Benjamin Mena

Need to hire? We can help! - Headhunter - Managing Partner

🎯 Having a tough time hiring for your Government Contracting Executive Team or GovCon AI teams?  There are way more openings than there are people to fill.  The top level talent your team needs are not even looking at your jobs ads. ** CLICK BELOW TO SEE MORE **

We understand how competitive the market is for top talent and how your career as a leader is impacted by the ability to attract and retain top talent.  

My name is Benjamin Mena, and for 15 years, I've built Data Science and Cyber Security teams for global Top Secret National Security programs.

Finding and attracting top-level people for our commercial sector is mission-critical. I know how right hire at the right time is vital for your team's growth and success.

SERVICES FOR CLIENTS AND CANIDATES 
💥 Executive Retained Search (C-Level, VP, Director)
💥 Direct Hire Search
💥 Employer/Candidate Value Proposition Development

Myself and my team are ready to help you 

🎯 To book a no-obligation, 15-minute Client Strategy or Candidate Career Call: https://calendly.com/benjaminmena
🎯 Email: Benjamin@selectsourcesolutions.com 
🎯 Phone: 703-297-8574

The Elite Recruiter Podcast Host

The Elite Recruiter Podcast is the number one podcast for recruiting professionals.

This is where the top recruiters share: How they got there. What kind of work did it take. Tips, Tools, and Tricks. The Mindset needed to get them to where they are. What they are doing with their success. Goals and visions for the future. So please join me on this journey as I interview some of the best in our industry

https://pod.co/the-elite-recruiter-podcast

I'm going to be honest with you.

I really believe that 2026 is your year.

This is the year that you can hit your dreams.

And to help you do that,

We are kicking off a summit called This Is Your Year.  

We’ve pulled together some of the biggest names in recruiting for this summit. 

Joining us is Mark Whitby, along with other industry leaders who have built high-performing teams, scaled successful agencies, and transformed the way recruiting is done.

Kicks off April 26th

Registration is FREE for the live sessions all week.

This week is set up for you to hit your goals and make your dreams come true.
Link in the comments!

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Gabe says Happy Friday guys!!  
Keep crushing it!

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The LinkedIn Algorithm is really rewarding good comments at the moment. 

This is a comment that I made on someone else’s post. 

So if you are a recruiter.    

Spend some time this week in your world and make some good comments.  

For the moment the LinkedIn algorithm is working this way. 

Side note: Don’t F#^*% use one of the AI comment tools.

Sorry, this is a late post for International Women's Day! 
But I need to highlight some AMAZING Women in our space! 

Mindi Romero - Freaking crushing it at her desk!!! 

Cathy Stewart - An inspiration on how to go from Rock Bottom to Big Biller

Aida C. Rodriguez, CEDS - Is amazing at building an empire empowering other women

Ashley Woods - Living the Dream and inspiring others! 

Kaylee Estes - Really showing the way how to launch your own firm and inspiring others to do the same

Katherine Jerald 🎙 - Someone I look up to constantly in my world of recruiting.

Sharon Hulce - is constantly sharing a masterclass of how to do executive search 

Belinda Kerr - Is an inspiration to scaling and exiting 

Amy Simpson - Really knows how to keep it simple and yet bill big! 

Julia Arpag - FREAKING ROCKSTAR!

Emily Audibert - Really shows the way to dream big and go for it! 

Stephanie Holman, M.Ed 🦄 - Has done something I said that coulndt be done in the cleared space! 

Katharine Wilcox - Is a beacon for building strong relationships 

Sarah Englade - Another Absolute Rockstar 

Sharon Bondurant 🔎 The Finders - Is a sniper with a smile.  She has done sooo much business its awesome.

Jamie Lupo - She is a hidden Gem

Brianna Rooney - Who is a rockstar that has gotten so many people into recruiting and doing better! 

I had to give all these amazing women a shoutout.  

And there ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 

MANY MORE I can go on for days!!! 

If you have not heard some of these amazing ladies' stories! 

Go down and listen to them!  I have them in the comments. 

Also a few of them are going to be speaking at the next Summit so dont miss This Is Your Year Summit.  (link below)

If you are looking at taking your years of ChatGPT history over to Claude Here is an easy way to do that.  

1st way of doing that is to use copy this prompt below into ChatGPT 

Export all of my stored memories and any context you've learned about me from past conversations. Preserve my words verbatim where possible, especially for instructions and preferences.

