I'm Not Doing a 2026 Predictions List.

Here's why...

There’s no accountability.

And in 2026, being a recruiter is about being accountable to the work we do in the organizations and clients we serve.

Sure, enjoy your 2026 prediction lists that are circulating. They’re fun. They’re easy. They’re content engines. But after a decade in recruiting, when I look back, they’re largely the same. So, as I build this recruiting media company in public, I’m opting out.

So instead, I’m going to share what it means to be a recruiter in 2026.

That’s what I’m focused on. That’s what matters to me. Storytelling, connection, motivation. It’s so important to me that I quit my job to focus on this full time. I’m shooting my shot. For you, because of you. Because recruiting has given me a life beyond my wildest dreams. Financial security. Friendships. Fulfillment. Making a difference. There are two experiences in my life recruiting has provided me that I never lose sight of. Two experiences so many people struggle to experience.

Number One:

Living paycheck to paycheck. I know what that’s like. The stress, anxiety, trap of wondering if I’ll ever escape it. Ever figure it out. Ever have skills, value, opportunity. I’m privileged that a recruiter found me and my life changed when I signed my first full-time recruiting job offer. $47,500 per year to travel the country two to three weeks out of the month to staff grocery stores. I packed up my used Volvo with a shoebox full of cash tips I had been saving up, with my running shoes to explore the mountains in Colorado. I traveled to the heartland of this country. The flyover states, the forgotten towns, the decrepit main streets with artists and real estate storefronts and thrift shops, the cafes, the beginning signs of revitalization. We were opening organic grocery stores in food deserts with fresh produce. And I was boots on the ground in those towns before the construction crews showed up to pour the foundation. Because the actual foundation? The mission. The 25 people in that town I found at yoga studios, meditation centers, local YMCAs, the produce departments of the only grocery store in town. I remember a grocery store manager confronting me for putting hiring flyers up in their employee parking lot. They literally tried to run me out of a West Texas town. Why? Because I said I would. I needed to work. And I told my boss I’d figure it out. And that’s exactly what recruiting is about. Figuring it out. It’s a thankless job. The first to blame. It’s a punk rock DIY ethos to get shit done. And I wear it with a badge of honor. Because it changed my life.

Number Two:

Loving what I do. I love recruiting. Recruiting is a craft. Go anywhere and there’s discussion of recruiting being an art and science. Sure there’s some [generous] science to us. That’s by design. Vendors need to find ways to sell products and services. Tech is the largest market cap in the S&P 500. Let that sink in. This is the equivalent of Energy (oil), Healthcare, and Financials combined. Why is there an index on “the science of hiring” well, because humans are naturally curious. There’s no harm in researching the human motivations of why we work. I’m obsessed with this too. But competencies aren’t enough to predict post-hire outcomes. There are far too many variables at play to focus on competency alone. But indexing and selling products (software) and services (trainings) to STEM-minded individuals working in technology is simply a sound strategy. Appeal to the sensibilities of your buyer audience. That’s why we hear about the science of recruiting so loudly. The reality? The career recruiters out there will tell you it’s about the craft. And I’m a big believer that the art of recruiting will win the day. We’re just going to use a bit of science to get there. Think entity resolution, data enrichment, inbox deliverability. We’re moving into an era of recruiting where candidate data is a commodity. Heck, everyone’s contact information in the world could come pre-packaged within the ATS at some point. (We’re a lot closer to this than you might think.) It matters what we do with that data. Just because we can outreach someone, doesn’t mean we should. And the recruiters that ask themselves that question, “Why should I reach out to this person?” before they load up their multi-stage sequence in their CRM will truly become the craftspeople that persevere and experience longevity in their career in recruiting. The reality is that in the summer of 2021 there were more recruiter job postings than software engineer job postings on LinkedIn. In 2022, CNBC reported that the number one job choice for Gen Z was recruiter. Well. A heck of a lot has changed since then. And the recruiters today and the ones of the future are those dedicated to the craft. Primed for this work through years of being battle tested by the economic winds that predict ebbs and flows in our industry. When req volume collapses, recruiting capacity always corrects. This is cyclical and observable across every downturn from 2001, 2008, 2020, 2022–24.

So what does it mean to be a recruiter in 2026?

It’s the day in day out, rinse and repeat work of recruiting: sleuth the Internet, call somebody, connect, have empathy, give a shit, get them a good offer, get extra budget from your stakeholder, tell finance why it matters, tell a candidate why they can’t get more comp, all of these hard things. That to me is recruiting. There’s so much human element to recruiting.

AI doesn’t know empathy. It doesn’t know that connection. It doesn’t know that you know the guy that I know or hey, did you do this thing or that thing or hey, this is random, but and I think of all of those moments where I’ve connected with a candidate and I try to pay it forward because when that happens to me, there’s serendipity, there’s something there’s a piece of that asymmetric information that I get to help connect with the candidate and close them. I’m like, how did this happen? I need to keep putting out this like to the world so that it comes my way. Because that’s the inexplicable. Every recruiter who is worth their salt will tell you that. Every recruiter who has done this knows the power of luck, timing, serendipity, and anybody who tells you otherwise is lying.

Your Hype Man,

Brando ✌️