The Tech Savvy Recruiter

Belinda Kerr and Andrew Rodger

The Tech Savvy Recruiter, the podcast for recruitment and staffing agency owners keen to explore the tech innovations reshaping our industry. Hosted by Andrew Roger from RecMate and Belinda Kerr from Recruitment Garage. Together they bring you a stellar lineup of tech experts ready to help you understand, and more importantly, benefit from the increasing array of tech available to you today.

  1. 6D AGO

    Episode 39 - Navigating Cyber Threats: Practical Cybersecurity & Resilience for SMBs

    Small businesses are under attack, and cyber threats are more real than ever. In this episode, Luke Irwin, fractional Chief Information Security Officer at Aegis Cybersecurity, breaks down the world of cybercrime - from email-based attacks and ransomware to social engineering and emerging AI risks. He shares practical steps for SMBs to boost cybersecurity, including frameworks like SMB1001, cybersecurity insurance, employee training, password management, and multi-factor authentication. Learn how to build cyber resilience, protect your business, and recover quickly when attacks happen. Whether you’re a founder, entrepreneur, or small business owner, this episode gives you actionable insights to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. Questions: Get an overview of the landscape. What's happening? What should we be thinking about? 2:53-2:56   In Australia, the SMB 1009 and in The States, North America. Does that help with your insurance premiums? 14:5-14:58 With the SMB businesses, what are some of the typical breaches that you see? 16:49-16:57 Last time we spoke you gave a really good agenda of 60% or 70% of what people could do to stay safe. Would you mind running through that? 27:26-27:37 What percentage of Xero users do you reckon are actually backing up? 35:54-35:57 If you're thinking about backing it up, are there any sort of preferred smarter methods? 36:32-36:37 If you walked into a small to medium agency recruitment agency today, what would you say are the top three things you can do to bridge that gap? 44:57-45:06 Connect with Luke linkedin.com/in/luke-irwin E: lirwin@aegiscyber.com.au W: https://aegiscyber.com.au Connect with Belinda and Andrew: LinkedIn Belinda Kerr  linkedin.com/in/belindakerr   Recruitment Garage https://recruitmentgarage.com/   LinkedIn Andrew Rodger linkedin.com/in/andrewrodger   recMate  https://www.recmate.com.au/ Check out CyberWardens at https://train.cyberwardens.com.au

    54 min
  2. FEB 3

    Episode 38 - AI, Automation, and the Truth About What Recruiters Should Be Using

    AI is everywhere in recruitment, but are agencies actually using it well? In this episode of The Tech Savvy Recruiter, Belinda and Andrew sit down with Ez Khan, Founder of Hume Scope to explore why many founders feel behind, and how early, simple adoption can create a serious competitive advantage. From automating admin and improving productivity to enhancing candidate communication and building trust with clients, this conversation focuses on practical, real-world applications. The trio also discuss the difference between automation and AI, why prompt engineering matters more than most recruiters realise, and what the future holds for agency owners committed to staying relevant. Questions: What’s the biggest misconception small agency founders have about AI and recruitment tech right now? 1:43-1:50 What are founders sharing with you as their biggest concerns around where we are headed with AI? And how can people like us support them? 3:28-3:45 What are we seeing now as practical use cases for AI? 7:41-7:47 What differences are you seeing between the founders that are doing well and those who are struggling? 28:59-29:11 What skills as a recruiter do I need to keep learning and honing? 35:54-36:14 If you were running a 2 or 3 person agency right now - what tools would be non negotiables in your stack? 41:52-42:03 Notes: https://fal.ai/ Download the Prompt Engineering file here - chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://arxiv.org/pdf/2402.07927 Connect with Belinda and Andrew: LinkedIn Belinda Kerr linkedin.com/in/belindakerr Recruitment Garage https://recruitmentgarage.com/ LinkedIn Andrew Rodger linkedin.com/in/andrewrodger recMate https://www.recmate.com.au/

