Recruiting Shorts — Makenzie Wall

If you're applying for jobs right now, sending the application is the easy part. The candidates who actually get noticed don't apply and pray.

They find the hiring manager or department manager on LinkedIn, or track down their work email, and send a short, personal note following up on their application.

I've recruited for five years, and that one move separates the people who hear back from the people who wonder why they never do.

Apply, then follow up directly. That's where the momentum starts.

The question I get most from hiring managers is simple. What happens if I pay a placement fee and the person doesn't work out?

Here's how we handle it at Dudley Staffing. Every direct hire comes with a replacement guarantee. If that person leaves or doesn't pan out within the guarantee period, we replace them at no cost to you. The length depends on the role.

We're here to be a partner. We're not out to nickel and dime you. Hiring carries enough risk without the fee being one more.

If you're weighing a staffing partner, send me a message and I'll walk you through it.

If you're qualified for a job but keep getting auto-rejected, the AI bots inside the company's applicant tracking system are probably filtering you out before a human ever sees you.

Here's the fix I give candidates. You don't need to rewrite your whole resume. Tailor the summary or objective at the very top to that specific job. If the posting is for a "project coordinator" and you've done that work under a different title, put "project coordinator" and the posting's keywords right into your summary.

Those systems scan for exact keywords. Match the title and language in the description, and you give yourself a real shot at reaching the hiring manager.

The biggest maternity leave mistake I see happens before you're ever pregnant.

Unless your employer offers a private policy, maternity leave in the US often means no pay for the first 13 weeks of your baby's life. Short-term disability gives back a percentage of that pay. The catch is you have to enroll before you're pregnant, or most companies deny it as a preexisting condition.

I'm a working mom of two with a third on the way, and it's the benefit I wish I'd known about sooner. If you're thinking about starting a family, sign up at your next open enrollment.

Working moms, what's something you wish someone had told you before your first leave?

Most people think using AI in a job search means having it write things for you. The bigger wins come from using it to think faster.

Five ways I'd use it:

→ Pool every job opening into one search instead of bouncing between LinkedIn, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter → Pull keywords from the job description into your resume so the ATS shortlists you → Research the company and the people interviewing you in minutes → Build interview questions tailored to that exact role → Run mock interviews and get honest feedback on your answers

Same job search, far less guesswork.

AI is great for your job search, right up until it starts erasing what makes you you. When everyone uses it the same way, everyone starts sounding the same, and recruiters can tell.

A few things I'd keep AI out of:

→ Writing your resume from scratch. Edit an existing one instead → Writing your whole cover letter. Draft it in your words, then let AI polish your tone → Messaging the hiring manager directly. That connection has to be real → Filling gaps or exaggerating experience. Keep it true to you

Let AI enhance your voice. Don't let it replace it.

Should we be using AI to screen resumes? After five years recruiting, my honest answer is yes, but only to a point.

Some roles pull in hundreds or thousands of applicants. Expecting one person to read every resume and surface the best 25 by hand isn't realistic, and that's exactly where AI earns its place, narrowing a huge pool down to the most qualified people.

What it can't do is replace the human part. Once you're down to your top candidates, that's when a recruiter steps in for the screening call.

Use AI to move faster. Keep people at the center of the decision.

LinkedIn is one of the first places recruiters look for passive talent, which means your profile is doing the job your resume used to. If it's out of date, you're invisible to the people hiring.

Three things I'd keep current:

→ Your work experience → Your headline and summary, written in your own voice rather than by AI → Your profile photo, current and professional (skip the college or 20-years-ago shot, and leave out family and kids)

You don't need a professional photographer. You just need to look like the professional you are today.