The chaos inside modern hiring systems

Hiring has never felt more confusing — for candidates, recruiters, or the HR teams stuck in the middle. Between ATS myths, bad advice on TikTok, the Mobley v. Workday lawsuit, and a flood of AI-powered recruiting tools no one fully understands, it’s no surprise people are frustrated and misinformed. In this episode of Toot or Boot, Stacey Nordwall is joined by talent experts Dani Herrera and T. Tara Turk-Haynes to pull back the curtain on what actually happens behind the scenes of recruiting. They break down common ATS misconceptions, explain how knockout questions really work, unpack the rise of grifters targeting desperate job seekers, and explore the messy overlap between automation and AI. The trio also digs into the Mobley lawsuit: what triggers instant rejections, when discrimination comes from the humans (not the software), how automation gets misread as AI, and why companies should be terrified of buying shiny tools without asking hard questions about data, bias, legality, and accountability. If you’ve ever wondered why you got rejected in 30 seconds, who really makes hiring decisions, or why every “ATS-proof résumé” online is a scam, this episode gives you the truth — with humor, receipts, and the kind of grounded reality only seasoned recruiters can offer. Key Takeaways Recruiters are not the final decision makers — hiring managers are. ATS systems don’t “reject” people; knockout questions and human setup errors do. Automation ≠ AI — and most instant rejections are automation, not algorithms. Keywords help recruiters search, but keyword stuffing is unnecessary and harmful. Résumé templates claiming to be “ATS-compliant” are pure grift. Many interviewers receive no training, which derails fair hiring. Workday and other large systems are only as ethical as the people who configure them. The Mobley lawsuit highlights systemic, not just AI-driven, discrimination risks. HR teams must ask vendors hard questions about data sources, audits, and bias. Candidates should be wary of bad online advice and seek guidance from real recruiters. Timestamps 00:00 — Why recruiting feels like a black box 02:00 — What recruiters actually control (and don’t) 07:00 — How ATSs really work behind the scenes 14:00 — The truth about keyword myths and “résumé hacks” 20:00 — How knock-out questions trigger instant rejections 23:00 — Grifters preying on job seekers with false promises 28:00 — Workday as ATS and HRIS — why that matters 33:00 — The deeper problem behind Mobley v. Workday 47:00 — When AI amplifies human bias instead of preventing it 55:00 — The questions HR must ask AI vendors now