Let’s Roast.
Jen is based in Victoria, Canada. Paul is based in Toronto, Canada. That’s about 3,500km in distance, as the crow flies.
Needless to say, they’re almost never in the same place at the same time. Something really cool happened on April 29th though—the stars aligned, and they were in the same city.
So?
Well, they got together at a pub and held their first ever livestream event—Roast the Post: Happy Hour.
Thanks to everyone who submitted questions ahead of time… there were so many, they didn’t even get through them. In this episode, Jen and Paul circle back to some of the questions that didn’t get answered during the live event.
The Bigger Picture
How do we design hiring processes that respect candidates as humans, not just as resumes in a pipeline? The answer starts with transparency, reciprocity, and tearing down the power imbalances that turn job searches into psychological warfare.
Audience Questions Covered
Emma: How can I ensure I’m not just hiring for skills and experience, but also for cultural fit and long-term alignment with our mission-driven company? I want people who can execute, but also who truly believes in what we’re building. How do I balance those priorities during the interview process?
Alexei: How do I identify companies that genuinely invest in the development of new grads, rather than just using them as cheap labor? I want to find a workplace that values mentorship and long-term growth, but I’m not sure how to spot the red flags during the hiring process.
Jordan: I’m a new recruiter and I have a nightmare client whose requirements make it hard to keep candidates moving through the pipeline to the hiring point. Do you have any advice for pushing back on their requests so I can finish the job? I lose so many great candidates to slow progress…
Sierra: I work in finance and am trying to fill an empty role on my team, but I’m not getting good matches from our HR team. They work in a different office in a different city, and I feel like I’m being ignored. Do you have any advice?
Eliza: I’ve been quietly job hunting for two years with no luck, and had given up. Things turned recently and I have three good offers to choose from. It was so unexpected, I’m overwhelmed. How do I decide what to do?
Taryn: If you were writing a job ad, how would you do it?
Support the Show
Roast the Post is a passion project of Jennifer Houle and Paul Austin-Menear. The show helps job-seekers and employers get dud job ads out of their lives. There are several ways that you can help us on our mission to unf*ck the hiring process…
1 —> Share this episode with someone who’d like it.
2 —> Pick up a copy of our new e-Book, the Job Description Decoder and leave a review. Proceeds will be donated equally to Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon and the Toronto Humane Society.
3 —> Send us a one-time or recurring tip on Buy Me a Coffee. This helps pay for our production costs.
