Job Market Insights: Supply Chain Skills and Strategies for 2025 with Charlie Saffro

And today on the show I have Charlie Safro , who is CEO and founder at CS Recruiting . Today on the show I have Charlie Saffro , who is CEO and founder at CS Recruiting . Welcome to the show , Charlie .

I do think that is the future of where hiring is going , and when I think of soft skills and what has really made people in our industry successful , I think the most important thing is adaptability .

Like we have learned what change can do and how much it can rock our world in the last four years or five years alone , and I think that is such an important skill that somebody can think on their feet , that they're open to change , that they're ready to make adjustments and better themselves and they have this growth mindset . So I would say , adaptability .

Another thing that I'm seeing a lot of is just this idea of being able to work asynchronously . That doesn't mean that you're not going to collaborate and be part of a team , but it means that people want to hire people that they can trust , and I need to know that you're going to ask the right questions . You're going to feel trained .

I'm not going to leave you alone on an island , but I need a mature adult who can work independently and then , when we come together , we can do really big things . So I'm going to say those two , and then the third that I just can't ignore is I'm going to say familiarity with AI .

So there's not like a specific platform or system that people need to know now , but again , being open to it and ready to adapt to it is huge .

And so if you don't have that skill , if you're not able to work with people , especially in tougher times , like you have to be more empathetic and understanding of people and be able to adapt or be able to make a new plan , and that , to me , is way harder to teach than like here . This is how you click this button Exactly , exactly .

You maybe didn't even realize it at the time , but , holy cow , I , just you know , was with the company for two years and we changed our whatever technology three times and every time I was open to being trained and using it . And that's adaptability .

Just hiring for the culture fit , but the culture add and really thinking about the human you're hiring versus their , you know , credentials or certifications .

So I was at a LinkedIn conference just a few weeks ago and what's interesting is every single session that we could attend had the words AI in the title , and so I was like planning my agenda and I'm like , oh my God , like where are the humans ? Like I don't , it's all AI .

And I was pleasantly surprised because every session talked about the human role in the future of AI , and so it was really focusing on how AI is going to change our world . But , taking more of that viewpoint of we're still people and we need people to do business , so how are we going to adapt with these new tools ?

And , believe it or not , a lot of people are very resistant . They're not adaptable . And one thing that was just repeated over and over by every thought leader at this conference was you know , yes , there will be a need for humans .

We are going to have to change the way we work , we're going to have to change the way we spend our time , and nobody AI is not going to replace your job , but somebody who knows how to use AI might , and that was like the big takeaway .

And right now , knowing AI , is being open to experimenting with chat , gpt , to using some of these widgets and the platforms that you're already logging into , to figuring out how to prompt it so you get the results you want and that's it .

Like that is , all people are looking for is that openness and that curiosity , versus a lot of people are like you know , it's not for me , I'm not going , but they're going to get left behind , as scary as it is to say like our world is changing there .

Like I love sentiment analysis , like I would love every time I answered my phone if I knew what the human was on the other end , what kind of voice tone that they were coming at me with .

You know like so I feel like that just equips your team to be able to handle those calls better , like , oh , this person's coming in hot , they are angry , their load is missing , or whatever that looks like . So you are more prepared to be empathetic , to be ready to maybe already be thinking about the solutions to their problems before you answer the call .

The AI is never going to be able to answer that call and handle it effectively .

I mean it's like think of your very worst situation of a angry customer and ask AI you know what is the best way to handle this . If a customer comes in hot and like it will give you advice , you don't have to follow it , but you could really cater that advice to working for you .

And I think that's where a lot of people are just like yeah , no , I'm a human , I'll just use my emotions , but like why wouldn't you want a little bit of assistance if it's there and you're controlling it ?

I mean there's some platforms , even on just LinkedIn alone . There's some places on the platform where I do trust their AI and there's others where I'm just like let all the other people use the AI and I'm going to show that I'm a human , because everyone else is the same message .

So you just have to be open to trying and figuring out how it can work for you . Kind of reminds me of social media , Like we lived for a long time without it and we resisted it , and now it's here and , as harmful as it can be , it's very helpful too if used in the right way .

And that's where , like I love chad gpt , even as a trained writer , there are times when so like I don't get to be a journalist or writer all day , every day anymore . I have a multitude of responsibilities here at TMSA , so my brain takes longer to get back into that zone .