    51 min
  3. JAN 6

    Episode 37 - AI in Recruitment: What’s Working, What’s Hype

    AI is everywhere in recruitment, but what is actually working right now and what is just hype? In this episode of The Tech Savvy Recruiter, Belinda Kerr and Andrew Rodger sit down with Martin Herbst, CEO of JobAdder, to unpack the real impact of AI on recruiter productivity, candidate selection, and client relationships. With more than 20 years of experience scaling SaaS marketplaces, Martin shares how smart agencies are cutting admin by up to 50 percent, using AI inside their CRM workflows, and building stronger talent communities without losing the human connection. You will learn where recruiters are wasting time, how to avoid shiny tech distractions, and why the future of recruitment is not about replacing people but freeing them to focus on what matters most. Perfect for recruitment agency owners who want practical, no-nonsense insight into using AI to grow faster and recruit smarter. Questions: When you zoom out and look at the industry where it’s up to now as a whole, how would you describe the current state of play of AI adoption in recruitment? What are recruiters actually doing with AI today versus what’s still largely theoretical? 2:55-3:15 If we're thinking about the practical gains with AI at the moment without kind of losing the human connection, but what should we be thinking about from a practical perspective right here, right now? What are you seeing across your customer base? What are people doing? What sort of habits are they engaging? How are they engaging with the way that you've got JobAdder moving through? 11:41-12:00 We're starting to see things like fake CVs and these sorts of things. How big a problem are they going to be? Are there going to be things that counter them before they get too out of control? 14:54-15:03 What about when it comes to data too? There's a profuse amount of data available now and it's relatively inexpensive to harness. Do you feel like there's an opportunity for people to be using that more so and better as well? 21:20-21:33 You've mentioned Adder intelligence. I'd love to get a glimpse behind the scenes a little bit around how the team's approaching or how they approach designing it and the ongoing modifications and enhancements. And I guess what core principles that you use to ensure that it's useful, trustworthy, and it's got that genuine improvement on what we need it to do for our day to day, to move that human back into the human stuff as we were just talking around, rather than the admin things. 22:28-22:54 What do you think the next couple of years, the crystal ball of six months is a long time at the moment, but the next couple of years will look like for recruiters. And what should we be gearing up for? 28:50-28:58 What about on the client side? How many are going to be losing clients because they can just do it themselves with more tools? 30:05-30:12Connect with Belinda and Andrew: LinkedIn Belinda Kerr  linkedin.com/in/belindakerr   Recruitment Garage https://recruitmentgarage.com/   LinkedIn Andrew Rodger linkedin.com/in/andrewrodger   recMate  https://www.recmate.com.au/

    37 min
  4. 12/19/2025

    Episode 36 - AI screening: The possibilities and the perils

    AI is reshaping recruitment faster than most agencies can keep up. In this episode of The Tech Savvy Recruiter, Andrew and Belinda are joined by global HR influencer and recruiting tech expert Tim Sackett to cut through the noise and explain what is actually working right now. They dive into AI screening, interview technology, candidate experience, bias reduction, hiring data, and the growing risk of candidate fraud. Tim shares practical insights on how agencies and TA leaders can use AI to improve quality of hire, speed up processes, protect their systems, and create better experiences for candidates and hiring managers alike. If you want to understand where recruitment tech is heading, how to avoid costly mistakes, and where to invest your time and money next, this is a must-listen. Questions: As AI screening sits today, to your mind what’s working well, where are companies seeing the biggest impact and on the flip side where are we coming unstuck? 1:33-1:42 When it comes to interview technology as it is today and where you see the biggest disruptors that are coming for us putting that lens on, how do you think agencies should be approaching what's happening in our market? Where should we be investing as professionals to make sure we're staying up and maybe getting ahead of the game as well? 8:03-8:22 At what point do we put that human layer on it? For example, I've got a team and I've got eight blokes and I just want a bit of female energy and mix it up a little bit. But the AI is a kind of screening for not that. Do you feel like this process comes in at the end, or when do we start adding that in? 12:27-12:45 This whole concept of candidate fraud and fake resumes and fake interviews. Where are we going with all of this? 14:59-15:26 What are you recommending that people start to think about doing to both educate themselves and mitigate the risk? 18:16-18:23 Just thinking if we fast forward, say 3 to 5 years, if we were to look at that window of time, what do you think the interviewing process might look like? 21:50-22:12 When it comes to data, what do we need to be thinking about? What should we be measuring? What are your thoughts around the importance of it in the process? 33:14-33:21 A lot of thought leaders like yourself are talking about the importance of being across that conversation, trying things out with little baby steps where you can, I guess on top of understanding the problem that you're trying to achieve and improve upon. But before you try any new tech, is there anything else you'd say about helping people look in the right direction or to make better tech decisions? 40:34-40:56 Connect with Belinda and Andrew: LinkedIn Belinda Kerr  Recruitment Garage LinkedIn Andrew Rodger   recMate  Check out more from Tim on these platforms Timsackett.com  HR Famous podcast

    48 min
  5. 11/07/2025

    Episode 34 - TBC (Tech, trust and influence with Adam Posner)

