Brooke Wheeler is a fractional talent advisor and former VP of Talent Acquisition who sat down to unpack what RecOps actually looks like in practice.
Brooke and I cover diagnosing broken hiring systems, eliminating unnecessary agency spend, injecting smart friction into the funnel, and why clarity beats complexity in modern recruiting. Brooke shares lessons from scaling high-volume teams, rebuilding employer brand after leadership turnover, and the difference between internal TA and fractional impact.
It feels like Brooke is one of those friends from the internet who has been a positive supporter in the comments, and quick to engage. Whether on LinkedIn, in the community at events, or industry webinar chats. So if you don’t already follow Brooke, be sure to: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookewheeler/
Timestamps:
00:00 Meet Brooke Wheeler: From agency roots to VP of TA to fractional advisor
02:00 The Atlanta recruiter community, RecFest, and why showing up still matters
05:00 Conferences as career leverage: Investing in yourself in a low-budget function
08:15 Internal TA vs. Fractional TA: Rapid diagnosis, trust-building, and seeing the full system
11:00 The rise of fractional recruiting and why agency experience is a superpower
12:30 The exploding ATS and HR tech landscape: More tools, more noise, more opportunity
15:30 Eliminating agency spend without burning bridges: Containing chaos and building partnerships
18:30 Why recruiting should have a bigger seat at the executive table
20:15 Diagnosing a “hot mess” hiring process: Start with structure, remove bottlenecks
23:00 One-size-fits-all hiring is broken: Speed, touch, and process must flex by role
25:00 Do candidates really hate interview rounds? Communication vs. round count
26:30 AI interviews, one-way video, and candidate sentiment in 2026
27:45 Behavioral vs. skills-based hiring: What actually predicts performance?
30:00 High-volume hiring done right: Deadlines, clarity, and disciplined execution
32:00 – Injecting friction back into the funnel in the age of AI applications
34:00 Radical clarity in job descriptions: Stop hiding the real job
35:45 Rebuilding employer brand after layoffs and leadership turnover
38:15 RecOps, AI adoption, and the overwhelm of modern recruiting tech
39:45 Who Brooke helps best and how to work with Restoration Talent Solutions
__
Shout out to our sponsor, Rooster.
Rooster is a native interview scheduling platform built inside Workday Recruiting that eliminates back-and-forth and gives recruiters and candidates a clean self-scheduling experience.If you want fewer scheduling errors, faster coordination, and a smoother candidate experience, visit rooster.us to book a demo.
