A Day in the Life of a Senior Tech Recruiter

Inna is a Senior Tech Recruiter on our Recruiting Team. In today’s post, she shares her experience recruiting for a high-growth company and serving as an advisor and partner for her hiring teams.

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Could you please introduce yourself?

I work as a Senior Tech Recruiter, and I recently celebrated my 1 year anniversary at GetYourGuide.  Prior to GetYourGuide, I worked as a Tech Recruiter in Berlin for smaller startups.

What does your role entail?

All of our recruiters are 360-degree recruiters, which means we handle every aspect of the recruiting process. As a Tech Recruiter, I focus specifically on hiring for Backend and DevOps Engineering positions.

My core tasks include:

• Bringing the best people to GetYourGuide  
• Sourcing to ensure our funnel is healthy and managing our agency relationships when we need extra support  
• Interviewing and supporting candidates throughout the recruiting process
• Preparing offers and closing candidates
• Partnering with HR once a candidate is hired to provide a seamless transition from candidate to employee
• Providing a top-notch candidate experience
• Collaborating with our hiring teams to make sure our hiring processes are consistent
• Brainstorming with the coordination team on how we can better support candidates through the hiring process
• Working with Employer Branding to find ways to strengthen our tech brand
• Tackling side projects that are in-line with our team’s overall strategy

What side projects have you worked on?

The Recruiting team recently worked on a project with HR to reduce the time between a candidate accepting our offer and receiving the official contract.

We realized that while we were scaling and closing more and more positions, the hand-off between recruiters and HR for future employees was not working smoothly. So, we sat down with HR to identify what we could do to improve the hand-off.  After making some adjustments, including making changes to our ATS system, the transition is now much more smooth.  

One of our OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) is to improve the pass rate with candidates who make it to our on-site interview. So, we launched a project with the aim of better identifying who will be a GetYourGuide Champion and what competencies this person must have for various positions. I’m working on this project with some hiring managers, our Director of Talent Acquisition, the VP People, as well as the rest of the Executive team, including our CEO and COO.

What percentage of your time is dedicated to your core tasks vs. projects?

80% of my time is dedicated to core tasks: interviewing, managing the funnel, speaking with hiring managers while 20% is dedicated to projects.

How do you balance this time?

Hiring is the first priority company-wide and to help recruiters organize their time, certain positions have been singled out as high-priority. I will always focus on having a healthy funnel for these high-priority positions over dedicating time to a side project. But, if I have a healthy funnel for these roles, then I will spend more time working on side projects.

Why do you enjoy working on projects?

Working on projects helps me diversify and sharpen my skills at the same time. It is exciting because it gives me an opportunity to see the bigger picture and understand the huge impact recruiting has on the success of the business.

It’s also beneficial because, with projects, I focus on all roles.  I gain perspectives from different people and hiring teams and am able to make a greater impact than if I were just working on my own roles. As a recruiter, if you want to maximize your impact, you definitely need to tackle project work as well. I’m lucky because my manager really supports me and gives me the freedom and trust to work on projects.

How does your work as a recruiter impact the business as a whole?

If I’m not able to make a hire, if I’m not able to ensure I’m bringing the best candidates to GetYourGuide, then the business can’t grow, can’t scale, and can’t meet the strategy. We focus on quality here. We aren’t just about making the hire, but about finding the right person for our teams. I see the great impact of every person I’ve hired. Recruiters have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders, but there is a lot of support from hiring managers and hiring teams. Hiring is everyone’s first priority.

How would you describe the hiring teams at GetYourGuide?

My hiring teams are actively engaged in the entire recruiting process; from sourcing to closing, we work together to create a positive experience for our candidates. Hiring teams ask for feedback on how to sharpen their interviewing skills, fill out their scorecards in a timely manner, and are quick with ideas on how to find great people. They also bring their knowledge of data analysis and empower us to use numbers to back up our decisions and forecast. Our hiring teams challenge us as recruiters and push us to the next level.

How has your role changed since joining GetYourGuide?

I now have a better understanding of our hiring bar at GetYourGuide. Our hiring bar is really high, which I find incredibly motivating. It pushes me to bring only the best candidates to the company. I’ve also progressed a lot when it comes to understanding the needs of my hiring managers. I’m diving deeper into my roles, and with this newfound understanding, I get better results.

What is the most challenging aspect of your role?

The most challenging aspect, perhaps for any recruiter working in a startup, is finding a balance between scaling fast and finding people who are a technical and culture fit.  For us, culture fit is very important.

We usually don’t have an issue finding candidates with great technical skills, but it’s a challenge to find someone who is a really great culture fit as well. This is the most challenging part for me. I have to be more creative, more diligent, and demonstrate more grit to ensure we bring the right people to our teams.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your role?

The most rewarding aspect of my role is the feedback from the candidates. We often compete with top companies for talent and it’s great to hear from candidates that our process was better. All companies are competing for the best people, but not all companies ensure they form a good relationship. It’s rewarding to work with my team to create the best recruiting experience and to know it actually makes a difference for the candidate.

Of course, it’s also awesome to make a hire. Every hire is like a mini-holiday and something to be celebrated.

What advice would you have for someone who would like to work as a Tech Recruiter?

It’s a very dynamic environment. You’ll never be in the same place with the same challenges twice. Be ready for this.  Also be ready for the fast pace that comes with scaling and know this type of work requires commitment.

Working as a recruiter at GetYourGuide is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to hone their skills working in-house during a period of high growth.

What is your favorite thing about working at GetYourGuide?

It’s simple: the people and our culture.

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