 30-minute strategy call: https://recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Connect With Mark Whitby LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markwhitby/ Twitter: @MarkWhitby Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RecruitmentCoach/ Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter so you never miss an episode.

  4. Aug 5 ·  Video

    Claude for Recruiters: How to Automate Your Recruitment Business | Reyhan Khan

    Most recruiters know they should be using AI more. What they don't know is where to start, what to connect, and what it costs. Reyhan Khan makes all of that concrete. Reyhan runs RecruiterGTM and has spent the last 60 days setting up Claude for 35 recruitment agencies. He's based in Lisbon, originally from Pakistan, and spent years running operations for US agencies before launching his own business. He places offshore talent from South Africa, Pakistan, and Latin America into recruitment agencies, which means he operates as a recruiter himself and follows the same process he teaches. In this episode, Reyhan walks through the complete setup: how to connect your ATS, outreach tools, and data sources into Claude so you can run BD, sourcing, and outreach from a single screen. He covers honest tool reviews, a full tech stack cost breakdown, and the three moves to make first if you want results this month, including one approach most recruiters have never considered. In this episode: How Reyhan set up Claude for 35 recruiters in 60 days, and what he found every time Why connecting your ATS, outreach tools, and data sources to Claude changes the economics of BD The recommended tech stack and cost breakdown for solo recruiters and full teams Why downloading your LinkedIn connections and ranking them by fit is the highest-return move most recruiters haven't made Honest tool reviews: RecruiterFlow, Loxo, Bullhorn, and more Why Claude builds market maps at a fraction of the cost of other tools How a recruiter over 60 who described himself as "not tech savvy" built six Claude agents Why offshore talent and Claude work better together than either does alone The recruiter who made a placement by going back to one person she already knew Episode Highlights: [0:00] Intro [02:33] From electrical engineer to online business operator [07:20] Becoming Head of Operations as the agency grew to 45 people [12:56] Deploying Claude for 35 recruiters in 60 days [15:25] Where recruitment agencies need AI most [18:30] Connecting your recruitment tools inside one Claude cockpit [22:43] How a recruiter over 60 built six Claude agents [24:55] The Claude workflow that produced half a dozen placements [27:45] Reyhan's recommended recruitment technology stack [31:27] Why every client and candidate conversation should be recorded [41:29] Building lower-cost market maps with Claude [47:36] The highest-return place to begin with AI [52:26] Combining offshore talent with Claude Listen: https://recruitmentcoach.com/podcast/ Podcast Partner: Recruiterflow, an AI-first ATS and CRM with built-in agents. https://recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow Free Resources: Take the 7-Figure Freedom Scorecard at https://recruitmentcoach.com/scorecard or book a free strategy session at https://recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ About Reyhan Khan: Reyhan Khan runs RecruiterGTM, helping recruitment agencies build go-to-market systems using AI and Claude. Over the course of his career, he moved from electrical engineering to freelance copywriting to Head of Operations at a US agency, before spending two and a half years coaching recruitment agencies. He now lives in Lisbon, Portugal, where he places offshore talent and helps agencies build AI-enabled recruiting systems. Find him on LinkedIn or at recruitergtm.com. Connect with Reyhan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reyhankhann/ Website: recruitergtm.com Connect with Mark Whitby: Free 30-minute strategy call: www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwhitby/ Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter: https://recruitmentcoach.com/podcast/

  5. Jul 29 ·  Video

    How the Top 1% of Recruiters Win New Business in 2026 | Mike Williams, Jen Meyer, and Pree Sarkar

