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A Day in the Life of a Recruiter/HR [Molly]

a day in the life of a recruiter

Greetings and salutations, dear DevriX blog readers!

We are happy to announce the start of our new initiative – “A day in the life of…”. We will be conducting interviews with key teammates from various departments and roles, with the ultimate goal of finding out what a day in their professional life is like.

Not only that, of course. We will also be discussing with our teammates topics like personal interests, and professional development, to help us get to know them better.

We hope you are as excited as we are for this new series and stick around for all the great interviews.

As we all know, recruitment is an integral part of every company. The role of a recruiter includes screening CVs of candidates, conducting interviews, keeping track of job ads, and communicating with a lot of people on a daily basis.

People are the most valuable resource in any fast-growing company, so it is the recruiters job to find and retain talent that has the right credentials and fits well into the company’s culture. No need to further explain the importance of their role, right?

That said, let’s meet our recruiter, and HR assistant – Milena Velikova. In this interview, we will be discussing whether life imitates art or the other way around, what impresses her the most about a candidate, and what she’s passionate about.

A Day in the Life of a Recruiter

Hey, Molly! First off, thank you for accepting this interview. Secondly, I would like to ask you about yourself and your hobbies… I know you’re an artist and an art lover?
For the last 8 years, I’ve been studying different arts, mainly applied arts, still I would hardly call myself an artist. At this phase of my life, it’s more of a hobby, and I prefer it that way, because it gives me an opportunity to escape from my daily routine, and allows me to express myself, and de-stress in a healthy way. As for hobbies, I like doing different things, sometimes I lose myself, because I can’t focus on one thing at a time. When you’re doing a thousand things, and can’t decide which one exactly that you want to develop, it’s easy to get lost.

Which art style is closest to your heart?
I like oil painting, although it makes it harder to finish a painting, because you have to wait for it to dry. I would say my preferred way of expressing myself, in terms of art, is using plastic, and clay. I would choose it over painting.

Cool. My next question is more philosophical, and one I like asking artistic people: do you think that art imitates life, or is it the other way around?
I think art is connected to life, I wouldn’t say one imitates the other. Art is more like a different form of being. Both art and life are magical on their own, and you decide how to develop them.

Life, itself, is an art form?
Yeah, more or less.

Our recruiter at her desk

Okay. Let’s talk about games, I know you’re a gamer. Do you have any favorites, what have you been playing recently?
I play a lot of Overwatch with friends, because of the social element. The fact that you don’t need to go out, and can still communicate with people, is fun. Overwatch is a cool, multiplayer game. If I don’t want to socialize, I usually play Witcher or Stray, as well as Genshin. In terms of older games, I like Age of Empires 2, Heroes 3…

AoE, wow! We should definitely play together sometime.
Sounds great! We have a discord server, where we get together to play multiplayer games with colleagues.

Alright. Tell me, being a recruiter and an HR assistant, you are in contact with all kinds of people on a daily basis. Have you observed any common traits between candidates of who are of a younger generation and the more experienced generations?
The generations are definitely different. People, who don’t have much experience, are sort of lost in a way in their desire to work. They’re not sure what they want exactly, and that makes it harder for them to adjust to their job and all that it entitles. On the other hand, people from Generation X and Millennials find it harder to adapt to changes, and new dynamics, especially if they’re used to a certain type of job.

For example, if someone is coming from a corporate structure, it’s often harder for them to adjust to the dynamics of DevriX. You see, when employees are used to a corporate culture, they are also used to the fact that there are always a lot of people beneath and above them.

Here, you have, more or less, a unique role, and are not easily replaced. The extreme ownership we’ve established as a key part of our company culture is really challenging, but at the same time – it’s one of the greatest opportunities you can have.

Is there anything specific about a candidate that always impresses you? We’re not talking about technical qualifications, but more like a human quality that instantly resonates with you and what you’re looking for in a candidate, especially regarding whether they’ll be a proper fit for our workplace culture?
Well, it’s a bit more specific for me. I wouldn’t say there’s one particular quality, it’s more like a set of qualities that impresses me.

Education is not something that I put too much emphasis on. In general, I look at the experience and characteristics of the candidate. Sure, education has its role in the process – what you’ve chosen to study, and why – I’m definitely not a fan of “I’m studying for the sake of it”, or “because mom and dad told me I should study this or that”.

