Explore the Agenda
8:20 am Registration & Networking
9:00 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Rethinking Recruitment to Boost Efficiency & Build Skills-Driven Talent Pipelines
9:10 am Discover: Rebuilding the Front Line: How MasTec Transformed Hiring Manager Engagement to Boost Recruiter Efficiency & Quality of Hire
- Redesigning the hiring manager experience by embedding recruiters directly into the process, including sitting in on interviews, co-creating interview worksheets, and leading upfront alignment conversations to clarify role requirements and expectations early
- Streamlining the candidate pipeline by overhauling the submission-to-hire process reducing the average submittals per hire from 12 to 4, improving quality-of-hire, and allowing recruiters to focus on higher-value sourcing and engagement tasks
- Learn how MasTec have shifted from reactive to strategic recruiting by training hiring managers to own their part of the process, enabling tighter collaboration, faster decision-making, and significantly increasing recruiter efficiency
9:30 am Discover: How Archkey Solutions is Removing Bias & Expanding Its Talent Pipeline with Skills Based Hiring
- Learn how partnering with L&D leaders is helping hiring managers shift away from a narrow mindset and focus on the real skills needed for each role, opening doors to a broader and more diverse talent pool
- Discover how defining tangible skills and competency levels for every position is removing bias from the hiring process and enabling managers to consider candidates who may not fit the traditional mold but have the right capabilities to succeed
- Reimagining recruitment at scale, this approach is driving faster hiring, expanding candidate pipelines, and supporting business growth by building the skills needed for today and tomorrow rather than relying on standardized profiles
9:50 am Develop: What More Can We Learn from Leaders Redesigning Recruitment Processes?
This session invites participants to explore how construction can rethink traditional recruitment approaches to accelerate hiring, improve quality-of-hire, and expand talent pipelines. Attendees will examine the intersection of hiring manager engagement, recruiter efficiency, and skills-based assessment to uncover actionable insights for their own organizations.
- Redesigning the hiring manager experience to foster alignment, accountability, and faster decision-making
- Embedding recruiters into the process to focus on higher-value sourcing and candidate engagement
- Leveraging skills-based hiring to reduce bias and unlock broader, more diverse talent pools
- Building a scalable, future-ready recruitment model that balances speed, efficiency, and capability
10:10 am Action: How Can We Redesign Hiring for Efficiency, Quality, & Inclusion?
Action session facilitated by the chair
This roundtable encourages participants to identify concrete steps to rethink recruitment processes, shift hiring manager mindsets, and implement skills-based approaches to accelerate hiring and strengthen talent pipelines.
- How can we reimagine the hiring manager experience to improve collaboration and decision-making?
- What processes or tools could be embedded to allow recruiters to focus on strategic sourcing and candidate engagement?
- How can we define and implement skills-based assessments to expand and diversify talent pools?
10:30 am Refreshment Break
Track A – Strengthening Craft Talent Pipelines for Tomorrow
Building Future-Ready Talent Through Internship Innovation
11:00 am Discover: How Western Speciality Contractors is Reengineering Internships as a Pipeline for Retention & Growth
- Evaluating the long-term impact and success of early career hiring and internship programs on employee longevity and engagement
- Uncovering the value of treating internships as a strategic talent pipeline rather than a temporary engagement, giving interns meaningful responsibilities and ownership to accelerate learning, engagement and integration into company culture
- Exploring how Western Speciality Contractors are intentionally building a future-ready workforce with an 89% retention rate
11:20 am Develop: What Can We Learn from Leaders Designing High-Impact Internship Programs?
This session invites participants to explore how Western Speciality Contractors is reimagining internships as a strategic talent pipeline. Attendees will examine how meaningful, hands-on experiences, structured rotations, and early ownership of responsibilities can accelerate learning, boost engagement, and drive long-term retention.
- Understanding how hands-on rotations and meaningful responsibilities accelerate learning and
- engagement
- Exploring ways to integrate interns into company culture and long-term workforce planning
- Identifying strategies to build retention and prepare future-ready talent
11:40 am Action: How Can We Turn Internships into Strategic Pipelines for Growth?
Action session facilitated by the chair
This roundtable invites participants to discuss practical ways to translate high-impact internship strategies into their own organizations. Building on the Q&A discussion, attendees will explore how to design rotational programs, integrate mentorship, and track outcomes to develop future-ready talent and strengthen workforce pipelines.
- Designing internship programs that balance real-world experience with long-term talent development
- Embedding mentorship and career ownership to strengthen intern commitment and retention
- Aligning internships with broader workforce and succession planning strategies
- Implementing practical measures to track program impact, including conversions, engagement, and skill growth
Track B - Driving TA Excellence Through Innovation & Efficiency
Using Technology to Transform Talent Engagement
11:00 am Discover: From Vans to Ray-Bans: Reinventing the Ride-Along with Wearable Tech
- At Hilti, traditional ride-alongs were once a staple of the hiring process. But they created inconsistent candidate experiences, drove up costs, and were tough to scale. Instead of scrapping the idea, Hilti reimagined it
- How Hilti Group created Realistic Job Preview 2.0 using Meta smart glasses to capture real, unscripted footage of team members on the job, allowing candidates to experience the role on demand, from anywhere
- Learn how to go from concept to rollout in just a few weeks, gain business buy-in, and cut thousands in travel costs while improving candidate clarity
- Walk away with practical steps to modernize job previews and bring your roles to life through accessible, tech-enabled experiences
11:20 am Develop: Re-imagining Candidate Experiences with Tech-Enabled Job Previews
This session invites participants to explore how Hilti reimagined traditional ride-alongs to create a scalable, tech-enabled Realistic Job Preview. Attendees will examine how leveraging immersive tools can provide candidates with authentic, on-demand experiences while improving clarity, engagement, and consistency across the hiring process.
- Learning how immersive technology can provide real, unscripted job experiences to candidates anytime, anywhere
- Exploring strategies to gain business buy-in and rapidly implement innovative hiring experiences
- Seeing the impact of tech-enabled previews on candidate clarity, engagement, and cost reduction
11:40 am Action: How Can We Use Technology to Elevate the Candidate Experience & Give More Insight into Job Roles?
Action session facilitated by the chair
This session invites participants to discuss actionable ways to modernize candidate experiences in their own organizations. Attendees will explore how to leverage technology to bring roles to life, improve pre-hire engagement, and streamline the recruitment process while reducing costs.
- How can we implement tech-enabled job previews that give candidates an authentic view of the role?
- How can organizations reduce travel and onboarding costs through immersive, scalable candidate experiences?
- What steps can be taken to enhance recruitment clarity and engagement?
- How can the success and impact of these innovative hiring approaches be measured effectively?
12:00 pm Networking Lunch
1:00 pm Speed Learning
In this quick-fire session, each table will be hosted by a TA leader who will share the secrets of their most high-impact LEAP; you then have the opportunity to question the host before moving on to your next table.
Hiring for Culture with
Talent Scouts at Hayden
Homes
With Courtney Olsen
Saving Recruiter
Time with Smarter
Interview Tools
With Eric Patz
Turning the Tide on
Turnover with Data &
Meaningful Check Ins
With Nick Shelford
Leveraging Data to
Improve Compensation,
Candidate Volume, &
Retention
With Michael Powder
AI in Construction
Recruiting: Innovating
Talent Acquisition
With Haleigh Festing-
Smith