## Categories (output in this order):

1. **Instructions**: Rules I've explicitly asked you to follow going forward — tone, format, style, "always do X", "never do Y", and corrections to your behavior. Only include rules from stored memories, not from conversations.

2. **Identity**: Name, age, location, education, family, relationships, languages, and personal interests.

3. **Career**: Current and past roles, companies, and general skill areas.

4. **Projects**: Projects I meaningfully built or committed to. Ideally ONE entry per project. Include what it does, current status, and any key decisions. Use the project name or a short descriptor as the first words of the entry.

5. **Preferences**: Opinions, tastes, and working-style preferences that apply broadly.

## Format:

Use section headers for each category. Within each category, list one entry per line, sorted by oldest date first. Format each line as:

[YYYY-MM-DD] - Entry content here.

If no date is known, use [unknown] instead.

## Output:
- Wrap the entire export in a single code block for easy copying.
- After the code block, state whether this is the complete set or if more remain.

You then want to go into Settings -->  Capabilities ---> Import Memory and copy that into the box.

The 2nd way to do it (well before Claude made this update)

Was to follow these instructions: 
1.   Go to ChatGPT on your computer.
2.   Click on “settings” (it’s like the gears or tools button).
3.   Find “data controls” and click it.
4.   Click “export data” This is like packing up all your pictures and drawings to take them somewhere new.
5.   Check your email. ChatGPT will send you a box (called a zip file) with your stuff.
6.   Open the box (zip file) and look for the file called “conversations.”
7.   Go to Claude (the new program you want to use).
8.   Start a new project—give it any name you like.
9.  Put your “conversations” file from before into Claude, kind of like putting all your drawings in a new folder.
10.  Now Claude can see and use all your chat history from ChatGPT!

Who is a recruiter that you respect and why?
Give them a shoutout!
So others can follow them for that reason.


I’ll spend some time this week sharing mine and why.  So stay tuned.

Jamie Lupo explains how the pandemic pushed the industry toward transactional recruiting, and why rebuilding relationship-driven hiring is critical for long-term success.

Tune in to the latest episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, sponsored by Atlas - the Recruitment Platform!
Now streaming on all podcast platforms! Links are in the comments!

This recruiter became a top biller…
Without ZoomInfo.
Without Salesforce.
Without fancy tech stacks.

And she says most recruiters don’t have a sales problem.

They have a control problem.

Jamie Lupo spent 18 years at LHH.

Rebuilt struggling offices.

Trained thousands of recruiters.

Won during a recession when she was the only person left in her office.
And here’s the part that hit me:

“If you’re waiting to hear back… you’ve already lost.”

Most recruiters:
• Submit resumes and hope
• Follow up and chase
• Blame the market
• Hide behind tools

Top billers?
They:
• Schedule debriefs before interviews happen
• Review resumes live on the phone
• Turn reference calls into new client orders
• Slow down interviews to speed up placements
• Control the process instead of reacting to it

At one point she said maybe 30% of recruiters actually control their desk.
30%.

That means most recruiters aren’t failing because they lack tools.

They’re leaking revenue through process.

Tech can help.

But it won’t fix a broken approach.

We combined both parts of this episode on YouTube because the full arc matters.

If you want to grow your desk in 2026, this one is worth your time.

Curious…
Are you building your desk with tools?
Or with control?

Make sure to see her at the upcoming This is Your Year Summit!! 
Thank you Atlas - the Recruitment Platform for helping this episode come together.

Elite Recruiter Big Events For the Year!
This is Your Year Recruiter Summit - April 27th - May 4th (Are you registered?)
AI Recruiting Summit - TBD
Firm Owners Summit - TBD
Rock The Year - TBD
Lady Recruiters Summit - TBD 

Community Roundtables
Scott Love BD Roundtable in the Elite Recruiter Community 
Claude for Recruiters with Reyhan Khan

He stopped me before we even hit record.    "Hold off."
"I have a goal I want to hit first… let’s talk after I hit it."

So we waited.

A few months later, I got the message.

"I did it. I'm ready."

He had just crossed $1M in billings.

But the part that stuck with me most from this conversation wasn't the number.

It was the turning point that almost took him in the opposite direction.

Will Wegert had two of his best years ever in recruiting.

Then he chased the shiny object.

San Francisco.
New York.
Big coastal fees.

And his billings nearly got cut in half.

So instead of grinding harder…

He did something most recruiters never do.