There’s a certain feeling that the candidate gives you when they’re talking about their education, their experience, and what they’re doing professionally, with passion. You can see they care about it. I would say that I’m impressed when someone cares (laughing).

Proactivity, and creativity also impress me. I like creative thinking, and the ability to “get out of hard situations” – even if you’re not experienced enough to answer a specific question, to be able to answer it professionally. Turning a negative into a positive.

So, productivity, professionalism, and creativity are the main characteristics that impress you?
Yes, definitely. There are other qualities that I like in candidates, as well, but those three are the top, I would say.

My next question is connected with one of our core values, which is Burn with passion. What are you passionate about in your work, and in life?
Self-improvement. Even when the tasks are not your favorites, you can still find the positives, and a way to further develop yourself, be it professionally or personally.

I’m passionate about learning new things, and the satisfaction you receive at the end, after completing a task, which you had no idea on how to approach beforehand. When you finally  nail it, that feeling is awesome.

In a way, you can also say, it’s getting outside your comfort zone?
Yeah, totally. It’s important to experience new situations, and face the unexpected. Sure, it can be scary, and even overwhelming at times, but it’s the only way to truly grow – both on a personal and professional level.

Completely agree. You’re one of the nicest and most caring people I know. Does the idea of making other people happy make you happy, as well? Or is it tiresome, too?
Both ways. Sometimes it’s hard to draw the line. When I’m busy, and someone is asking for help, I have the habit of leaving my own work, in favor of helping others. Helping other people always brings me inner satisfaction, so yeah, I like helping out.

Still, at times it can be stressful, and tiring, because in some cases, when I’m focused on a task, and someone asks for my help, I reply “Yeah, sure”, but then I realize that I’ve lost my focus and need time to get back on track.

You need to establish healthy boundaries between helping others and doing your own work. That’s something I’ve actually been working on.

Could you guide us through a day in the life of a recruiter? What happens between the time you come to work and the time you leave?
I wouldn’t say I follow a tight schedule. There are always different things that can happen and that require my attention – for example, syncing with management about a potential candidate, reviewing CVs, or creating a new job advertisement.

Even when I have my day planned out, there’s always unpredictable tasks that need to be taken care of. I work with a lot of various recruitment platforms – LinkedIn, jobs.bg, dev.bg, our website. I communicate with several HR agencies, I’m constantly checking and writing emails.

If I were to structure my day better, first I’d go through my emails, I’d prioritize my daily tasks, check for updates with potential new employees, then establish which candidates to contact. I’d also have tons of telephone interviews in between. I’d label my inbox better, so I could sort through it faster on a daily basis. I’d check if there were any expired job ads, and if I needed to update an ad, or boost it for better visibility. Furthermore, I’d keep track of upcoming events, and, of course, I’d help out the team when possible.

What would you say you’ve learned in DevriX so far, and what personal goals have you set for yourself?
Working in DevriX taught me to be more confident in communicating with people. I’m still not sure why they decided to hire an introvert for a recruiter (laughing). I’m happy to be able to develop my social skills, though.

I want to further develop my soft skills, but that takes time and practice. Unfortunately, you can’t just read a few articles and immediately know how to communicate in the best way possible. You just have to go through various situations and learn from experience.

Nice. Thank you once again for this interview. Do you have anything else you’d like to add?
Yes. May the force be with you, and you be one with the force.

The “force” of DevriX can also be with you and help you with your website and business. Drop us a few lines, and together we can reach the stars. 🙂

What Is It Like to Work With Molly?

We asked a couple of colleagues what it’s like to work with our recruiter, Molly. Here’s what they had to say:

“Working with Molly is fun. She’s a great person who is easygoing and always willing to help out whenever you need her.”

“Working with Molly is a privilege. She’s always responsive, and helpful, fun, and with a smile for everyone. Whenever I turn to Molly for help, she always tries to help, is a great listener, and can tell me who I should turn to for assistance. She’s a hard worker, responsible,, and she’s always a fighter, no matter how hard the situation is. Molly is irreplaceable and a pleasant presence to have around the office. She often makes the workplace a great place to be.”

Our recruiter at an event

“She’s a real pleasure to have around. She’s conscientious, responsible, creative, and a team player – someone you can always trust and rely on.”