Agenda at a Glance

Many organizations are investing more than ever in talent attraction — more content, more channels, more technology — yet seeing diminishing returns. Applications increase, but commitment weakens. Employer brands gain visibility, but decisions stall. Leaders sense something has changed, but struggle to explain why.

This session explores diminishing returns in talent attraction through a job seeker psychology lens, examining how economic uncertainty, market saturation, and AI-scale hiring have fundamentally altered how candidates evaluate risk, credibility, and opportunity. Drawing on decision science, organizational psychology, and labor market research, it explains why strategies that worked in stable or growth-oriented markets now underperform.

Rather than framing the issue as increased competition or declining employer appeal, this talk reframes diminishing returns as a misalignment between market conditions and decision design. When uncertainty rises, job seekers become more risk-averse, more skeptical of employer signals, and less responsive to traditional attraction tactics.

Led by Crystal Lay, Employer Brand leader and I/O Psychology practitioner, attendees will learn:

• Why market volatility changes job seeker decision behavior
• How cognitive load and choice saturation reduce engagement and follow-through
• Why employer brand and recruitment marketing lose effectiveness under high uncertainty
• What leaders must redesign when attraction strategies stop converting
• How to shift from volume-based attraction to decision-supportive systems

This session is designed for Talent Acquisition, Employer Brand, and People leaders seeking to restore effectiveness by aligning talent attraction strategy with how candidates actually make decisions in today’s market.

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AI Compliance for Recruiters

AI is already making hiring decisions. The question is: are you in control of it?

As regulators crack down on automated employment tools and frameworks, like the EU AI Act redefine hiring AI as “high-risk,” talent leaders can no longer afford a wait-and-see approach. From bias audits required under New York City Local Law 144 to rising enforcement scrutiny, the compliance landscape is shifting fast.

This high-impact session cuts through the noise. You’ll learn where AI risk hides inside your recruiting funnel, how to pressure-test your vendors, and what a modern AI governance framework looks like for TA teams.

Walk away ready to innovate with confidence — protecting your organization, your candidates, and your employer brand. Because in today’s regulated world, responsible AI isn’t just about compliance — it’s a competitive advantage.

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Recruiting in a World of Scarcity

Most recruiting strategies still start with the resume. But in today’s labor market, particularly across production, operations, and frontline environments, that approach is increasingly limiting access to the talent organizations need.

Across many industries, the number of open roles continues to grow while the pool of traditionally “qualified” candidates continues to shrink. If recruiting teams continue searching for the same resumes, they will continue finding the same limited pool of candidates.

A capability-first mindset challenges that model, by shifting the focus away from pedigree and toward demonstrated ability. Instead of asking where someone worked or what title they held, the more important question becomes: Can this person do the work and succeed in this environment?

This session introduces the Capability over Credential approach to recruiting. We will explore how talent acquisition teams can identify the technical skills, motor capabilities, problem solving ability, and environmental fit that actually predict success in production and frontline roles.

From there, we will examine how organizations can translate those insights into practical recruiting strategies. This includes building ideal candidate profiles based on demonstrated skills rather than titles, identifying adjacent talent pools with transferable capabilities, and expanding sourcing strategies to reach candidates in places traditional recruiting often overlooks.

In a labor market defined by scarcity, widening the lens of who can do the work is critical. By prioritizing capability over credential, recruiting teams can unlock new pipelines, improve hiring outcomes, and compete more effectively for skilled talent.

Attendee Takeaways

• Participants will leave this session with practical strategies they can apply immediately, including:
• How to identify the technical and motor skills that truly predict success in production and frontline roles
• How to build candidate profiles based on demonstrated capability rather than job titles or years of experience
• How to uncover adjacent talent pools with transferable skills that traditional recruiting often misses
• How to expand sourcing strategies to reach candidates through community programs, trade training, digital platforms, and nontraditional pipelines
• How a capability-first approach can widen talent pipelines and improve hiring outcomes in a constrained labor market

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Fresh perspectives, big ideas, and maybe a little sass — Luc, Mick, and Reagan are here to spill the secrets of what really grabs the attention of early-career talent. From social media vibes to internships that don’t suck, this panel dives into what makes new grads say “yes” (or “meh”) to a company. TA leaders will leave with actionable tips, fresh ideas, and a few laughs about the quirks of recruiting the next generation.

Topics Covered

• What early-career candidates really notice (and what they ignore)
• Creative ways to stand out on social, campus, and virtual channels
• Employer brand points that make or break decisions
• How to turn curiosity into commitment — without cheesy gimmicks
• Panelist insights (and maybe some confessions) from Luc, Mick, and Reagan

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Boolean isn't dead. It just got a co-pilot. In this hands-on session, Vanessa Raath shows you how to level up your sourcing by combining advanced Boolean and X-Ray search with AI-powered prompt strategies. From uncovering hidden talent pools to building prompt libraries that think like a recruiter, you'll walk away with a repeatable system that cuts through the noise and fills your pipeline with the right people. Skill meets smart technology. That's where the magic happens.

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What do you do when there are only 50 viable candidates in the world?

In this advanced session, Shally Steckerl breaks down how to recruit in critically scarce markets where traditional sourcing, job postings, and database searches simply don’t apply.

You’ll learn how to shift from keyword searching to named-prospect strategies, how to map constrained talent markets with precision, and how to influence hiring leaders using real data instead of guesswork.

This is how you operate when supply is brutally limited.

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In a world of AI-powered search tools and expanding talent pools, Boolean search remains one of the most powerful — and underutilized — skills in a sourcing leader’s toolkit. This fast-paced “Boolean Bootcamp” is designed for talent acquisition and sourcing leaders who want to sharpen their team’s search strategy, improve precision, and unlock hidden talent across platforms.

