Sr. Recruiter - I build the teams that build the satellites. Recruiting Truth Teller & Mythbuster. Somehow, LinkedIn Top Voice 2022

Recruiting Manager - Amazon Leo
Job Search Strategist - www.recruiterauntie.com
YouTube Creator - AMA Friday with Amy Miller

***I work at Amazon, but these comments and opinions are my own***

TL:DR - interested in roles with my company? The FASTEST PATH to consideration is to apply directly. You can also follow up with the recruiting team at amazonleojobs@amazon.com  

Read on for more "about me"!

After 20+ years in recruiting, hunting everything from truck drivers to CFOs, I'm currently a Recruiting Manager at Amazon Leo. I've spent the last several years in big tech (Microsoft / Google) after many years in various agencies learning how "real" recruiting is done. I'm passionate about client AND candidate experience, and I believe that good consulting sometimes looks like bad customer service.

Feel free to connect with me at amy@recruitinginyogapants.com. 

Looking for TEMPLATES and REFERRALS?

On my website www.recruiterauntie.com you'll find a link to Career Coaches and Resume Writers I personally recommend, as well as my Networking, Salary FAQ and Recruiter FAQ templates - all designed to help empower job seekers. 

Salary FAQs - how to address all things compensation at every stage of the recruiting/interviewing process

Recruiter FAQs - questions you can ask your recruiter at any part of the process

Networking - 3 way networking (Recruiters/Peers/Hiring Managers) insights and templates you can modify

Specialties: sourcing, recruiting, employment branding, blogging

Amy Miller

The notion that recruiters have to be experts in the field they recruit for is silly goose stuff. 

Y'all I promise you if I was a trained as a rocket scientist I'd be doing THAT. 

Full video drops tomorrow but enjoy this lil sneak peek!

Recruiting Manager - I build the teams that build the satellites. Recruiting Truth Teller & Mythbuster. Somehow, LinkedIn Top Voice 2022

Many moons ago I sat with a new (to me) hiring manager who had spent 25 years at our (at the time) employer. I was newly in role/company, and had been a bit of a job hopper prior. After we did all the usual introductions, what are you hiring for, etc I asked a very nosy question:

"Mike, you've been here for YEARS - what makes you stay? Aren't you BORED?"

(super tactful as always 🙃)

His answer surprised me and reframed my thinking in a huge way. 

He looked at  his career in 3 year sprints. He would take on a new project, move to a different team, start scaling a new idea - and commit for 3 years. If he was winding down that internal clock, he started looking both inside and out. If he was enjoying it and there was more to accomplish, he'd commit for another few years. He hadn't up to that point found an external opportunity that was as compelling as whatever new thing he was moving to inside.

He had lived so many professional lives without ever updating his work email address. 

It made me think of MY career in a whole new way. I ended up staying at that company longer than any other before - until now. As I am coming up on 6 years next week, I have lived several professional lives in that time. Huge thanks to that engineering manager who helped me see growth differently, and enabled me to give myself permission to find it right where I was.

Hot take -  Recruiters are not technical experts. Blaming them for that is missing the point.

Recruiters aren’t hired to *do* the job.
They’re hired to 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙣 - at scale, under pressure, with imperfect information.

The hiring manager owns technical depth.

The recruiter owns:
🎯  translating vague business needs into real humans
🎯 spotting patterns across hundreds of hires
🎯 keeping bias and ego from wrecking the process
🎯 making sure “non-traditional” candidates don’t get filtered out

If recruiters had to be experts in every role they touched, career pivots would disappear, transferable skills wouldn't count, and hiring would grind to a halt. Because we'd be doing YOUR job - not ours.

Your job as a candidate isn’t to out-smart the recruiter.
It’s to clearly show you can do the work the team needs done.

Watch here --> https://lnkd.in/gPfe5cYg
Because this myth is creating way more job search frustration than it deserves.

#RecruitingTruths #JobSearchAdvice #HiringReality #Careers #Recruiters #RecruitingAuntie #RecruitingInYogaPants

Spicy Saturday! This one’s gonna sting just a little.

I see this EVERY DAY on social media. 

“I worked so hard for X years!”

“I have so much experience in Y!”

“It’s not FAIR that I’m expected to cut down my resume!”

“Recruiters just want a unicorn!”

Y’all. I’m gonna hold your hand and get real close to you while I tell you this. 

Your. Resume. Is. NOT. About. YOU. 

Change your mindset on this. 

When you view your resume through the lens of a decision maker, you see it differently. 

Understand that the recruiter AND hiring manager share the same goal: identify enough of a fit that it warrants an interview. 

That’s it. 

You could be the world’s best baker, capable of the sweetest treats and the most elaborate cakes - but if the hiring manager is looking for BBQ?

It’s a no from them. 

Give the people what they WANT. 

Clear indicators through your background and accomplishments that you can solve their problems. 

What do they want? Got a long form video on that - How to read a resume like a hiring manager: https://lnkd.in/gki93yWB

Recruiters don’t guess your age.

I honestly can't think of a single recruiter who CARES how old you are.

