This Week, In Recruiting - Issue 192

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Open Kitchen: 7 x Tips for Getting the Most Out of Recruitment Industry Events in 2025

I am writing this at the Titanic Chausee Hotel in Berlin, just before attending Tec Rec 2024. It's going to be my 29th industry event of the year. It's a crazy number and one which has caused me to reflect on my experience as an excessive recruitment industry conference go-er 🤣

Firstly, I understand that I am currently in a hugely privileged moment in my life. It's surreal to be able to live this lifestyle, meet so many great people and visit all of these amazing places. I know it won't be forever and I cherish every moment that I am on the road like this.

Secondly, stepping up the traveling was something of vague plan of mine at the start of the year. Brainfood is something I can do plugged-into-the-Matrix-27/4-staring-at-the-Internet but I realised that the information I was consuming and potentially sharing was 'produced information' - something that was intended to be read and therefore a narrativisation of what might really be going on. I had to go corroborate the recruitment trends I was reading about with direct witness testimony from local recruiters who might actually be experiencing them.

Thirdly, I have a hunch that information exchanged through analogue, in-person connection will turn out to be more important for us than we currently understand. For good or ill, Artificial Intelligences will colonise and assimilate the digital world. In the AI-dominated era - when machines can out-process and out-synthesise any information which is already digitised, the only competitive advantage we humans will have is going to be access to the Collective Intelligence that emerges from human beings exchanging information in an analogue setting.

I am a firm evangelist of recruitment & HR industry events. We should all attend more than we do and support the effort of increasing the density of our networks, pooling our knowledge and fortifying our morale. To that end, I have updated the Big List of Recruitment & HR Events to Attend in 2025 and encourage you all bookmark it, add to it and share it with your network.

Now onto the question - and now that you've decided to attend more events in 2025 - what do you do to get the best out of them? This is the topic of today's Open Kitchen.

1. Everyone Feels Weird First Time

Going to an industry conference can be a nerve wracking experience. This is especially if you are going for the first time. Especially if you are going alone. It's like going to a nightclub on your own - weirdly terrifying!

I remember the first event I ever attended (TruLondon 2011), I came very close to swerving it due to an immense surge of social anxiety when I approached the entrance only to be pulled in when I was recognised by a friend (thanks Sarah Cooper!) who also happened to arriving at the same time. I consider this to be a very lucky circumstance, because without question that first event had a transformational impact on my professional life. I wonder how many people might have had full intention of going to an event, only to swerve it at last minute and then never thinking of attending an industry event again. It's a Sliding Doors moment and we have to crash through it. Thankfully we are in tons of online communities these days and a quick shout out in one of these would likely rustle up a few industry peers who would be up for a coffee before going into the event. You could even shout it out on LinkedIn - why not announce your intentions to go right here? Worse thing that would happen is that you'd get some algorithmic social credit from a platform that wants you post more on here 🤣

2. Make Sure You Don't Hang Around Only With Your Colleagues

Going in with friends and colleagues is a great idea but hanging around with them all day is not. In fact, I think roving around only in group is a clear mistake as it creates a barrier for interaction with other people who don't know you as well.

I'm reminded the the schooling behaviour of the juvenile Striped Catfish - a defensive mechanism against predators as it's impossible to identify any single individual within the mass. Its ok to be in-group at events, but have a go at free swimming also - it's easier to have a new conversation with a new person when you're not in a tightly packed defensive formation!

3. Try And Get A Job At The Event

I enjoy events much more if I've got a job to do in them.

It almost doesn't matter what that participation is - giving a talk, moderating a panel, participating as a panellist, hosting a stage, leading a track, running a mic round at the Q&A - what is seems more important is a sense of being actively involved in the show. Some element of this might simply be ego but I like to think a greater part of it is that you're more invested in the success of the event - you're kind of in it, so you want everyone else to have a great time and you're much more likely to have a good time yourself as a result.

Now I don't believe in volunteering your entire day of free labour for the conference organisers. What I mean is that the mental shift from being a passive consumer to active participant is a powerful and positive one, and this can be most obviously achieved by having some sort of role with the event, however big or small.

