Welcome to The Hero 🗞️. This is approximately a 2.5-minute read.
🤿 Why recruiters are drowning in work their ATS could
🦾 The 4 automations most teams never turn on
💡 The one-time setup that saves 10+ hours a week
📅 Speaking about building an AI-first recruiting firm (3/18)👇
TL;DR
Recruiters only spend ~ 28% of their time on actual recruiting
87% still use spreadsheets despite having pre-built tools
A few hours of setup = 10+ hours saved every single week
🤕 The Problem
You're not short on recruiting tools.
You're short on setup.
Recruiters spend 52% of their time on admin tasks - and only 28% on actual recruiting:
Sourcing
Outreach
Conversations
You know, the stuff that actually fills roles… 🤯
Jobvite recently published that 87% of recruiters still use spreadsheets for analytics - despite having purpose-built tools sitting right there.
Most don't need a new system.
They need to configure the one they're already paying for.
The full breakdown is just below - don’t miss it! 😉
Links of the Day:
🔗 Best Links
Here are some of the best links I’ve found since last time I emailed you:
🎯 Candidate Experience
12 Key Elements for a Positive Candidate Experience in 2025 (link)
Candidate Experience: 10 Best Practices to Attract and Retain Talent (link)
🔒 Employee Retention
Your Guide to Retaining Employees and Reducing Turnover in 2026 (link)
25 Employee Retention Strategies to Reduce Turnover & Keep Top Talent (link)
🧩 Skills-Based Hiring
Skills-Based Hiring: The Ultimate 2026 Recruiter's Guide (link)
A Skills-Based Hiring Guide (link)
📰 News
Staffing Trends for 2026: What Agencies Must Get Right to Succeed (link)
🤖 4 ATS Automations You're (probably) Not Using
1. Trigger-based emails.
Application received > instant confirmation.
Rejected > respectful rejection.
Interview booked > reminder with details.
👉 1 in 3 candidates say employers never even acknowledged their application 👀
That's not a bandwidth problem - that's a configuration problem.
2. Auto-scheduling.
Connect Calendly, GoodTime, or your ATS's native scheduler and let candidates self-schedule when they hit certain stages.
This is the single biggest ROI automation you can deploy today.
3. Bulk actions.
Stop moving candidates one by one.
200 applicants. 180 aren't qualified.
Saved filters + bulk reject.
Two clicks - not two hours.
4. Smart tagging.
Auto-tag candidates by keywords, location, or experience level as they come in.
When the hiring manager asks, "Do we have anyone in Austin with Python experience?", you answer in 10 seconds, not 10 minutes.
To Sum It Up...
You don't need a new ATS.
You need an afternoon to configure your current one.
And To Wrap It Up…
The automation you’re looking for is already there - you just never turned it on 😇
HOW WE CAN HELP?
There are a few ways:
Or you can just reply to this email.
I reply to absolutely everyone who writes me back 🙂