    What are the top 1% of recruiters doing differently to win new business in 2026? That's exactly what Mark Whitby wanted to find out. So instead of interviewing one guest, he brought together three Pinnacle Society members for a live panel discussion in front of more than 100 recruiters. Jen Meyer is Chief Revenue Officer at Govig and Associates, a firm doing $12 to $15 million a year. Mike Williams built Carnegie Search into a team of 15 and billed $1.5 million last year. Pree Sarkar runs a global firm from Sydney focused on go-to-market hiring for scale-ups and AI companies. They run successful businesses in very different markets, but there were surprising similarities in how they approach business development. Jen explained why companies going through layoffs can become some of your best client opportunities. Mike shared the simple accountability system that keeps his team on the phones every day. And Pree broke down the 90-day framework that led to seven of his last 10 client agreements. If you're relying on referrals and repeat business, this conversation is a reminder that the best recruiters never stop building a pipeline. In this episode: Why layoffs and restructures create high-value search work that never gets advertised The MPC approach that opens doors without the standard recruiter pitch Mike's fifteen-calls-a-day accountability system How to build a prospect list by hand, and what company size to target Ad calls versus target company calls, and what each means for your fees Pree's Brand, Win, Grow framework and the Fill strategy Nets, Seeds and Spears: balancing short and long-term pipeline What to do if you need a search assignment in the next 30 days Becoming "the recruiter for all seasons" Episode Highlights: [00:00] Intro [04:49] Why reputation and relationships won't build a repeatable pipeline [05:28] Jen targets companies that are downsizing, and why it works [09:56] Mike on why accountability beats good intentions [11:23] The fifteen-calls-a-day spreadsheet system explained [14:11] Why Mike builds every prospect list by hand [16:00] The company size sweet spot for director-level roles [16:51] Pree's three pillars: Brand, Win, Grow [18:35] Nets, seeds and spears explained [25:23] What each panellist would do starting over from zero [30:37] Why one hundred calls a day still matters in 2026 [35:10] Ad calls versus target company calls, and the fee difference [45:00] Becoming "the recruiter for all seasons" [57:50] The one metric Jen says to measure every Friday Podcast Partner Recruiterflow: AI-first ATS and CRM with built-in agents. https://recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow About the Guests Jen Meyer is Chief Revenue Officer at Govig and Associates, leading all business development. She has been in the industry for nearly 30 years, including 14 years running her own firm. Mike Williams is the founder of Carnegie Search, an engineering recruitment firm in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a team of 15. Pree Sarkar runs a global recruitment firm from Sydney focused on software sales and go-to-market hiring for startups, scale-ups and AI companies. Connect with the Guests Jen Meyer on LinkedIn Mike Williams on LinkedIn Pree Sarkar on LinkedIn Connect with Mark Whitby Get your free 30-minute strategy call: https://recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn | Twitter: @MarkWhitby | Facebook | Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter

  6. Jul 22 ·  Video

    LinkedIn Algorithm: How the Latest Changes Affect Recruiters | Richard van der Blom

    LinkedIn has changed how it decides who sees your content, and many recruiters are feeling the impact. Reach is down for most creators, engagement is changing, and tactics that worked a year ago are becoming less effective. Richard van der Blom has spent years studying those changes. His annual LinkedIn Algorithm Insights Report is now in its seventh edition, built from the analysis of 1.3 million LinkedIn posts published in the first half of 2026. His latest research suggests LinkedIn has fundamentally shifted from rewarding who you know to rewarding what you want to be known for. In this episode, Richard explains what those changes mean for recruiters, how topic fingerprinting influences your visibility, why random posting is hurting more than helping, and how AI is changing the way LinkedIn evaluates content. He also shares the four content pillars behind high-performing posts, why newsletters are becoming one of LinkedIn's most underused tools, and what recruiters should change now to stay visible. In this episode, you'll discover: Why LinkedIn's latest algorithm changes are reducing reach for many recruiters How topic fingerprinting determines who sees your content The four content pillars behind most high-performing LinkedIn posts Why your profile matters as much as the content you publish How LinkedIn is detecting AI-generated content Why newsletters are becoming one of LinkedIn's biggest opportunities What recruiters should change immediately to improve their visibility Episode highlights: [04:47] LinkedIn's shift from a relationship graph to an interest graph [08:41] Topic fingerprinting and why your profile matters [19:19] The four content pillars behind successful LinkedIn content [38:38] Which LinkedIn formats are performing best in 2026 [43:27] The LinkedIn Loop Cycle explained [48:05] AI detection on LinkedIn and the reach penalty About Richard Richard van der Blom is the founder of Just Connecting, a LinkedIn training and consultancy agency. He has been helping businesses use LinkedIn since 2010 and has published the LinkedIn Algorithm Insights Report every year since 2020. His latest report analyzes 1.3 million LinkedIn posts and is widely referenced by organizations including Salesforce, PwC, and Nestlé. Connect with Richard: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardvanderblom/ Website: https://www.richardvanderblom.com/ LinkedIn Algorithm Insights Report 2026: https://sales.richardvanderblom.com/content-algorithm-playbook/ Connect with Mark Whitby: Free Strategy Session: https://recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter so you never miss an episode.

