i-froze

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MARCH 2026

¡Hola {{ firstname }}!

¿Cómo estás?

¿Qué estás haciendo ahora?

Unless you know Spanish, you probably froze, wondering how to respond.

I did first time. And that's ok.

I'll explain through a story.

I was about 1 month into learning Spanish through an online course, but I had no one to practice speaking with. That's the best way to learn.

So I tried an AI conversational app.

And I struggled.

I started off great with introductions and a few phrases, but then I was a deer in the headlights.

The problem? I wasn't ready.

I hadn't practiced enough Spanish yet, so the AI speech was going too fast for me.

My brain was trying to catch up.

So I repeated the AI conversations again and again, until I felt confident and improved.

Why am I discussing this?

Because many people go through the same thing when they're interviewing.

I've interviewed many people who don't practice. They wing it. And it shows.

When I messed up? No big deal. Rinse & repeat.

You mess up on an interview?

It's a big deal.

You're done.

No one is going to correct your mistakes.

What's the lesson?

Practice before you interview, especially your elevator pitch.

Many times.

Out loud.

And prepare for tangents.

That's how you'll build confidence.

And you'll be ahead of the many candidates who don't practice.

¡buena suerte y hasta luego!

P.S. Thanks to daily learning, I know numbers (1-100 is pretty quick to learn), days of the week, key verbs (can, have, want, go, etc.), some words and expressions like ¿Hay cafe? (is there coffee), disculpe (excuse me), ¿Cómo se dice eso? (how do you say that), ¿puedes repetir? (can you repeat that), and no entiendo (I don't understand). 😁

In this issue:

Why Email Outreach Is Stalling
The Job Market
6 Ways to Boost Your Job Search
No Bull content picks

Business Briefs

🚫 Email Recruiting Is Flatlining in 2026: What HR Leaders Need to Know

Cold email is quickly losing its shine as an outreach staple, and it has big implications for your recruiting efforts.

Gmail recently rolled-out AI filters to aggressively screen out unsolicited messages, pushing most outreach into the Promotions or Spam folders before people ever see it.

Google's Inbox AI now evaluates intent, sender behavior, message structure, and historical engagement at a deeper level than ever before. Even legitimate, well‑crafted recruiting emails are getting sidelined.

Obviously, this is going to impact the entire business, including marketing and sales, but I'm just going to focus on recruiting.

What This Means for Talent Acquisition

Recruiters who continue to heavily focus on email to reach candidates will face lower response rates. Emails will probably end up in spam, meaning that effort might be for nothing. Filling a role can quickly become that much more difficult.

Every recruiter wants to fill the pipeline with the best candidates, but if they're not replying, what do you do?

With low response rates, Recruiters may now have to select 2nd and 3rd tier candidates, diluting candidate quality. While I'm not saying these candidates won't be productive or fit in, chances are that it will take longer or they won't.

How Can You Adapt?

Diversify outreach into channels that AI filters can’t easily block. For example, platforms such as LinkedIn where candidates naturally spend their time and changing communication style into conversations to build engagement vs. a traditional one-way "check out this job" broadcast. Or old-fashioned phone calls.

The Bottom Line?
Your outreach strategy must evolve. HR leaders who empower their teams to embrace modern, multi‑channel engagement will have better chances to attract top talent. Otherwise, you risk eroding your talent pipeline.

Canada Job Market Snapshot – January 2026

Canada’s labour market started 2026 on a softer note, with employment declining by about 25,000 jobs (‑0.1%) nationwide. Despite the drop in employment, the unemployment rate fell to 6.5%, largely because fewer people were actively searching for work.

Where Jobs Were Lost

The most significant losses occurred in:

Manufacturing: Down roughly 28,000 jobs, making it the largest source of decline and heavily concentrated in Ontario.
Part‑time roles: Much of the decline came from reductions in part‑time work rather than full-time positions.
Educational services & public administration: Also experienced declines.

Where Jobs Were Gained

A few sectors posted growth despite broader weakness:

Information, culture, and recreation: +17,000 jobs (+2.0%).
Business, building & other support services: +14,000 (+2.1%).
Agriculture: +10,500 (+4.2%).
Construction, health care, utilities, wholesale/retail, and finance/insurance/real estate also saw modest gains.

What It Means

Overall, January reflected mixed labour‑market conditions:

Job losses were driven by cyclical manufacturing weakness, partly due to US tariffs.
The drop in unemployment was not a sign of strength. Labour force participation fell, meaning fewer people were looking for work.
Full‑time hiring remained comparatively stable, suggesting employers are being more selective but not stopping hiring altogether.

Career Corner

6 Ways to Boost Your Job Search

Do you find yourself applying to jobs and waiting to hear back ... but all you hear is silence? Your job search is stalled. Why? You're being reactive instead of proactive.

So ... how do you improve your odds? Try these 6 approaches:

Be proactive
- Target companies that need your skills
- Subscribe to their page to see updates
- Connect with people at the company who would hire you
Promote yourself
- Crisp, clear elevator pitch
- Simplify your resume and describe your value in the summary
- Write and post content
Network, network, network
- Meet people and have conversations IRL
- Reconnect with people who you have lost touch with
Give
- Help others where you can
- Provide thoughtful insight
- Focus on others when speaking, not you
Don't say "I'll looking for a job"
- It kills a conversation if they're not hiring
- Ask for help instead; Everyone loves to help
Be positive
- Your body language and vocal tone subconsciously reflects your mood
- Staying positive = more energy and better thinking
- Smile before interviews or meetings; It's an instant energy boost!

No Bull Content Picks

Watch 📺: Brad Williams - Starfish

The long and the short of this comedy special? Watch it. Brad Williams is hilarious.

Watch on YouTube

Listen 🎤: EED - Lego

Lego is one of the best-known toy brands in the world.

Known for its fun and complex building process, the small plastic bricks encourage creativity and playability, and have become a staple in most households with kids.

However, they aren’t just free-form toys for children. They have also graduated into high-end items for adults. In fact, some sets of these simple toys can now cost thousands of dollars.

Learn more about Lego and how the company started and grew.

Listen on Spotify		Listen on Apple

Can I help?

Struggling to hire?

We specialize in accounting / finance, sales and marketing recruiting. We make recruiting easy by managing the process from start to finish, for an affordable flat fee.

We also offer extended HR support through our network.

Need to chat? Let's schedule a free consultation.

Schedule a call

Know someone job searching?

Candidates can upload their resume directly to my candidate database.

Upload resume

Many people might be rusty and need job search or interview guidance. There is a strategy to landing interviews, controlling the interview, and managing how to be positioned as the top candidate. I can help. Let's book time to discuss.

Book a career service

If you need executive coaching, I have an amazing network and happy to refer you. Please reach out to me at [email protected].

Can you help?

Did you enjoy this newsletter? Consider sharing with others.

Have feedback or ideas? Send me a note: [email protected]

Know anyone needing recruiting help? Referrals are appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

Noble Search Group Inc.

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