He went back and pulled every deal he'd ever closed.

Every placement.
Every client.
Every source.

And the data told him something he didn’t want to hear.

His money was never on the coasts.

It was always Denver.

So he made a decision most recruiters struggle to make.

He said no.
No to a $70K fee in San Francisco.
No to chasing the next shiny opportunity.

And instead he focused on owning his market.

That decision changed everything.

Some of my favorite moments from this conversation sponsored by Atlas - the Recruitment Platform

The 7-Year Overnight Success: 
His breakout year didn’t come from a single change. It came from seven years of small, consistent things finally compounding.

Referrals Are Not a System: 
You can’t scale referrals. But you can build a system that creates the same warm inbound consistently.

The Data Already Knows: 
Most recruiters trust their gut over their numbers. Will trusted the numbers over his ego.

Saying No Is a BD Strategy:
The tighter his focus became, the more his market started calling him.
This episode was worth the wait.

🎧 Link to listen is in the comments.

What was your biggest takeaway?

The fastest way to expose whether a CEO actually uses their own product: make them do the most basic task on camera.  

This would fix sooo many software programs. Especially the Fortune 500.

Thank you McDonald’s CEO for bringing this to everyone’s attention.

That’s one video that should have never been posted.

There are recruiter trainers.
And then there’s the Godfather.

Before LinkedIn.
Before AI sourcing tools.
Before “growth hacks.”

There was Steve Finkel

The man who trained the trainers.
The frameworks behind thousands of top billers.
The closing psychology most recruiters think they know… but don’t.

For decades, his systems have quietly powered search firms doing millions in revenue.

And now…

Both full YouTube episodes are live.

Part 1: Why most recruiters lose offers (and don’t even realize it).
Part 2: The advanced closing frameworks from his latest book Closing For Recruiters.

If you’ve ever:
• Lost a deal at the finish line
• Stalled at a 70–75% acceptance rate
• Felt like you’re “doing everything right” but something is missing

This is the missing piece.

AI can source.
Internal teams can screen.

But closing?

That’s still the moat.

And Steve breaks down:
 – The College Professor Close
 – Fear-of-Change psychology
 – How elite recruiters add 30–50% more billing
 – Why most recruiters train on the wrong parts of the job

I’ve interviewed a lot of heavy hitters on The Elite Recruiter Podcast.
This one is foundational.

If you’re serious about becoming a rainmaker instead of a resume pusher…

The episodes are finally live on YouTube.

Drop “CLOSE” below and I’ll send you the link.
(Or you can find the links below)

Let’s make this your biggest billing year yet.

Thank you Atlas - the Recruitment Platform and Recruiters Websites for helping make this episode possible.

Will Wegert explains why the goal of outreach isn’t to make an immediate sale, but to stay memorable so clients think of you when they actually need help.

Tune in to the latest episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, sponsored by Atlas - the Recruitment Platform!
Now streaming on all podcast platforms! Links are in the comments!

Most recruiters think AI is coming for their job.
Jeff Hyman thinks that’s the wrong question.

The real question is:

What kind of recruiter are you?

Jeff has been recruiting for 30 years.

He’s seen the dot-com boom.
The mobile revolution.
The LinkedIn gold rush.

And now… AI.

But what he told me during this episode stopped me in my tracks.
He said:
“If your value is sourcing… you’ve got a problem.”

Because AI will do that.
Better.
Faster.
Cheaper.

But the recruiters who survive?

They do something completely different.

They become the advisor clients can’t replace.

In this episode brought to you by Atlas - the Recruitment Platform we go deep on what that actually means.

Some of my favorite takeaways:

Experience Isn’t the Predictor Everyone Thinks It Is:
Jeff believes most companies are hiring backwards. They focus on pedigree, companies, and years of experience… when the real predictor of success is how someone is wired.

Recruiters Must Become Trusted Advisors:
The future recruiter doesn’t just send resumes. They help clients rethink how they hire, what they look for, and how they evaluate talent.

AI Will Replace Transactional Recruiting:
Sourcing and surface-level recruiting are being automated fast. The recruiters who thrive will be the ones who can assess, influence, and guide hiring decisions.

Jeff has recruited 4,000+ people in his career, and this conversation felt like a glimpse into where the industry is heading next.

If you're a recruiter wondering what the next decade looks like…

This episode is worth the listen.

🎧 Episode: The Recruiters AI Will Replace (And the Ones It Won’t)

Ohh! and have you signed up for This is Your Year Summit yet?

