A ghost recruiter who only figures in the database and doesn’t get recruitment projects? Certainly not at Talent Place! Magdalena Szarek, a recruiter and Client Success Manager at Talent Place, talked about why such concerns exist for recruiters considering joining the Community, and what working with the network of HR experts looks like in practice.
What was your career path like before you came to Talent Place?
Well, I worked in HR for almost a decade, first in more general, soft, then typically in recruitment. And a few years before joining Talent Place, I quit the corporation to go to Asia. I did not return to stationary work anymore. Along the way, I still scored a maternity leave and then, during it, I started working with Talent Place. And I’m certainly not going back to the office. In no form. From the moment I decided I was moving away from this style, I knew I wouldn’t want to return.
What made you decide to join the Talent Place Community?
Remote work. I was looking for something extra for my maternity leave. I think I found the Talent Place job ad myself. I don’t remember exactly anymore, but I think I simply browsed on various portals for remote jobs. And I ended up at Talent Place. I applied and joined the team.
What concerns did you have about joining the recruiting community?
To be honest, I was surprised that there are a lot of recruitment projects. And that they are right away. There are a lot of companies on the market that are looking for remote recruiters, where, first of all, they are most often competing against each other on a first-come, first-served basis, and secondly, it is often the case that orders are really in short supply. It was a positive surprise that Talent Place immediately had projects to work on, and from many different industries. Yes, I think that was my main concern – that I would join the community and be listed in it as a recruiter, but there would be nothing to do.
How long have you been at Talent Place and what was your path in the community like? What has changed since you’ve been working here? What tasks did you do first and what do you do now?
I have been at Talent Place for less than a year – since September 2020. While I started with a few recruitment projects, I moved quite quickly into the role of Client Success Manager. Currently I am and just Client Success Manager and act in recruitment projects. In addition, I train new recruits who have decided to join the Community. The ones I pre-trained work with Karolina. So that in addition to recruiting and coordinating processes, introducing new recruits to the community is also my day job at Talent Place.
What does your workday look like?
I generally combine freelancing with a full-time job, so my day at Talent Place is mostly in the afternoon. But is there a typical one? Probably not. I’m a bit chaotic and I don’t do anything in a structured way, but somehow always out of the blue. Here I will conduct some search, here I will write back to the candidates. And I’m actually writing back 24 hours a day – for example, I’m sitting and watching a series on Netflix, and a response from a candidate comes in on LinkedIn, I generally respond right away. I know myself and I know that if I don’t do it right away, it is very likely that I will forget. And the worst is when I read and leave a message unanswered – then I have to be very careful not to miss it. So I don’t have some set day, it all happens on the fly. If a candidate gives me a phone number, I usually call right away, too. In fact, I have about five meetings that are scheduled, and most of the day is just full dynamics and action on the fly.
What does working at Talent Place give you? What kinds of things do you particularly appreciate?
First of all What I appreciate most is the people and how all the work is nicely organized. I remember that immediately after joining Talent Place I had only positive impressions after onboarding. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work at large corporations and smaller startups, and nowhere has this process been as coolly planned as at Talent Place. Also, I like how resilient it is and how the Community girls are able to integrate people, even though we’ve never really seen each other (or at least a large part of us), due to both covid and scattered locations – so live. I appreciate very much this human factor plus the other: satisfaction. I get excited when I close a project and enjoy doing it. I like to talk with candidates, and implement projects, it gives me a lot of joy.
What value do you see in a community like Talent Place?
Certainly a great deal of knowledge. I work with girls who are super-experts in their field: though Emilka, who sweeps in IT recruiting. Also the possibility of exchanging knowledge. First of all, these things, plus such human contact. It’s cool that we see each other somewhere all the time,hold online meetings. I happen to live in the countryside, away from civilization (laughs), so for me it’s also a great value to talk to someone, especially people from the industry, so face to face on Zoom.
To whom would you recommend working at Talent Place?
Certainly to people who like challenges and are looking for something new. It seems to me that this is not a job for people who are satisfied with a fixed salary and not too much work, but for those who are willing to take on challenges, to learn something new. It’s really rewarding, and in this regard, there are great opportunities at Talent Place.
