Brian Fink is a friend, mentor, and someone in the industry who we have come to know as the manager that none of us misfit recruiters asked for (and probably don’t deserve). Men don’t express their feelings well online. Especially in tech. So I’ll just say it. Brian has helped me personally and professionally beyond what would ever be quantifiable in a manager’s 360 review. We love you Brian. Thank you for everything you do!

Anyways, on with the notes.

Brian runs Rework Group, and is absolutely crushing it right now after taking the leap from W-2 land. When people ask who the best tech recruiter in the world is, people often say “Brian Fink”. He’s built incredible engineering organizations and has taught hundreds of recruiters how to source. He jumped on the mic to unpack what sourcing looks like right now and where recruiting is actually heading. We get into inbound versus outbound recruiting, how tooling is changing the function, and why most teams are over-indexing on systems instead of developing real recruiting skill. Brian brings a practitioner perspective shaped by years of hands-on sourcing, operator experience, and teaching the craft. He’s a legend. Don’t do yourself the disservice by ignoring Brian.

Here’s where Brian and I align…

Recruiting operates like sales, but with a more complex buyer and longer decision cycle.
Sourcing is evolving, not disappearing, and the edge comes from creativity and signal detection.
Most companies still underinvest in recruiting because attribution is weak, even though talent outcomes drive the business.
The teams that win are the ones who prioritize direct outreach, understand candidate motivation, and build real conviction instead of relying on inbound pipelines. And the only way to build conviction is through the confidence that comes from doing the work.

Brian’s also a phenomenal writer and motivational leader. You can follow him on Substack and FinkedIn. Thanks for being you Brian. You’re the best.

Timestamps

3:00 Mentorship, paying it forward, and respect across the hiring ecosystem
6:00 The state of sourcing and how tooling is reshaping the function
9:00 Inbound vs outbound and what actually qualifies as recruiting
12:00 Candidate fraud, identity verification, and risk in the funnel
15:00 Creative sourcing and why motivation matters more than background
18:00 Market shifts, layoffs, and changing candidate expectations
22:00 Funnel math, conversion rates, and recruiting as a sales motion
25:00 Attribution gaps and why recruiting is treated like a cost center
28:00 Talent density, analog recruiting, and competitive advantage
31:00 What great recruiters actually do across the full lifecycle
33:00 AI removing transactional work and raising the bar on human skill
35:00 Sourcing strategies, sleuthing, and finding signal in non-obvious places
38:00 GitHub, Medium, and alternative surfaces for identifying talent
40:00 Evaluating engineers through signals, not credentials
41:00 Outreach channels, sequencing, and founder-led messaging
43:00 Multi-channel engagement, tooling maturity, and what’s coming next

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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.

Building The Talent Machine

Episode 037 w/ Brian Fink