I like to use it as a starting piece to kind of put together my thoughts , and so then you become an editor a little bit , and there are course pieces I write 100% from scratch . But like , sometimes I'm like , let's just , it's like having a personal brainstormer , like putting something to talk back and forth with , and yeah , you don't have to listen to it .

And I normally don't take the first title or anything , because I'm like I know and you can see when it writes like it really favors certain words and you're like okay , that's here .

Like 14 times now , like shape up , chat GPT give me a different adjective , but like that's how you work with it and still make yourself utilize the tool properly , because you're still putting yourself in there Exactly , and I mean I always joke about this , but it's so true .

Please rewrite it for me . At . Gpt that sucked . Please rewrite it for me .

Nobody has termed it as far as I understand , but what I saw a lot of at this LinkedIn conference was the way we're using AI today . I'm going to call it indirect or invisible . So you write an article or you wrote me an email and you actually used AI , but I didn't know you used AI . It's human , written . It's what you would normally say to me .

You just got a used AI , but I didn't know you used AI . It's human written , it's what you would normally say to me . You just got a little help , but it's indifferent to me . Where they're starting to go is more of this like visible and direct AI , and so an example of this is you know I could set up my email , my DMs , whatever it is .

However , we communicate that with triggers . So if I reach out to you and say , hey , jen , I've got a job , are you interested ? And you write back yes , that is now the trigger for my AI assistant to jump in and introduce themselves . And so now it would literally say hey , jen , it's not Charlie anymore , it's Charlie's AI assistant .

Before you and Charlie set up time to talk . I understand you're interested , but she wants to get a little more information to make sure it's worth both of our time . What I fear is that our industry is not just not ready for that , but they're going to be totally turned off by that .

That is something I think it's very generational , but I'm not saying our whole industry , but I think of how I am as a paying client . It's like no , I want to talk to a human who did a little research . So I don't know , what do you think about , like the people in our industry , and how they're going to react ?

Are they just going to log off and be like I'll go find another recruiter , I'll go find another brokerage , or are they going to recognize the efficiencies and you know that the automations can create ?

.

As myself , I don't mind that , as long as when it's not working , I can then talk to a human , because I feel like we already have the bots , like if you're on , you know your platforms and they pop up and ask you to like questions and then , but I , if I understand technology well enough that if I have a question that the robot probably can't answer me ,

I'll try , but I'm always like no , that's not what I'm like , I don't . That help article did not help me . Right , like there's something malfunctioning . So always like no , that's not what I'm like , I don't . That help article did not help me . Right , like there's something malfunctioning . So I like . I like when it's there , because sometimes you can then .

So like in your case , you're busy . Like Charlie is a lot harder than talking to the AI robot . Right , and I don't want to waste either one of our times if that wouldn't be a good fit . So I like that oh hey , let's jump in , let's do some qualifying questions , cool , and then , if it works , then let's jump on the calendar .

But if then there is like follow up , or if there's questions that it can't answer or whatever , then there has to be like the press zero for operator .

And I like there are so many of those companies now that you can't press zero for operator , and I like there are so many of those companies now that you can't press zero for operator , and it drives me insane , like I'm like I I just want to talk to a person because I would talk to the fake person , I would talk to the AI robot if it could answer my

question Exactly .

There was a fascinating study I don't have all the data on it so I'm not going to quote it but it was looking at the last two years of recent college grads and a very high percentage of them 75 , 80% of them negotiated their first offer for their first job via AI and actually preferred it . That's interesting too .

And what is that doing to our skill set If , like , yeah , I can negotiate with a computer all day long , but am I going to look you in the eye and say no or say give me $3,000 more ? So that's just . I mean , that is where companies are going . It's just a matter of what we adopt .

It's a change in world and it's going to be interesting to see how , how we adapt to both sides of it , like what we can use to help us advance behind the scenes , and then also what we can put out there and just be comfortable with .

Is that scroll that we're doing on LinkedIn and seeing in our own feeds indicative to what is actually happening in the market ?

So a lot of times the unemployment it's going to like these seasonal intent positions where you come in , you work for me for a week and then you're unemployed , whereas I think you know what we're talking about in our feeds . It's more these professional career moves .

You know W-2 salary jobs and there are a lot more people looking for a job than there are jobs right now . And I've said this before at different times in the 20 years I've recruited in this industry , but I have never said it for as long as I've been saying it , and this is now going back to Q4 of 22 .