A lot of folks worry about ageism. I get it. I'm over 50 so BELIEVE ME - I am well aware of the disparity between me, my peers, and my potential competition on the job market. 

Here's the thing - the REAL problem with your resume? It's not your AGE. It's your FRAMING.

Your resume is still doing things like:
🛑  Listing graduation dates
🛑 Showing 25+ years of roles in detail
🛑 Highlighting tools nobody uses anymore

Ageism is real in hiring. It's also a bigger issue well beyond the resume. How we show up in interviews, biases about our looks, (hahahaha I'm a woman you think I don't have that clocked???) you name it. I get it. BIG ISSUE.

But THIS week? I'm talking purely resumes.

A lot of people are getting screened out BEFORE that bias even has a chance to show up.

That’s what this video breaks down:
✔️ The resume signals that accidentally age you
✔️ What to remove (without erasing your credibility)
✔️ How to look experienced, current, and still learning

You are not “too old.”

But your resume might be stuck in a different decade. THAT part is fixable.

Watch here: https://lnkd.in/gJeFrafw

If you know someone who’s been told they’re “overqualified,” do them a favor and share this.

#RecruiterTruth #JobSearch #ResumeTips #Ageism #CareerAdvice #ExperiencedProfessionals #RecruiterAuntie

🎉 4 years at Amazon Devices & Services! Let's celebrate Natalie who's been hard at work hiring Mechanical Engineers AND Learning & Development Architects for our Amazon Leo recruiting team.

Natalie, THANK YOU for your hard work this year! You've seen lots of change (managers, business alignment, sourcing strategies) and handled it all with grace. Love working with you!!  

Want to join our team and work with awesome people like Natalie? Check us out: https://lnkd.in/gHrP-FQS

#TechRecruiting #WomenInTech #AmazonLife #Recruiting #TalentAcquisition

Spicy Saturday! 

Y’all are about to find out how many of your connections are suddenly experts in political science, international law, and special forces. 

🫣

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Coming in hot with the first video of 2026! 

How exactly do Big Tech Recruiters WORK? Y'all the truth is, there are as many variations inside these large companies as there are outside. That said, there are some common best practices I've seen over and over.

I break them all down this week. 

We are spilling ALL the tea about how recruiting happens (happened?) at my previous employers. Your best source of truth of course is ALWAYS the recruiters doing the work at the companies you want to apply to. That said - I have some insights and I'm not afraid to share them.

So before you fall for a magic course or pay for a hack, WATCH THIS VIDEO. Save your sanity and your money.

Watch here - https://lnkd.in/giV8QTm3

If there were such a thing as a perfect resume, you'd already have the template. Recruiters, hiring managers, coaches, ANYONE AND EVERYONE involved in hiring would all agree on it.

We don’t.

Because perfect resumes don’t exist.

What does exist?

Resumes that are clear, relevant, and good enough to start a conversation.

In this week's AMA Friday, I break down why chasing perfection keeps job seekers stuck - and what actually moves the needle with hiring authorities.

If you’re rewriting your resume for the eleventy billionth time wondering why you're STILL not getting calls… this one’s for you.

Watch here - https://lnkd.in/e6_n2rRu

Build right. Hire right. Rebel forever.

I'm a fractional Head of Talent for Series A-C startups and defense contractors. I build recruiting infrastructure companies own forever, ATS workflows, sourcing frameworks, scorecards, pipelines; then close critical hires in under 30 days.

My path wasn't traditional: TGI Fridays → booking bands → managing tours → 14 years in recruiting. It taught me to spot talent fast, sell with conviction, and treat every search like representation. I operate like an agent, take care of both sides, protect the brand, close the deal.

Currently: Fractional Head of Talent at EarthDaily Federal (geospatial intelligence, defense). Board member at Underground Admins.

Author: Head and Heart: Winning the AI Recruiting War

richie@rebeltalentsystems.com | rebeltalentsystems.com

Richie Lampani

I got recognized at Costco yesterday.


Guy walks up, points at me, and goes "You're that recruiter."

I said "Depends. Are you hiring or mad at me for ghosting you or something?"

He said "Neither. I just see you everywhere and wanted to make sure you were real."

Then he bought a 48-pack of paper towels and left.

No follow. No handshake. No "love your content." Just a man confirming my corporeal existence between the rotisserie chickens and the tire center.

I've never felt more seen and more invisible at the same time.

This is what 50,000 LinkedIn connections gets you.

A stranger in bulk goods aisle 7 performing a wellness check.

Anyway I'm still taking clients.

Also, who would tune in for the below podcast? I'm trying to talk Shaun Hervey into starting it back up. 

Richie

Fractional Head of Talent | Series A-C Startups & Defense | Author & Talent Strategist | Former TGI Fridays Flair Champ

When the hiring manager says ‘we need someone hungry’ and the team looks like they’ve been surviving on vibes and stale granola since 2023.

I get why people hate recruiting agencies. I’m Richie. I’ll go first.
I apologize for my part in it and for once being one of the idiot recruiters you all deal with. Candidates AND Decision Makers. 

