Talent Tips: Hiring Managers/Organizations

Talent Tip #176: The Annual Talent Market Naughty and Nice List

December 16, 2025

As the year winds down and Santa checks his list twice, we at Talent Market figured it was only fair to do the same. After all, no one behaves quite like a hiring manager in December. Some respond to emails faster than Rudolph on a sugar high… and others vanish into the winter fog like they’ve joined the Witness Protection Program.

So grab some cocoa, settle in, and enjoy our completely scientific, highly objective 2025 Talent Market Naughty…

Read More

Talent Tip #175: The One That Got Away: What Dating Can Teach Us About Hiring

November 18, 2025

We’ve all had that “one that got away” moment in dating. You meet someone amazing but you hesitate. And next thing you know, they get swept away by someone else.

Hiring isn’t all that different.

One of our clients recently interviewed a development director who was a total catch. She’d led a multimillion-dollar campaign, understood donor cultivation inside and out, and clearly shared their passion for free-market principles. The hiring team was smitten.

Their response after…

Read More

Talent Tip #174: Hiring Horror Stories

October 21, 2025

The Shape-Shifting Applicant

Once upon a dark, stormy job search, a candidate submitted six applications to different roles within 24 hours. His resume was consistent, showing a solid career in marketing, but his cover letters were like something out of a twisted AI experiment. One cover letter painted him as an expert in Congressional rules and procedures, while another claimed significant experience with foundation relations. Then there was the expert in employment law letter, the seasoned major gifts…

Read More

Talent Tip #173: Romance and Remote Work: Dad Was Right

August 19, 2025

I was recently talking with a nonprofit CEO who was venting about one of the trickiest aspects of modern management: remote workers.

“I can’t see what they’re doing,” she said. “I don’t know if they’re actually working or just folding laundry between Slack messages and sending emails from the wine department at Costco.”

Her frustration isn’t unique. And oddly enough, it reminded me of a conversation I had with my dad years ago when I was struggling through a long-distance…

Read More

Talent Tip #172: The DOs and DON’Ts of RTO Mandates: Part 2

May 18, 2025

Last month, we provided our first installment of tips to help your Return to Office mandate go smoothly. This month, we’re back to give you the second and final installment.

Before we jump into Part 2, I have to share some terrific feedback we received after last month’s article.

One legendary leader in the liberty movement told me this:

I’ve found that employers have a couple of pain points with WFH staff:

It takes a lot…

Read More

Talent Tip #171: The DOs and DON’Ts of RTO Mandates: Part 1

April 22, 2025

Return to Office (RTO) mandates!

Is there a hotter topic right now? (Ok, maybe how crappy the new Snow White movie is.)

Now that we’re firmly past the peak of the Covid era, more organizations are pushing employees back into the office — whether by transitioning fully remote roles to hybrid, increasing the number of required in-office days, or mandating a full return to five days a week.

Most recently, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon made headlines by requiring…

Read More

Talent Tip #169: Talent Market Wrapped 2024

January 22, 2025

Welcome to 2025!

It’s shaping up to be quite an entertaining year, isn’t it? I mean, “Gulf of America” wasn’t exactly on your 2025 bingo card, was it?

As we bid farewell to 2024, let’s take a whimsical stroll down memory lane and revisit Talent Market’s escapades from the year gone by.

In 2024, Talent Market:

Placed 180 individuals in pivotal roles within the free-market movement – From entry-level to executive positions, we matched talent to…

Read More

Talent Tip #166: Hiring Horror Stories (Just in Time for Halloween!)

October 22, 2024

The Talent Market Team

In the spirit of Halloween, our team wanted to share our most hair-raising hiring horror stories with you. Names and identities have been changed to protect the innocent (and the ghoulishly guilty!).

———–

The Candidate from the Crypt 

I once received an application that was riddled with typos and grammatical errors. The candidate’s cover letter read like a spellbook of strange demands. Her first decree? She refused to do any phone or…

Read More

Talent Tip #164: Dating and Side Hustles: It’s Complicated – Part II

August 27, 2024

Last month’s newsletter article broached the hot topic of side hustles. Among other things, we talked about how not everyone is okay with sharing and that transparency is critical from the start. We also discussed how the substance and timing of the side hustle can make or break a situation.

But there is more to discuss! So here we are with Part II!

You can’t be two places at once. Picture this: you are single and…

Read More

Talent Tip #163: Dating and Side Hustles: It’s Complicated Part I

July 23, 2024

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but side hustles are having a moment.

An increasing number of jobseekers these days have or are considering side hustles in addition to full-time jobs. The proliferation of virtual work has provided fertile ground for budding entrepreneurs to take on more than one opportunity.

And we’re noticing that both job seekers and hiring managers aren’t entirely sure how to navigate these uncharted waters.

If you’ll indulge me for a moment, I think there…

Read More