# 334: Hiring AV Talent in 2026: What’s Changed? Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-av-life-1674369/334-hiring-av-talent-in-2026-what-s-changed Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-av-life-1674369/334-hiring-av-talent-in-2026-what-s-changed.md Podcast: [The AV Life](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-av-life-1674369) Published: 2026-05-25T08:00:02+00:00 Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/334-hiring-av-talent-in-2026-what-s-changed--72140859 Audio file: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72140859/the_av_life_may_21_2026.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-av-life-1674369/episodes/334-hiring-av-talent-in-2026-what-s-changed Duration seconds: 3416 ## Resource This week on episode 334 of the The AV Life Podcast, our hosts cover a wide-ranging discussion from practical hydration tips at InfoComm in Las Vegas to today's hiring challenges in AV, AI impacts, and career growth. The team kicks off with InfoComm preparation tips, emphasizing hydration, conference planning, certification preparation, and excitement around industry networking events. Murphy Daley’s Project Management Minute focuses on organization systems, emphasizing that successful AV project management depends on structured information management. A major discussion centers around hiring within higher education AV and IT departments. Hosts share experiences reviewing applicants, interview strategies, culture fit considerations, and concerns about candidate preparedness. The conversation expands into workforce readiness, education gaps, life skills, parenting responsibilities, and how younger generations enter the workforce. AI also emerges as a major theme, with debate around automation, layoffs, and how AV professionals should embrace AI as a tool rather than fear it as a replacement. The episode closes with advice for job seekers: prepare, research organizations, ask thoughtful questions, and prioritize finding the right culture fit. Topics Discussed: InfoComm 2026 preparation and conference planning Hydration and conference survival tips for Las Vegas AI-generated marketing and event promotion examples HETMA Education Summit and certification preparation Project management organization strategies Hiring challenges in higher education AV and IT Candidate interview preparation and culture fit Workforce readiness and life skills development Generational differences entering the workforce AI’s impact on jobs and business decisions Human skills versus technical skil… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-av-life-1674369/episodes/334-hiring-av-talent-in-2026-what-s-changed/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-av-life-1674369/334-hiring-av-talent-in-2026-what-s-changed.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.