So we had that great resignation where there was a total imbalance that you know more job seekers or sorry , more jobs than job seekers and job seekers really had . You know the leverage in late 22, . It flipped and I am just waiting for it to come back or even just to balance out , because it's brutal out there right now .

There are a lot of layoffs , there's a lot of fear on both sides . The businesses have fear , the individuals , the job seekers , people aren't moving out of fear . So it's not pretty . I'm not going to try and sugarcoat it . It's not pretty , at least from my point of view , specific to the industry we work in .

That's a long time , that's a lot of our whole next year of planning may be useless if things don't turn around . I do want to believe that we've hit our low , because that's what all the experts say and the data analysis like we can't go lower .

But the question is like how quickly can we get out of this , versus just like plateauing at these different levels ? But yeah , right now I mean job seekers . It's taking people four to five months on average to find a new job , and it's just because the capacity is not there .

And so right now , the companies that are shining you know whether they're shining from revenue or not they're shining because they care for people and they're showing that in different ways , whether it's through social media , whether it's through , you know , someone's testimonial who works there , whether it's an observation , but it's .

That is what is going to make people stand our company stand out .

Now , you're right , Companies have the luxury of not needing to care about that . Their employees probably aren't going anywhere , but they will eventually . And when they do , you better have those programs , processes , philosophies in place to keep them . And that's always what I've always said is the same reason people join your company is the same reason they stay .

So you've got to be thinking about that . Regardless of where the hiring market is , you always are going to either need to retain people or attract new people , or do both . So it's worth the effort and it's not always a budget spend .

I mean , it certainly can be , but there's a lot of little things companies can do to show that they care about their humans .

And earlier we talked a little bit about like the fear like people have a fear that they are going to lose their job and they're going like how can companies make them feel less fearful and , like , understand their place and their role inside of that business ?

It's a really tough spot for employers because if job seekers are paying attention to the market , if they're paying attention to their you know , whatever their leaderboards or whatever their their company is showing them , it should be obvious that things have been on a decline .

It is not the best year in freight , so it's tricky right now because companies have to keep that balance . They are balancing the revenue and the costs , the shippers and the carriers , and if that need is not there , there's only so much extra capacity and extra supply that you can have on your team .

Employees , I think , can ask questions , be curious , going back to our very first points , know what their soft skills are and just continue to hone in on those and really think about what you can do to make more of an impact at your current employer and even if it's not in your job description , this is the time where you've got to go above and beyond , to

stand out because do to make more of an impact at your current employer and even if it's not in your job description . This is the time where you've got to go above and beyond to stand out , because I don't know a single company out there that wouldn't say you know , we want to be fair , but we also are people .

We need to push them more than we've ever pushed them . Right now , we need to know who is on this team and , yeah , I wish I had a better answer , but it's just it's . It's the unknown , it's the uncertainty that's ahead .

Are you networking with like-minded people ? If you apply for a job , do you have a way to get in touch with someone who might be a decision maker at that company ? Those are the resourceful , out-of-the-box skills that are going to help you stand out .

If somebody applies to my job and then I get a very well-crafted , intentional email from that person just saying please look out for my resume and it doesn't have to be a cover letter , but it's got to be intentional .

They need to say , you know reference that they actually took the time to read my profile and you know we have the same college in common or we both , you know , have the same whatever hobby in common . So I say , go out on a limb and , you know , think about the science you've got to apply and send your resume in .

But then the art is how do I make my way and get noticed by this company and really stand out based on what I think they need from me and what my value is to them ?

But like I encourage people to have multiple resumes for the different varying types of jobs that you're seeking , because you want a resume that highlights the skillset that they're looking for , and so if you just have one and it just lists everything the same exact way , it's not the same and there's things that you can do .

Like I earlier in my career , like one of the highlights on my resume was so silly but I worked at a donut shop for like 12 years of my life and I had open and close responsibilities and I counted the money and I and so I put that in there because that showed that I worked was capable of working by myself or on a team , because in the daytime we would

work , at night I worked over and I was entrusted to open and close the shop by myself , and so I'm like there are things like it's a silly donut shop , I love it , but like it that I learned a lot of responsibility . I've actually I could go on a whole tangent but like every customer service skill I learned is practically from that job .

They had to build relationships and make customers happy , but also please their colleagues and peers and pressure . So sorry , did you ? You asked me a question in there , oh yeah .