Pressure is on as I am writing up my talk.   

But excited that I am getting to share next to other industry legends such as
Clark Willcox
Brad Bialy
Shad Tidler
Rob Reznick
Denise Chaffin
Anna Frazzetto


Dont miss it!  - https://lnkd.in/eGfECpcK

When I started the podcast I had a list of people I wanted to sit down with.  

5 years into this journey.  

I got to sit down with one of them!

Episode with Jeff Hyman is dropping this week!

Brandon McGill explains why saying “no” to roles outside your niche protects your credibility, results, and long-term success.

Tune in to the latest episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, sponsored by Atlas - the Recruitment Platform!
Now streaming on all podcast platforms! Links are in the comments!

Jamie Lupo shares the story of a heated interview negotiation where she nearly walked out,

Tune in to the latest episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, sponsored by Atlas - the Recruitment Platform!
Now streaming on all podcast platforms! Links are in the comments!

Describe your ideal profile or simply paste the job description into Atlas.

Magic Search finds your exact matches in seconds. 

Excited that they have partnered with The Elite Recruiter Podcast!

If you want to check out Atlas - the Recruitment Platform's new Magic Search.  

Watch this!

Pressure is on!
I know I need to make an impact with the short amount of time I have sharing at Crelate  FDE virtual event.

The firms that win in 2026 will be the ones who activate their relationships.💡

Day 1 of FDE+ is stacked ⤵️

Denise Chaffin
Brad Bialy
Rob Reznick
Shad Tidler
Benjamin Mena
Anna Frazzetto
Clark Willcox

📅 March 18 + 19 | Virtual

🔗 Register Now - Link in comments ⬇️

Hi, I’m Brian Fink — recruiter, talent strategist, and professional dot-connector.

For nearly two decades, I’ve helped startups, scale-ups, and global enterprises find the people who build the future. Whether it’s engineers architecting AI systems, marketers driving growth, or leaders defining culture, I specialize in recruiting top-tier talent that doesn’t just fill a seat — they raise the bar.

I’ve led searches for companies ranging from early-stage ventures to Fortune 100s, partnering directly with founders, execs, and hiring managers to close hard-to-fill roles. I believe great recruiting isn’t just about pipelines and platforms — it’s about business acumen, storytelling, and knowing when to challenge the status quo.

Outside of work, I speak on hiring trends, write irreverent essays about the recruiting world, and moonlight as my daughter’s biggest fan and loudest cheerleader.

Specializations:
► Data Science - LLM (Large Language Models), Generative AI, Python, Transformer, NLP, Deep Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Conversational AI, Chatbot Development, Sentiment Analysis, Neural Networks, Computer Vision, Signal Processing, Hugging Face, and MLOps.
► Open Source - Python, Django, Flask, Perl, Scala, Go, Erlang, Haskell, Clojure, Node.js, Elixir, Clojure
► Cloud Technologies - Kubernetes (K8s/GKE/EKS/AKS), Terraform, AWS, GCP, Azure, RedHat, On-Premise Hardware

Brian Fink

Ask candidates if they want to be interviewed by AI.

Most will say no.

Then watch what happens when you actually give them the option.

I came across RoundOne AI recently. They run AI voice screenings for high-volume hiring teams.

Their candidate satisfaction rate sits at 92%. I was skeptical until I saw why.

Candidates say things like "I actually said more than I would have with a real person."

For entry and mid-level candidates sending out dozens of applications and hearing nothing back, an AI screening is often the first time they've had a real chance to put their case forward. Uninterrupted. Unjudged.

There's a gap between what people say they want and what they actually experience. That gap is worth paying attention to.

Stated preference isn't always revealed preference.

What are you seeing from your candidates?

I'm going to say something that will make half of my industry unfollow me.

The myth of low-hanging fruit is killing recruiting.

Not the market. Not AI. Not LinkedIn's algorithm.

Us.

We built an industry on high-volume, low-commitment, next-transaction behavior, and then acted shocked when candidates stopped trusting us.

When they stopped returning calls.
When they started going directly to hiring managers.
When they told their peers to avoid us.

That reputation? It spreads. Quietly. In the Slack channels and group chats where the best engineers and executives talk to each other.

Where your name either opens doors or closes them before you ever knock.

What are the economics of manufactured connection and what it actually costs you when the bill comes due?

Spoiler: the price is your entire market position.

Read it before your next outreach.