One thing I do know is Event organisers are always looking for new speakers or panellists. They know they can't keep recycling the same old faces all the time. But they can't see who might be up for it, from amongst the thousands of people in the industry. Make yourself known to the organisers and willing and able to speak or panel at an event and you might be surprised at how quickly you find yourself on the programme.

4. Commemorate the Moments

Don't hesitate to take and publish selfies, especially with industry colleagues and friends you meet at events. I've recently become obsessed with political leaders who do this - Narendra Modi of India and Lawrence Wong of Singapore both commemorate every political meeting they have with a photograph of that meeting - then tweeting it out on X!

Now obviously these political leaders have media teams deciding on this strategy, taking the photos and writing the tweets, but the impact of these personal photos, coming from the Presidents personal accounts carries high impact, especially when they do it all the time.

This is humanising them - enabling the public to feel a strong emotional connection with political leaders who are necessarily distant. What I am getting from these politicians is that they discovering the power of direct communication to the audience. And that they are placing value on the meeting they've just had with the other person, by commemorating it in public. It's a great way to communicate to that person (ask for permission first of course) how much you've valued that connection. I've got no evidence of this, but I suspect that people you take selfies with you are more likely to do business with in some form or other in future. At least your memories of each will be more clear!

5. Connect on WhatsApp rather than LinkedIn

I'm pretty much using WhatsApp for networking. In part this has been due to the fact that I maxed out on LinkedIn years ago and can no longer connect with people on here, so I have been quick to default to adding on WhatsApp once I have met someone new. No offence to any of my recent contacts (!) but I operate almost zero moderation on this - if I had met the person and we have had a good connection, then I'm cool to connect with WhatsApp.

Now I understand that again I am privileged in that I feel secure in connecting with people on WhatsApp in this way. I also understand that men and women sadly need to operate with different security settings when connecting on any social network or communication channel. I only want to share my own experience of being quick to add on WhatsApp. And from an events POV, I'm finding it far superior to LinkedIn in so far as networking is concerned. It's more comprehensive because contact capture is in real time rather than waiting to connect when back on Desktop, you need to message immediately in order for the other person to be find you, in which case you've already escalate to next stage and the relationship is in a different emotional place because the chat takes place mainly on mobile.

I think I am more likely to contact someone for something professional if I have them on WhatsApp, than if I have them on LinkedIn. And you're definitely more likely to get something from me if we're connected on WhatsApp vs LinkedIn.

Anyways, best ways to connect are via QR code - here's how to do it

PS: I blur the QR in this case because I only add people on WhatsApp if I have met them in person and the vibe was good - those are only criteria!

6. Commentate on the Talks

Contrary to what many might think, I do actually attend many of the talks. In fact, I've made the habit of going up to the front row and taking a seat there so I can get the best view and take the best screenshots without worrying about somebody's head being in the way. My approach is basically to listen, take a shot when there is an important point and then tweet it out X - its basically my way of making notes.

I find it is a good way to internalise a point someone has made if I have to summarise it in a concise way. Not sure if it is useful for others but on the off chance that it might be, I'll live tweet and commentate on the talks as they are going on.

I also find that it helps my focus on the talk itself. It's pretty clear we have an attention crisis and focus is becoming harder with distractions coming from every channel and every device, but if I get into the frame of mind that I'm going to live tweet this talk for my non-existent audience on X, it nevertheless helps me lock in on what the speaker is saying and I end up with a much richer comprehension of the theme of the talk.

7. Consolidate & Share Your Learning

Taking notes from the talks - whether by live tweeting, writing on your laptop or making notes old school with pen and paper - sets you up for the final recommendation for conference going I want to share - share what you've learned. Documenting experience isn't just an act of recording, but an act of thinking. When you have to write something down so others can understand, you deepen your own understanding of the topic. I'm reminded of how you only really get to know your home town when you have to play tour guide to a friend who is visiting - you have sharpen your awareness and deepen your knowledge in order to explain it to others.

Hence, post event, I think it is good practice to get something out about your experience. It doesn't have to be profound and you don't have to be great writer. What you do have to do is externalise your thoughts on your experience and share with others what you learned - contribute your voice to the industry discourse - it will make the conversation richer, the more voices we have that add to it.