I mean , if you came into an interview and said something about something I posted on LinkedIn three weeks ago , you've got my attention because you just scrolled all the way down and found something that you want to bring up that we can talk about . And I think a lot of job seekers just assume they need me more than I need them .

Like no , it's a two-way , it's always a two way street , but especially in this market , you've got to stand out . The two resume thing it's interesting .

I wonder what my team would say if I pulled my team and asked them what they suggest , because there is no like heart and about it I would say , for efficiency sake , one resume should be able to do the job , no matter how versatile you are . Like that is just a nightmare .

You know , jen resume version one , jen resume for restaurants , jen resume for transportation Like it's just so much work and I really believe , like your resume is just your story . So how can you tell your story and come across truly for the versatile person you are , but also you know bringing out your passions and something it's like ?

You may weave in 25 different skills , but the ones you're most passionate about actually appear on your resume four different times and I think that is the way you tell your story . I also think now , like with LinkedIn , what an extra gift we have to provide more information , and so you know .

Here's my resume , but I would also suggest you check out my LinkedIn , where I have , you know , 3000 characters to tell you who I am as a person that I don't have on this resume because I'm scared to go onto a third page . So I really think it's like the combination and with the access we have now to people like that is perfectly okay .

My resume is one thing and I hope that it's going to , you know , get through the algorithm and be flagged as a potential candidate , but there's also there's a lot more that you could learn about me before we even talk , if you go to my LinkedIn profile even talk if you go to my LinkedIn profile .

So I just think it's like people are still saying , oh , it's so great to be back in real life , it's so great that this conference is in person , because we did go through that period of time where it was virtual and , yes , like there's so many opportunities you have to prioritize and you know pick and choose what you can make time for and where you can

travel to . But when you really think of the genuine connections , it's the person I sat next to at lunch at the TMSA three years ago , like , and I could tell you more about that person than I could , someone that I DMed with 16 times on LinkedIn , and so it's like those little opportunities and I think a lot of networking events can be very intimidating .

I know you guys do a really good job of just like whatever it is speed dating or icebreakers , or sit at a table that has a question everyone's going to answer .

I think it really is up to the conference organizers to make it so people are approachable , so people are going to like break out of their little cliques and , you know separate from the people they came with .

But I'm going to say , even though this is very not what I would normally say as an introvert that likes being , you know , alone in my house , being at these in-person events if you are selective and intentional , that is where you're going to get the most bang for your buck and build the relationships that are going to last .

Those conferences can go all night , or the conference , but the you know the after hours the after hours .

So if you want to come join us , we're in Austin , texas , next year June 8th through 10th and we do try to really engage and have different ways for people to connect with one another , and always trying different things .

I was randomly going to Austin for work and so then I like got a taxi because that was you know and to get this burger , and I was like , oh , ok , she was annoying , but it really is the best burger I've ever had .

But a couple of years ago we you know the conferences , so many in Nashville and we were in Nashville and he left the trade show booth to go get some Hattie B's and he ordered , like you know , the 10 out of 10 on the spice level and came back and he like , he like couldn't even function . He's like .

I got to go up to the hotel room and I was like why would you do that at a trade show Dripping with sweat ? And I'm like and who did you have to prove it to ? Like , couldn't you have just gotten a seven on the spice scale ?

But yeah , I know that it's like you think of the associated certain food or with the city , and you're like all right , I'm going to .

This is your first appearance officially on on the move , but I've interviewed you many times for tmsa , so I switched up my last question a little bit , and so , instead of telling us if you could go back in time and tell yourself something , let's change it to if you go back in time and relive any day of your life , what would it be ?

It's like do I want to relive the happiest day of my life , or a day I try not to have regrets and I try not to think about something I would have done differently , but I'll go with the sappy response .

The day my dad passed away , no regrets , I was there with him , but the reason I would say I would want to relive it again is because I was younger and I did not realize in that moment how beautiful and peaceful the transition can be and it brought me so much comfort that I go back to and I , if I could have been more in the moment and realized it , I

think that I don't know . I know that's a weird answer maybe , but I said what I needed to say . It's just , it's literally a second of life where everything changes and you're

not ready for it .

So I think it's okay to be incredibly sad that that happens , but you feel like you did it the right way , exactly .

I've not lived my best day yet , so when that happens , I'll let you know and I'll relive it again .