#recruiting #hiring #ghosting #leadership #talentacquistion

This edition of The Talent Architects is brought to you by RoundOne AI - AI Powered voice screening for high volume hiring. Screen candidates at scale

Open article: The Relationship Tax by Brian Fink • 5 min read

“Human in the loop” is the new “our people are our greatest asset.”

Everyone says it. Nobody means it.

Here’s what it looks like in practice: the AI surfaces a shortlist. The recruiter scans it, maybe moves one name around, and hits send. The decision was made before the human touched it. What you’re calling oversight is just a warm body co-signing an algorithm.

That’s not a check. That’s liability laundering.

The incentive structure explains everything. Nobody gets fired for trusting the ranking. If the hire fails, then the system failed. If it works, then the process worked. The recruiter floats above accountability either way, because the recommendation came from somewhere else.

We’ve seen this movie. Nobody got fired for buying IBM. Now nobody gets fired for hiring whoever the AI put first.
The real question isn’t whether humans are in the loop. It’s three harder ones:
- Are they willing to exercise a veto?
- Can they justify it without the algorithm?
- Will they own the outcome if they do?

In most organizations right now? No. No. And no.

That’s not an AI problem. That’s a professional courage problem wearing an AI mask.

The gap isn’t capability. The gap is accountability. And until we close it, “human in the loop” is just a disclaimer on a decision that’s already been made.

I bring people together to solve complex problems.

We spent a decade hiring for data literacy.

Then tool proficiency.

Now AI certification.

Every time a new technology arrives, we mistake fluency with the instrument for the intelligence that makes it useful.

The most valuable skill in 2026 has no badge, no bootcamp, and doesn't show up in keyword search.

Hire accordingly.

#leadership #hiring #artificialintelligence #tools #AI #recruiting

Today's article is sponsored by our friends at SCALIS! Here's a number that should haunt every hiring manager in America: 73%. That's the share of tal

Open article: The Credential That Doesn't Exist Yet by Brian Fink • 6 min read

500 million posts hit LinkedIn every week.

Almost none of them cost the writer anything.

That's your advantage.

Most content is transactional. A firm handshake in text form. Promotional. Performative. Forgotten by Tuesday.

What's genuinely rare, or what actually cuts through, is writing that admits something. That says: 
 - I thought I had this figured out. 
 - Then I didn't. 
 - Here's what I found on the other side of that.

That kind of writing terrifies people.

So they don't do it.

Which means the supply is almost zero...

AI just processed 4.4 billion job applications last year.

It sourced them. Screened them. Ranked them.

And it didn't take a single lunch break.

Here's what keeps me up at night: most recruiters are still competing with AI on AI's terms like keyword matching, Boolean searching, ATS managing. You will lose that fight every time.

The only competitive advantage left? Curiosity.

Not the polite, professional kind. The inconvenient kind. The kind that makes you stay on a reference call two minutes past the script. The kind that follows the thread the algorithm dropped. The kind that actually wants to know what the candidate means when they pause before answering a question about their last manager.

AI pattern-matches. It looks backward. It finds what worked before and serves it up with confidence and speed.

It cannot be surprised. It cannot notice. It cannot care.

You can.

The recruiters who thrive in this environment won't be the ones who work harder than a server farm. They'll be the ones who ask better questions than a model trained on yesterday's data.

#futureofwork #leadership #recruiting #hiring #AI

Today's article is sponsored by our friends at SCALIS! Here's a number that should make every recruiter's stomach drop: 4.4 Billion. That's roughly ho

Open article: Curiosity Is Recruiting's Killer App by Brian Fink • 4 min read

Keep posting.

Someone needs it.

Even if that someone is you.

Most leaders are playing the wrong game.

They're optimizing for outcomes they can't fully control and ignoring the one variable they own completely: effort.

John Wooden won 10 NCAA championships. He also built a philosophy that had nothing to do with championships.

"If you've done your best, you've won."

That's not a consolation prize. That's the whole game.

Here's something they don't teach you at Wharton, or Harvard, or in any of the thousand self-help books clogging airport bookstores: the most powerful thing you can do on your worst day is make your bed.

That's it. That's the whole sermon.

Except it isn't. Because what looks like a mundane domestic ritual is actually something far more radical. It's an act of defiance. A middle finger raised at chaos. A declaration that you, not the markets, not your boss, not the diagnosis… you still have a hand on the wheel.

Let me explain.

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The Battle

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