Now out of the kitchen, onto the lounge 👇

What's Going On?

Tec Rec 2024, TITANIC Chaussee Hotel, Berlin, November 25th–26th, 2024

I am back in Berlin folks, first time at Rec Tec since before Covid. Looking forward to sharing thoughts on the state of tech hiring, learning from local employers as to how the changing circumstances have impacted hiring posture, diversity and inclusion, state of remote, state of outsourcing. I have a 50% discount on tickets so make sure you get them here rather than elsewhere!

HR Meet Up with WeAreDevelopers, Weds 27th November, 6pm CET, Schottenfeldgasse 23/D, 1070 Wien

Haven't been to Vienna for the long time, so the opportunity to jump into this community meetup was too good to give up. I'm going to be sharing a panel with Rudi Bauer, MD (WeAreDevelopers) and Eva-Maria Meyr, Global Director of Employer Brand (Dynatrace) where we'll review the year that is so rapidly coming to a close. Make sure you come up and say hello. Register here

How to Predict Job Performance and Culture-fit of Candidates based on AI, Thursday 28th November, 9am GMT

So the post what 'what best predicted job performance' become super popular, so I am now doing a 1-2-1 conversation with the one and only Rina Joosten-Rabou, who is not only CEO of Pera, but also one of the most educated people on the issue of candidate assessment. Lets go risque with this - how can use AI to predict job performance from candidates? If you're not afraid of the answer, register here!

Brainfood Live On Air - Ep284 - 2024 in Review - State of Flexible Working. Fri 29th Nov, 2pm GMT

We are going to continue our Review 2024 series to conclude the year on Brainfood Live. This week, we're talking about Flexible Working - what has happened to the non-FTE marketplace in 2024? We know that the drop on FTE vs Interim is the norm on recessionary economies and we can probably conclude that we've been in a white collar recession for at least 1 if not 2 years. What is the state of freelance / fractional / interim workers in 2024 Register here to find out.

Drive greater ROI with Efficient Hiring Practices, Thursday, December 5 at 2pm GMT

Doing More with Less? We're going to have to be ready to be 'Doing Even More With Even Less' in 2025, because the pressure to get leaner is not going to ease. Companies are undergoing a fundamental reevaluation of the it means to make a successful business and we in talent acquisition have to be in the front foot in getting our own departments in order. Delighted to be moderating this panel on then how talent leaders have been able to be move the needle on critical KPI's. Register here

TA's 2025 Blueprint: Scaling Efficiency to Build World-Class Teams, Thursday 5th December, 1pm ET

We're going to tackle four topics on this webinar: best practices for scaling TA efficiency, when and where to put AI into the flow, how candidate experiences and expectations are presenting new challenges for employers and what new hiring trends we can expect to see in 2024. Lets do it - register here

FiesTA, 23-24 January 2025, Bangalore, India.

Delighted to be invited back to Bangalore for this new event to talk about the Next Decade of Recruiting. We're going to have to track long term trends in human capital formation, demographic crisis, climate change, new energy transition and more in what should be the most sci-fi talk I've ever given. It's only 2 months away, so I had better get ready in preparing it!. Tickets here - DM me if you want discount code.

NJA* People & Talent Summit, Thursday 13th March, 2025, Fishburners, Wynyard Station (Sydney)

I'm back in Sydney folks. Thanks to Pam Stevenson, Emer McCann and Anthony Enright for inviting me to come back Down Under. Brand new talk on 'From Talent Acquisition to Talent Everything' - time for the next evolution of the Talent function. Chimpanzees, culture and Ronald Coase will be in this talk. Grab a ticket here

If you have an event, webinar or podcast going on next week and want it featured on next week's newsletter, comment below with the link and event details. Don't forget to at mention me so that I see it

End Notes

I'm in Berlin at the Tec Rec Berlin event - I think I may have some time on Tuesday evening if anyone might want to catch up. Otherwise, onto Vienna on Wednesday / Thursday, before spending the day in Bratislava on Friday - give me a shout if your out in any of those places.

Have a great week everybody.

Cheers!

Hung Lee is the curator of Recruiting Brainfood, and now This Week In Recruiting. Subscribe to both if you are into recruiting or HR or just interested in world of work.