Steve Levy is a long-time recruiter who came into the industry through engineering. He was a pioneer of early internet-era sourcing. We could stop there, but honestly, there’s so much more to dive into, and he’s one of those professorial types I could ask a million questions of. And in the most heartfelt way I can share in text on the internet, I hope in the time we have in life, I can.
He represents a group of recruiting operators who helped shape modern recruiting through experimentation, curiosity, and knowledge sharing. Steve is also a friend and mentor to many. He truly embodies, the “Uncle Steve” persona which many of us lovingly call him. The first time I ever spoke with Steve, he left the conversation with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that brought me to tears. Steve has always advocated for equity and inclusion in hiring, while being one of the frontier voices for how technology advancements impacts marginalized groups. And because Steve is truly one of the most memorable people I’ve ever met, he followed that up by putting me in a headlock the first time we met in person. (He contains multitudes. And we love him for it.)
I see Steve probably five or so times a year at events, and speak with him weekly, so it’s always a treat to hit record and have a few pointed questions for the maestro. I grew up in recruiting learning from people like Steve, and his famous blog which tech recruiters of a certain generation worshipped. Believe it or not, Steve influenced the industry long before this concept of “influencers". Because at the end of the day, what matters is credibility from doing the work. And we spoke about what it takes to be credible with hiring managers and candidates, how recruiters actually learn a domain, and why most of the core challenges in recruiting have not changed. And of course, we talked about AI sourcing tech and talent engineering.
If you need a few takeaways, know this:
Recruiting requires real expertise.
You have to understand the role, the business, and performance expectations at a deep level to be effective. Oh yeah, and understand human behavior.
Most tools are just improving access to data and workflow. You’ll have to listen to the show to find out what Steve and I think of all these AI sourcing tools and “talent engineering”. But here’s the Tl;dr on AI sourcing…If a recruiting tech founder hasn’t done the work themself, how could they possibly build a tool for recruiters?
Counterpoint: Can these young founders who’ve never had a job learn through doing, much like recruiters themselves? I’ll let you decide.
Performance in recruiting comes down to behavior.
Curiosity, humility, and direct interaction with people separates strong recruiters from average ones. The work still centers on understanding humans and making informed decisions, not relying on automation.
Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.
Follow Steve here.
Timestamps
05:00 - Knowledge sharing and mentorship in recruiting
07:00 - Evaluating new tools and defining real problems
08:30 - Why recruiting is harder than it looks
10:00 - Ego, failure, and learning through experience
11:00 - Becoming credible with hiring managers
12:00 - Founders building recruiting tools without experience
15:00 - AI as a shift but not a replacement for humans
19:00 - Messaging and getting candidate responses
22:00 - Compassion and understanding human behavior
24:00 - Pushing back on hiring managers and defining real requirements
26:00 - Talent density, flawed sourcing assumptions, and lack of performance data
27:00 - Getting out from behind the screen and meeting candidates in person
29:00 - Going above and beyond to close candidates
30:00 - Conference tactics and how to approach real conversations
33:00 - Patience, humility, and long-term development
34:00 - Giving back, mentorship, and closing the loop with candidates and clients
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