  7. Jul 15 ·  Video

    How AI Is Helping Recruiters Bill More, with Jordan Shlosberg

    Recruiters don't need AI to replace conversations with candidates or clients. They need AI to give them more time for those conversations. That's the philosophy Jordan Shlosberg has built his entire business around. Jordan is the founder of Atlas, an AI-first CRMx built for recruitment agencies. Before Atlas, he built proSapient, an expert network platform, scaling it to $40 million in revenue and 300 people across four or five offices before stepping back from the business in 2022. In this episode, Jordan explains where AI is already helping recruiters bill more, and where he thinks it has no place at all. He argues that business development, not delivery, is the real constraint on agency growth. He also shares why he uses Claude alongside his CRM to run his own business, and the simple test he applies to every new piece of technology. If you've been experimenting with AI but aren't sure how to turn that into more billings, this conversation gives you a clear way to think about it. In this episode, you'll discover: Where AI helps recruiters bill more, and where it shouldn't be used Why specing a candidate to a client used to take a day, and what that looks like now How Jordan decides whether to use Claude or his CRM for a given task Why business development, not delivery, is the real constraint on agency growth What "micro AI" means, and why Jordan avoids building one big flashy feature The one test Jordan applies to every new feature before it ships What Jordan thinks every recruiter should try in the next 90 days Episode highlights: 00:54 From building proSapient to $40 million to launching Atlas 08:23 The hiring mistake that dropped Jordan's Glassdoor score to 2.2 30:18 Where AI is genuinely good in recruitment today, and where it isn't 34:20 Why Jordan uses Claude over ChatGPT to run his own business 47:19 The search Atlas can run that no one else can do yet 59:39 Why business development, not delivery, is the real constraint on growth Podcast Partner: This episode is sponsored by Atlas, the AI-first CRMx built for recruitment agencies. For more information, visit recruitmentcoach.com/atlas. About Jordan: Jordan Shlosberg is the founder and CEO of Atlas, an AI-first CRMx built for recruitment agencies. He previously founded proSapient, an expert network platform, which he built to $40 million in revenue and 300 people across four or five offices before stepping back from the business in 2022. Connect with Jordan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanshlosberg/ https://recruitwithatlas.com/ Connect with Mark: Free 30-minute strategy call: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter so you never miss an episode.

  8. Jul 8 ·  Video

    How to Bill $1.29 Million Without Sacrificing Family Life, with Emily Audibert

    Emily Audibert billed $1.29 million in 2025. She did it while eight and a half months pregnant with her third child, living in a 750-square-foot cottage for six months during a home renovation with her husband, two young boys, and a 70-pound dog. Emily is the founder of EA Associates, a search firm specializing in go-to-market roles. The year before, she'd billed $800K. She knew she was capable of billing seven figures, but a bad RPO client was quietly eating the difference. She came home from a conference determined to make some changes, fired the client, worked with her sister, Amanda, to overhaul her processes and technology, and by spring had landed a major new contract. In this episode, Emily walks through that whole sequence, along with the early years of her career, including five failed attempts at the same CPA exam before she ever considered recruiting, and the moment she stopped copying her trainer's script and started sounding like herself on the phone. Today, she's off the phone by 4:30 most afternoons to be with her kids, and she explains exactly how her business is built to make that possible. In this episode, you'll discover: How to tell a good RPO from one that's quietly draining your business Why the type of contract you sign never fixes a role that's hard to fill What changed when Emily brought her sister on as her operations partner Why she spend nearly her whole day on the phone and almost nothing else The three things that took her from $80K to $390K in her second year Why a softer, more personal approach outperformed a memorized script The daily habits she leans on to stay calm during a demanding week How half her breakthrough year came from work she was already doing Episode highlights: 02:26 Life with three kids under five 08:13 How 2025 became her breakthrough year 09:01 The RPO client she fired 14:41 Failing the CPA exam five times before finding recruitment 21:54 From $80K to $390K in year two 26:46 Finding her own voice on the phone 46:04 Why hiring her sister as integrator changed everything 52:43 A great RPO versus one you should fire Podcast Partner: This episode is brought to you by Recruiterflow, the AI-first ATS and CRM built for recruitment agencies and search firms. recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow Free Resources: 7-Figure Freedom Scorecard: https://mark-rf1pexbm.scoreapp.com/ Book a Strategy Session: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ About Emily: Emily Audibert is the founder of EA Associates, a search firm specializing in go-to-market roles across marketing and sales. She began her career at Hobson Associates, trained under Danny Cahill, and has spent nearly 10 years in recruiting. She was inducted into the Pinnacle Society in 2025. That same year, she billed $1.29 million, up from $800K the year before. Connect with Emily: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyaudibert/ https://ea.associates/ Connect with Mark: Free 30-minute strategy call: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter so you never miss an episode.

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About

Join "the Recruitment Coach" Mark Whitby as he and his guests unpack the secrets of what it takes to be a profitable and long-lived professional in the recruitment industry.

Information

  • Creator
    Recruitment Coach Mark Whitby
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    335
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © (c) Breakthrough Coaching Ltd T/A RecruitmentCoach.com. All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Resilient Recruiter

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