Attendees will revisit Boolean fundamentals, explore advanced string-building techniques, and learn how to adapt search strategies across LinkedIn, job boards, search engines, and niche platforms. The session will also cover how to train recruiters to think strategically about search logic, avoid common mistakes, and build scalable, repeatable sourcing frameworks.

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Employees aren’t just participants — they’re the storytellers. This session explores how to harness authentic video content to showcase culture, highlight career experiences, and build a sense of community. Using real-world examples from campaigns like Baylor Scott & White Health's, learn best practices for creating employee-driven content that resonates with candidates, amplifies your employer brand, and drives engagement across channels.

Topics covered:

• Crafting authentic video stories that highlight culture and values
• Encouraging employees to participate while maintaining brand alignment
• Integrating employee-generated video into campaigns and social channels
• Measuring engagement and impact of video storytelling campaigns

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Recruitment marketing is often viewed as a function focused on promoting open roles. At Mutual of Omaha, it has evolved into a strategic lever that helps shape how talent perceives the organization and its future. By building cross-functional partnerships and demonstrating value over time, recruitment marketing became a trusted channel for communicating organizational momentum, from digital transformation to a new headquarters. This session shares how recruitment marketing can grow beyond content execution into a strategic function that strengthens employer brand credibility and supports long-term talent attraction.

In this session, you will learn how to:

• Evolve recruitment marketing from a content support function into a strategic business partner
• Build credibility and trust across teams to expand recruitment marketing’s influence
• Develop cross-functional partnerships with groups like IT, Social Impact, and Corporate Communications
• Align recruitment marketing efforts with broader business initiatives and organizational direction
• Using storytelling to signal stability, modernization, and future opportunity to our candidates
• Position your organization in a way that helps candidates understand not just the role, but where the company is going

Who should attend

The recruitment marketer or employer brand practitioner wanting an example of how to take their work to the next level when it comes to supporting organizational business goals

The TA or HR leader who is wanting to add a dedicated recruitment marketing or employer brand resource to their team and wants to learn how a role like this could support the business goals, providing evidence for justification of adding this valuable team member.

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Six months after launching a refreshed Employer Value Proposition, the real test begins. What actually changed? What resonated with candidates and employees—and what needed adjusting?

At Ford, the refreshed EVP didn’t live only in messaging—it was brought to life through a completely redesigned global career site where candidates experience the employer brand and explore opportunities.

Join Kerry for a follow-up session that examines the real impact of an EVP refresh after launch. Using new data and insights gathered since the rollout, Kerry will share how the updated EVP influenced candidate engagement, career site performance, recruiter adoption, and internal alignment. You’ll hear what worked, what surprised the team, and how they continued to evolve the messaging based on market feedback.

This session offers a rare look at the post-launch phase of EVP work—where measurement, iteration, and internal adoption determine long-term success.

What you’ll learn

• How Ford implemented a governance model and global employer brand center of excellence to activate the EVP consistently
• What Ford learned about activating influencers and employee advocates to drive awareness
• How recruiter and sourcer enablement tools helped scale employer brand globally

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Job descriptions are becoming obsolete as AI reshapes work. So what should Talent Acquisition actually hire for?

In this dynamic session, Maren and Chris introduce the Human Capability Continuum™, a practical framework for understanding how capability — not tasks — drives value. You’ll explore the 8 Capability Vectors that move beyond outdated skills lists and learn why AI may eliminate entry-level tasks but increases the need for early-career talent as managers of AI.

The session reframes organizations as capability architectures, teams as blended human–AI clusters, and TA as “capability cartographers” mapping talent to value creation — not job titles.

Grounded, funny, and actionable, this talk gives TA leaders a shared language and clear next steps for hiring in a world where skills decay but capability evolves.

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Early careers recruiting has become a volume game like never before. With the rise of easy-apply tools and AI-assisted applications, employers are facing an application avalanche — thousands of resumes flooding in within hours of posting.

The challenge? It’s harder than ever for qualified candidates to rise to the top — and harder for recruiting teams to efficiently identify, engage, and convert the right talent before they lose interest.

This session will explore how talent acquisition leaders can rethink early careers strategy in a high-volume environment, including:

• Designing front-end application experiences that balance accessibility with meaningful screening
• Leveraging AI and automation without sacrificing candidate quality or equity
• Creating smarter workflows to help recruiters get to the “right” candidates faster
• Partnering with hiring managers to redefine what “qualified” really means for early talent
• Building proactive pipelines instead of reacting to posting-driven surges

Attendees will walk away with practical strategies to manage volume, improve candidate experience, and ensure early careers recruiting remains both scalable and strategic.

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AI, automation, and recruiting tech promise speed, scale, and efficiency — but at what cost? As talent teams race to modernize, many are grappling with a critical tension: how to leverage technology to move faster without eroding the human connection candidates expect.

This session explores how to strike the right balance between smart automation and authentic engagement. From AI-generated outreach and interview scheduling bots to streamlined screening and workflow automation, we’ll examine where technology adds value — and where it risks creating distance.

You’ll learn:

• How to identify automation opportunities that enhance (not replace) recruiter impact
• Where over-automation can damage trust, brand perception, and candidate experience
• How to use AI to elevate recruiters into strategic talent advisors
• Practical guardrails for implementing tech thoughtfully and transparently
• Ways to measure whether your tech stack is driving results — or driving candidates away

Walk away with a clear framework for using technology to create efficiency, improve quality, and strengthen relationships — proving that the right tech doesn’t replace the human touch, it amplifies it.

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