Because the real problem with recruiting isn’t mysterious. It isn’t candidates. It isn’t even “bad actors.”

The real problem with recruiting is that there is zero barrier to entry.

Anyone can open a “firm” tomorrow.

No credentials. No licensing. No skill checks. Nothing.

Even if you get hired into an agency, the interview process isn’t about expertise for recruiters with 2 or less years experience. It’s about personality and enthusiasm.

Can you smile through rejection, handle being micromanaged, and agree to do more for less? Congratulations, you’re a recruiter now.

No wonder the industry looks the way it does.

What new recruiters actually get taught
It’s not recruiting. It’s volume mechanics.
Here’s the training plan at most shops:
-Here’s the template job description. Don’t think. Just post it.
-Here's the basics of the ATS. Not even how to search the database that exists within it.
-Here’s how to search for keywords. Don’t understand them. Just match them.
-Here’s the call quota. Hit it.
-Here’s the email quota. Hit it.
-Here’s the “submit” quota. Hit it.
AND INVARIABLY and INEVITABLY at EVERY shop I've worked at, there is a minimum of 1 meeting a month about candidate ownership that 100% will devolve into a battle of how to decide who talked to Joe that has a very basic skillset but always answers every outreach.

If I’m finding .NET developers but I don’t know what .NET is, that’s not recruiting.

That’s scavenger hunting.
Volume is the skill.
Quality is the accident.


When you hand anyone a LinkedIn seat and tell them “go find talent,” this is what happens:
-Bad outreach floods good candidates
-Bad screening wastes hiring managers’ time
-Bad job descriptions repel the people you actually want
-Bad incentives encourage speed over accuracy

Candidates think we’re clowns(and a LARGE % of the time, they're right)

Hiring managers think we’re a tax.

And agencies keep doubling down on “more activity” instead of “more skill.”

If this industry took its job seriously, recruiter would mean something:
-Understanding the tech you’re sourcing for, not just the keywords
-Writing job descriptions that attract, not repel
-Market mapping, calibration, and diagnostics with hiring teams
-Measuring retention and quality of hire, not CV volume
-Training rooted in assessment, psychology, and labor market knowledge

It’s not complicated.
It’s just not how the industry is built.

If you run a recruiting team or an agency, ask yourself:
Are you training recruiters to understand the work or just search for words?
Would you trust your own career with the people your shop places?

If the answer makes you uncomfortable, that’s the point.

Zero barrier to entry is not changing.
The bar you set inside your own shop can.

This is Chuck. Chuck charges 25% to send you ‘top-tier talent your internal team can’t find.’ 

Because apparently his LinkedIn recruiter seat works differently than yours 

Or his job posts are better because he changed your company name out for “our client” so candidates wouldn’t just apply direct. 


Stop renting Chucks. Hit me up about a better way.

Once you see it as a demonstration and not an audition, everything changes.

You’re not begging for approval.  

You’re showing how you actually work.

Candidates: You’re not “on stage.” You’re giving a preview. And finding alignment. 

Companies: You’re not “judging talent.”  Or “selling an opportunity”. You’re showing what it feels like to be on the inside. And finding fit.

The "trust your gut?" poll results are all in here. How people treat red flags in interviews.

When you've taken a job you already had doubts about, when did the gut feeling hit that it wasn't going to work out? I ran a poll. 442 people answered

Open article: The gut knew. You overruled it. by Richie Lampani • 3 min read

REMOTE - Production Engineer/SWE/SRE opening through Underground Administration Staffing and Recruiting! Share this please

6 month contract to hire - 160-200k+ DOE plus bene's and extras

Global SaaS platform. Zero bureaucracy. Actual engineering work, not ticket triage.

I am looking for someone who can write real backend code and also own reliability end to end.

 If you are a script-only SRE, this is not the role.

 If you are a heads-down SWE who avoids production, also not the role.
I need the rare breed who lives in the middle.

The Work:
 • Write production-grade backend code in Python, Go, or Java(plus C# chops)
 • Support modernization and migration of legacy .NET services into AWS
 • Build internal tools, APIs, and automation
 • Tune Postgres and improve service performance
 • Deploy, monitor, troubleshoot, improve
 • Own services independently with minimal supervision

Bonus Points:
 • Kubernetes experience
 • Rust exposure or willingness to learn
 • Strong observability stack experience with Datadog, Dynatrace, or New Relic

Requirements:
 • Must be a US Citizen
 • Must be physically located in the US
 • No visas or sponsorship
 • Contract to hire
 • Fully remote

Interview Process (fast and simple):
Engineering Manager
Peer interview
Engineering Manager again for final talk and offer

No marathon interview loops. No whiteboard theater. No pointless homework.

If you can build, ship, deploy, break, fix, and improve a service, you will get through this quickly.

If this sounds like you, or you know the complete STUD who can do both SWE and SRE at a high level, let's talk. 

Also have some fun stuff coming up at EDF and Rebel. 

Feels like motion. Let's get people hired.

taplio

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The Battle

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