Tell us about your journey to recruitment…
I started my career in finance, working for a small hedge fund. While I found it interesting, I didn’t get to build lasting relationships and just felt like it was a constant churn and burn type job. I started to look for new jobs in finance and actually applied to a financial/quant recruitment firm. Went in for the interview and realized I loved the concept of full desk recruitment. From there, it was a quick jump to learning that I loved the tech side of recruitment. I made the move over and the rest is history.
What’s the best part of the job?
I love building a network within my space that I can help but also help me grow and learn more about an area/industry I find super interesting. Having people come back to work with me again because I’ve helped them find a “dream role” is also super rewarding.
What’s the biggest challenge?
Cutting through all the noise. There are so many people in our industry that don’t share the passion or interest in the DevOps world that I do. I really don’t like the fact that because of that, recruitment has a dirty connotation to many. Although it’s great proving that there are still great recruiters out there.
It’s an exciting time for Orbis in the US, plus you’ve recently relocated – What are you most looking forward to about this move?
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about the weather and Miami area in general. There is so much culture and things to do and eat down here. But it’s also a really exciting time for the Miami tech scene and getting in early to help with the explosion of tech jobs is going to be super exciting and fun!
You’re also a podcast host extraordinaire! What’s the story of ‘Infrastructure as Conversation’? Take us back to how it started…
Infrastructure as Conversation was born out of my love of connecting with people. I’ve always thought about how interesting the people side of tech was and how lucky I was to learn about the stories behind how people got into tech. Getting to see the diversity and range of people, their backgrounds and how they got into tech seemed like such a valuable insight that was missed by many because we are always more caught up in the actual technology than the people who made it. I thought my podcast could be a platform for people to share those stories and ultimately help others learn from their experiences.
What’s your top piece of advice for networking and building professional relationships?
Transparency and respect. I think the key to having someone trust you with something as important as their career requires you to be honest with them and actually care about the outcome. You have to be cognizant of how important some of these decision can be and not be a salesman but an advisor that is always looking out for everyone’s best interest. That doesn’t mean you have to blindly agree with everything your candidate or client does, but you need to respect their decision and make sure they always have everything they need to make a properly informed decision.
What’s something you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
That it’s a small world and it’s better to pass on pushing someone into a role now vs helping them for the long term. I gave in to peer pressure early in my career when they pressured me to “close deals” and I burned bridges with candidates that deserved better.
In another life… If you weren’t a recruiter, what would you be doing?
A youtuber….I know that sounds funny but if it wasn’t for college and the pressures of getting a degree or the career in finance that I thought I wanted, I was an active member of the Android custom developer world and a huge tech geek that did reviews. It was really early on in that space and I didn’t have any examples of how it could be turned into a career. But seeing people today who do that, I think I would have loved every second of that life.
