In an employer's market, supply chain recruitment experts can make or break careers

In today's company-driven, competitive job market, recruiters have unprecedented power, but that opens the door for some recruiters to approach hiring ineffectively. With livelihoods hanging in the balance on every job application, connecting the right talent with the right companies is critical for both the job seeker and the companies who need their talent.

We spoke with Domenic "the Supply Chain Tech Headhunter" Maiani, Founder of Lazio Search Group, to explore what's at stake in the world of hiring and how the right recruiting tactics are helping to create opportunities in a difficult job market. 

Lives on the line: Maiani emphasizes that recruitment isn't merely transactional: "We're playing with people's lives here," he stresses. "If somebody's been in a job for seven years and has a family, and you convince them this new opportunity is great—only for them to discover the company has no runway—you've just ruined that person's life."

Maiani’s company, Lazio Search Group, specializes in finding top talent within supply chain. "Supply chain touches every single company," Maiani notes. "Our bread and butter for the last two years has been SaaS supply chain tech, specifically sales roles."

Thousands of applicants: The balance of power has shifted significantly toward employers, leaving a growing number of job seekers to fight hard for the same roles."It's a company market. They have control," Maiani explains. "They post a job on LinkedIn, Indeed, or ZipRecruiter, and within an hour they'll have a thousand candidates."

Floods of applications is creating a real problem for employers: candidates are tailoring their resumes to match job descriptions with AI, making it difficult to identify truly qualified talent. This is where specialized recruiters like Maiani's firm find their niche.

Boots on the ground: Lazio Search Group focuses on headhunting rather than sifting through applications. "We have the market mapped out," Maiani says. "I know exactly which WMS companies are where—it's boots on the ground, understanding the pain points and which sales people are ready to move."

Highly experienced candidates are being outreached by recruiters near daily on LinkedIn, and Maiani observes that most of their outreach and tactics fall flat. "C-suites and high level salespeople just want to cut through the noise," Maiani says. By having deeper industry knowledge, he’s able to quickly connect the dots between ideal candidates and companies. 

Shaken foundations: AI is rumbling the foundations that recruitment was built on, creating efficiencies that threaten many traditional recruitment roles. With sophisticated AI systems in place, companies can now screen candidates by collecting extensive data points and conducting preliminary interviews, without human bias in the mix. 

"Candidates have to be careful in this market, very careful," Maiani cautions. "The increasing sophistication of AI-based screening tools means that networking, and keeping a human element, will become even more crucial."

Networking: For job seekers, Maiani offers clear advice: "Don't stop networking wherever you go. Everything's about network, connections, and trust," he advises. This is especially important for professionals who have been with the same company for many years and may have neglected to actively network or keep their social media presence up to date.

Use AI or be left behind: He also urges professionals to embrace AI tools: "Learn how to utilize and optimize your workflow using AI, otherwise you're going to be left in the dust." Maiani himself uses AI to multiply his productivity: "I can now do the job of five or six recruiters on my own with these tools."

Maiani concludes with his final outlook on what is to come. "AI is coming fast. Look at how ChatGPT has evolved over the past two years, even in just the last few months. And if you follow the predictions about future versions, they're saying it will be smarter than any human. So how do you compete with that? You compete by leveraging your network and connections while using these tools to optimize your workflow and get things done more efficiently."