What does it actually take to build a hiring system from scratch, launch it during COVID, and hit 1.3 million hires in a single year? In this episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole sits down with her friend and former implementation partner Preeti Woods, Senior Product Manager at Amazon Web Services, to unpack the real story behind deploying SmartRecruiters to 3,000+ Amazon DSPs across 14+ countries, including the moment a UAT crisis forced a full pivot that changed the product forever. This conversation is equal parts technical, human, and deeply honest about what it means to build something that actually works when the stakes couldn't be higher.

Takeaways:

• Passion and belief in the "why" aren't soft skills, they're load-bearing. Knowing why your work matters and who it ultimately serves is what keeps teams moving when timelines tighten and decisions get hard.
• Speed is an asset until it isn't. When UAT revealed a fundamental flaw in their deployment model, slowing down to pivot correctly was the only move… and it paid off.
• Your customer's customer matters. Preeti kept candidates and DSP owners at the center of every product decision, not just internal stakeholders, and that lens shaped a better outcome at every turn.
• Build relationships with your vendors the way you'd build them with your team. Transparency and trust between Amazon and SmartRecruiters made an impossible pivot possible in under a month.
• Outcome-oriented leadership beats micromanagement every time. Whether it's four days or six, remote or in-office, Preeti's standard is simple: are you delivering?
• Don't underestimate what one person with clarity can drive. Preeti started as a team of one and within months was coordinating a product launch that set new Amazon records.
• The hardest moments make the best case studies. The willingness to write a pivot doc, convince leadership, and take a risk is often where real transformation begins.

Quote of the Show:

"Ultimately we worked hard. We accomplished something big and now our customers are truly delighted by it." - Preeti Woods

Links:

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/preetiwoods
• Website: https://aws.amazon.com/

Ways to Tune In:

• Substack: HiringHappyHour.com
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Pnhu7Njmi09N6Yzye59Nf
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/hiring-happy-hour/id1868802369
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d60912b0-8925-4bba-aff1-f5230a0cc793
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/317223012/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/hiring-happy-hour-6340769

We're bringing this one back to the feed because some conversations are too important to only hear once. Jamie Szymkowiak, Head of Talent Acquisition at EcoVadis, former political advisor to the UK House of Commons, and disability rights advocate who turned personal adversity into a top 5% billing career, is someone whose story doesn't lose anything on a second listen. Nicole and Jamie’s conversation is a masterclass in doing hiring right, tackling AI's unintended blind spots, practical frameworks for accessibility, and why integrity isn't optional in recruiting.

Takeaways:

• State your accessibility options directly in the job description and on your careers page. That single line of text is often the first signal to a candidate that your organization actually sees them.
• AI interviewing can inadvertently exclude the people you most want to reach. Candidates with anxiety, disabilities, or nervous dispositions need human touchpoints, not just automated queues, to show up as their best selves.
• The most powerful step toward inclusive hiring is listening to the people most affected by it. Lived experience isn't a nice-to-have; it's the most credible source of insight and accountability you have.
• Unconscious bias training only works if it's recurring. A one-time module fades; it has to be woven into the rhythm of how your team operates, not treated as an annual obligation.
• Once you make inclusive changes, go back to the people who've been hired through your process. They've seen it from the inside, they trust you, and they're your most honest and underutilized source of feedback.
• Integrity in recruiting is your long-term brand. Every shortcut has a cost. Jamie learned it the hard way when a single lapse with a confidential client search ended a promising business relationship for good.
• The best recruiters don't just place candidates, they redirect them. Giving honest, actionable feedback and pointing someone toward a better-fit opportunity might be the single most impactful thing a TA professional can do.

Quote of the Show:

• "The human-centric aspect of our job will never go away." — Jamie Szymkowiak

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamieszymkowiak/
• Company website: http://www.ecovadis.com/

Ways to Tune In:

• Substack: HiringHappyHour.com
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Pnhu7Njmi09N6Yzye59Nf
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/hiring-happy-hour/id1868802369
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d60912b0-8925-4bba-aff1-f5230a0cc793
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/317223012/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/hiring-happy-hour-6340769

What happens when the host becomes the guest , and her closest colleague holds the mic?

In this one-of-a-kind episode of Hiring Happy Hour, Nicole Hammond steps out of the interviewer seat and into the spotlight. Her friend and SmartRecruiters' Global Head of Content & Communications, Erin Diamond, takes the wheel, pulling back the curtain on Nicole's career journey, her philosophy on change management, AI, and what it actually takes to build something that lasts. From bio-psychology to Deloitte to a decade-plus at SmartRecruiters...this one's personal, honest, and a whole lot of fun. Plus, Nicole’s iconic hat collection makes a special appearance that you don’t want to miss!

Takeaways:

• Empathy isn't soft, it's a leadership skill. Understanding how your actions impact others is the foundation of great teams, great hiring, and great parenting too.
• You can't fake role clarity, you have to live it. Swapping roles in a structured, safe environment builds the kind of cross-functional appreciation no memo ever could.
• Change management isn't a task you assign, it's a discipline you invest in. If you're just tacking it onto someone's existing role, you're setting the initiative up to fail.
• AI works best as a support mechanism, not a decision maker. The companies getting this right are using it to reduce noise and increase efficiency, not replace human judgment.
• Every organization needs a centralized AI committee. When departments run AI initiatives in silos, overlap happens, value gets lost, and risk goes unmanaged.
• The best leaders don't just plan the next step, they map five steps ahead and work backwards. Vision without execution is just a daydream; reverse-engineering makes it real.
• Filling your bucket, and someone else's, matters more than we admit. In an industry focused on metrics, one act of kindness and recognition can shift everything.

Quote of the Show:

• “ Just take a moment to make someone else feel good. I think the world will always go through trials and tribulations and positivity is a gift that we should all share. ” - Nicole Hammond

Links:

• Nicole’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nicolemhammond
• Erin’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/erinpdiamond
• Website: https://www.smartrecruiters.com/

Ways to Tune In:

• Substack: HiringHappyHour.com
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Pnhu7Njmi09N6Yzye59Nf
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/hiring-happy-hour/id1868802369
• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d60912b0-8925-4bba-aff1-f5230a0cc793
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/317223012/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/hiring-happy-hour-6340769
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/BC0LkWbP5rY