A Reflection: my first four years in recruiting

Interesting enough, when I started in recruiting, I never actually wanted to do tech recruiting (ironic - because present day, most of my content on LinkedIn is actually tech & tech recruiting focused). Funny, how a career plays out right? Looking back, I was probably scared of how little I knew about software back then and had a ton of imposter syndrome having to talk to technical stakeholders without any understanding of how software is built, tested, deployed & maintained. Things changed and I've definitely learned a lot more from doing my comp sci courses & bootcamp!

Over the last 4 years, I've had the pleasure of?recruiting essentially everything in R&D (Product Management, Engineering + Testing, Data, Security, Design/UX, Technical Writing) across all levels (Interns to Directors) & geographies (Americas, EMEA, Asia-Pacific) across very different industries (banking, enterprise SaaS, commerce B2B2C). I even sat in Engineering (not Human Resources) once upon a time! With each new chapter in my career, I personally feel like I've grown a lot both as a person and as a recruiter.

Thank you to all of my colleagues, hiring managers & candidates that have been a part of my recruiting journey! ??

Reflecting on my last 4 years in recruiting:

Finding purpose in your day-to-day

• Technical Recruiting is a very lucrative space. The market is filled with companies trying to scale their RnD organizations leading to massive demand for Tech Recruiters (especially seasoned technical recruiters). I personally get reach-outs daily (sometimes from the FAANG/big tech companies) and I can now truly empathize with Engineers about all of the messages they get daily.
• It's nice to work in a field that is super high demand, but ultimately, I love technical recruiting for technical recruiting. I think technology is the coolest thing ever - you're literally building things to give other people super powers (the ability to do things they couldn't before) and change the way entire communities and society interacts with the world. How cool is that?!?

Tech recruiting is a massively complex space - if you love learning, you'll love it.

• Having supported all of the RnD groups, I would say software development is definitely a team sport. Each of the RnD groups represent a different voice in the product development process with such a unique skill set. Recruiting in Design feels super different from Engineering (ie. Portfolio reviews vs. Paired Programming exercises). If you're the type to really love diving deep into complicated spaces, RnD will not disappoint. 4 years in, I learn something new everyday still. You start to really enjoy the process of learning something you didn’t know before. If you're a life-long learner, tech will not disappoint.

Recruiting is not for the weak of heart.

• Recruiting is tough. Teams depend on you to find, attract and recruit the right people for their teams. Sometimes the candidates you really enjoyed meeting don't do well in the interview process and you have to deliver constructive feedback. Sometimes, you extend an offer and the candidate says no. Sometimes, you don't see eye-to-eye with your internal stakeholders or hiring managers. I think recruiting is tough because you need to liaise and manage the expectations of many different stakeholders at once. I find this job requires you to have a thicker skin, be comfortable with delivering feedback, being comfortable for advocating for others and separating your personal feelings from an end outcome.
• I remember when I got my first decline ever, I was DISTRAUGHT. Looking back, I now realize that a rejection isn't personal, but it's an indicator that it wasn't the right opportunity at that particular time and I don't take things as personally anymore.?I guess you can call this professional maturity!

As a recruiter, you're a problem solver for both your stakeholders & your candidates.

• I see my job as a recruiter as a "Problem-Solver", both for the business that I support and the candidates I work with. An organization relies on its talent to build the products that it ships to its customers & end users. I fundamentally believe that recruiting is the catalyst for any business - you need the "right people, right skills at the right time". I see my job is finding the right skills for the problem that my stakeholders would like to solve. Not every person is the right fit for a role at a company and it's my job to find the right people. It's a shame to bring someone into a company where they aren't aligned to the culture and won't be successful - it's a huge no no as a Recruitment Partner.
• Over the years, to be a valued partner to the business, I've spent countless hours reading comp sci books, going to meet-ups, programming, learning how to source, talent mapping technical skills and even integrating with RnD by attending their events, hosting tech talks and just trying to understand their problems from their perspective. Truly believe that all of that effort has helped me enable business outcomes over the years.

A Great Recruiter is a Swiss-army knife.

• Recruiting is more than just resume screening and interviews. I find that as a Recruiter, you're leaning on my many different skills in your day-to-day job. I think great recruiters would make great entrepreneurs.
• Operations Excellence - In recruitment, there are a lot of administrative, operational tasks required to hire someone. Understanding work flow operational tools, data & reporting, compliance requirements & Lean Six Sigma will help you become more efficient as a recruiter.
• Growth Marketing - I find myself sharing content on various social platforms, creating engagement and converting interest into conversations - very akin to marketing. In addition to the digital marketing side of things, a lot of recruitment teams are responsible for event based marketing!
• Negotiation/Sales - As a recruiter, I'm an intermediary and advocate for both the hiring party & the candidate. You learn to identify the priorities of both parties and find an in-between. You end up understanding how to read body language & tone, interpret the gray in conversations and handle objections. I think I've definitely become a better listener through recruiting.
• Talent Practices - ?I find that as a recruiter, you lean on your understandings of employment laws, compensation & benefits, workforce planning and diversity & inclusion best practices day-to-day. I come from a HR background and I find that I do use a lot of the theories & context from my academic background to help me better understand how organizations run from a comprehensive talent perspective.
• RnD - As a tech recruiter, you work with RnD stakeholders very closely, you end up learning how a software product is shipped and the skills required in all parts of the SDLC.
• Finance/Business Acumen - I find that I've learned more about how companies actually operate on a financial level; budgeting, equity, cash flow, etc.
• Project Management - As a corporate recruiter, I get to work on experiments & projects on top of my regular interviewing. I've found that I've developed a project management skillset building project plans & Gantt charts, managing stakeholder communications, leading cross-functional meetings, and more.

Rome wasn't built a day

• This last one isn't recruiting specific, but it might resonate for folks also earlier on in their career. I think looking back on my journey, I definitely feel like I pressured myself to be "perfect" so early on in my career. I think it stems with my innate need to be competent at what I do. Over the years, I've realized that there is no "right path" for a career and that I was putting undue pressure on myself always wanting the next title or next promotion. I think through self-reflection, I've become more open to feedback as well (this was something I really struggled with in my first job). Ultimately, I'm only 4 years in so I have lots of learning to do. Taking it one day at a time and keeping myself open to this journey ??

What's next for me?

I'm really content with my career at the moment, I think when you find something that you believe in deeply, you're good at and you find joy in day-to-day, you can't really ask for more. For me, I would love to continue to share my passion for technical recruiting with other recruiters -?the world needs more great recruiters! ??