    In this episode of The Tech Savvy Recruiter, Belinda Kerr and Andrew Rodger chat with Adam Posner, founder of NHP Talent Group and host of The Pozcast, to explore how recruiters can harness AI as a tool, not a crutch. Adam dives into the future of recruitment, the gold rush of new tech, and how to balance automation with the human touch that truly connects candidates and clients. Learn how to use AI to scale smarter, build stronger relationships, and future-proof your agency. 🎧 Tune in for practical takeaways, candid industry insights, and real talk on what’s next for recruiters who embrace tech the right way. Questions: You’ve got a foot in a few camps Adam and such a wide breadth of both commercial and life experience, what do you believe is going to be the next big challenge for recruitment founders? How is AI and Tech going to further its impact? 3:01 - 3:24 How advanced is the implementation of Robot or AI recruiters in your part of the world Adam? 12:46 - 13:10 What are your thoughts on OpenAI’s recent announcement of their jobs platform launch? 15:10 - 15:13 Do you think these smaller founders running their own recruitment agencies will eventually get stomped on, or is there still a place for smaller tech? 20:14 - 20:29 Adam to share a little bit about his podcast journey — what inspired him to start Pozcast, how he is growing it, and give any tips 25:30 - 25:55 It is really clear Adam that you’re a natural connector, genuinely interested in the welfare of others and building an engaged community is important to you. How can founders follow your lead here as they attempt to build meaningful relationships with their wider audience? 33:44 - 34:36 I know you are a cancer survivor Adam and I’d love to hear how you managed through that time with so much responsibility… a young family, work etc. And how you are feeling now. I see more often than I’d like stories about founders becoming unwell, so if somebody watching this is facing health issues what advice would you offer? 49:44 - 50:32 Connect with Belinda and Andrew: LinkedIn Belinda Kerr linkedin.com/in/belindakerr Recruitment Garage https://recruitmentgarage.com/ LinkedIn Andrew Rodger linkedin.com/in/andrewrodger recMate https://www.recmate.com.au/ You can find Adam on the following platforms and shows: www.nhptalentgroup.com www.thePOZcast.com YouTube: youtube.com/c/ThePOZcast The Purple Acorn HR Morning Show - https://open.spotify.com/show/7dFFBuqNWVNIIKPEsa3YC2?si=d97493b5277d4753

    59 min
  6. 10/21/2025

    Episode 33: The Tech Savvy Recruiter – Reflections, Lessons & What’s Next for AI in Recruitment

    After nearly two years and 30+ expert interviews, hosts Andrew Rodger and Belinda Kerr sit down to unpack their biggest insights from The Tech Savvy Recruiter so far. From the rise of AI agents and automation tools transforming recruitment workflows, to candid chats about staying curious, avoiding overwhelm, and future-proofing your agency. This episode is your fast-track catch-up on the biggest shifts in tech, tools, and trends shaping the industry. Tune in for: Real-world takeaways from the show’s most inspiring guests How recruiters can use AI today (without the burnout) Why curiosity beats perfection in a fast-changing tech world Perfect for: recruiters, staffing leaders, and tech-curious founders ready to turn innovation into a competitive edge. Introduction: Highlights on AI and Tech Kick off to some of their favorite episodes with Tech and Founders. What AR and BK gained most out of these series that they have been running (4:02-4:06) Talk about automation (5:00-7:42) Favorite guests and why (7:46-33:32) What tools do you think are sort of coming into common play now that went, say 12 months ago, what is it that people you’re finding are using and engaging a lot more? (33:41-33:50) Any parting words, comments, thoughts (38:46-38:49) Connect with Belinda and Andrew: LinkedIn Belinda Kerr  linkedin.com/in/belindakerr   Recruitment Garage https://recruitmentgarage.com/   LinkedIn Andrew Rodger linkedin.com/in/andrewrodger   recMate  https://www.recmate.com.au/

    42 min
  7. 10/09/2025

    Episode 32 - Recruitment Rewired: Navigating the new tech era

    AI is shaking up recruitment fast, and the biggest barrier isn’t the tech, it’s our mindset. In this episode, international recruitment director and AI consultant Kat Kingshott joins Belinda Kerr and Andrew Rogers to unpack how agency owners can ditch fear, embrace innovation, and build confidence in using AI tools. Kat shares how to navigate change, avoid “tech overwhelm,” and create a team culture that’s curious and adaptable. Whether you’re a solo recruiter or leading a growing team, you’ll learn practical ways to make AI your ally, not your enemy. Key topics: - Mindset shifts that make tech adoption easier - Overcoming recruiter fear and burnout - Building AI literacy in your team - Balancing human connection with automation - Real-world tips for using ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity Perfect for recruitment founders and leaders who want to future-proof their business without losing the human touch. Questions: When you talk about the mindset shift needed to adopt new tech, what will help founders make the leap to being more open and potentially less worried here? 2:04-2:14 Do you think recruiters are starting to second guess their importance or relevance in the whole recruitment ecosystem right now? 4:51-4:59 Do you have any other vibes how vendors could make it a little bit easier for us to make that change better? 11:15-11:21 I know Kat you help recruitment businesses audit their tech stack. What are the key things you are looking for in doing this? 18:43-18:52 Connect with Belinda and Andrew: LinkedIn Belinda Kerr linkedin.com/in/belindakerr Recruitment Garage https://recruitmentgarage.com/ LinkedIn Andrew Rodger linkedin.com/in/andrewrodger recMate https://www.recmate.com.au/

    37 min

About

The Tech Savvy Recruiter, the podcast for recruitment and staffing agency owners keen to explore the tech innovations reshaping our industry. Hosted by Andrew Roger from RecMate and Belinda Kerr from Recruitment Garage. Together they bring you a stellar lineup of tech experts ready to help you understand, and more importantly, benefit from the increasing array of tech available to you today.

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