She loves being a recruiter because she gets to meet new people and hear their stories. But if she had to choose a different career path, it would be in marketing. In turn, if she were a software developer, she would be involved in hybrid app development. But being a recruiter makes her happy, and she can’t see herself doing anything else! 

Alicja Żuczek, one of Humeo’s IT recruiters, lists the things she values most about her job and talks Jakub Udziela through a typical workday of an RPO recruiter.

Jakub Udziela: Hi, Alicja! Are you ready for Humeo’s first-ever interview with an RPO recruiter?

Alicja Żuczek: Sure!

Let’s start with a few quick warm-up questions. What is your favorite leisure activity?

I enjoy spending time with my friends and traveling out of town if I can. When I have free time, I like to be active, plan nice hiking routes and visit local museums. In the evenings, when I’ve finished my work for the day, I like to watch a good movie or TV show. At Humeo, we often talk about movies and shows worth watching on Netflix and HBO, so I have a lot to catch up on. I wouldn’t have the time to search for them myself, so I’m grateful for the tips!

Can you recommend a movie or a show worth watching?

I recently watched the Polish TV series “Kruk” on Canal+, and I really liked it.

If you were not a recruiter, what job would you have?

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an actress, but oh well… All in all, I’m very happy with my job as a recruiter. Talent acquisition is a future-proof career. I enjoy my work. I can’t really see myself doing anything else, but if I had to choose a different career path, it would be in marketing, preferably in a field that combines these two types of work, such as employer branding. 

I studied economics, so I’m especially happy that I work with people, not with numbers. 

But if you were to work as an IT specialist, what job would you choose?

Oh, that’s really not my cup of tea! It’s a tough question, but if I had to choose, I’d like to develop hybrid apps, for example with React Native. It makes it possible to write apps for Android, iOS, and web browsers. I think that technologies that allow you to run the same source code on multiple platforms are the future of software development.

What do you like most about your job?

Working with people, talking to them. There’s always something new happening here, and I have a chance to meet new people. I really enjoy being part of the team, both at Humeo and at PGS. This type of work is definitely more interesting and offers even more knowledge exchange opportunities because as an RPO recruiter I have a chance to work with two teams at the same time.

Also, I’d like to say it’s really great that I can help people get new jobs and make them happy. As a recruiter, you contribute to this process or sometimes even play a crucial role. This alone is very rewarding and exciting.

You can read more about Alicja in this post:

#Welcome, Alicja!

Alicja Żuczek has recently joined Humeo as an #RPO recruiter. To give you a chance to get to know her better, here’s a little about Alicja in her own words.

“Hi! It’s great to be here! 🙂 Let me introduce myself: I’m an IT recruiter, and I really love my job because I enjoy working with people, building positive relationships, and achieving goals effectively. When I have free time, I like to be active. I go for walks with my dog or ride a bike, unless there’s a Formula One race on television! As for vacations, I choose the “backpacking across the world” option. I listen to ‘90s music and I like movies by Scorsese, Fincher, and Haneke. To round off the list, I love British humor (Mom, if you’re reading this: thanks for introducing me to Monty Python!).”

Source: LinkedIn Humeo (PL) / 09/2021

What annoys you most about your job?

It’d be hard for me to find something that truly annoys me. It feels great to wake up in the morning and feel excited to go to work. In addition, you know you’re doing something good. I mean it!

But if I were forced to find something annoying, it would be waiting a long time for candidates to write me back. Every recruiter has to deal with such situations. That said, I need to stress here that I don’t think this is something unusual. I don’t hold this against them. They have their own lives, and they don’t have to write me back. It’s more of a courtesy on their part.

This runs counter to the belief that “it’s rude not to reply to messages,” as we can sometimes read on LinkedIn. But there’s nothing unusually in ignoring messages from strangers on Facebook or Instagram.

Exactly, this is perfectly normal. Candidates may be tired of messages, or they may not want to be contacted by strangers.

And now the cherry on top: if you could have a poster of a famous recruiter up on your wall, who would that be?

That’s a tough question. I follow some recruiters on LinkedIn. They talk about recruitment and employer branding. I know a few recruiter brands, but I don’t think any of them is better than the rest. If I had to hang up anyone’s poster up on my wall, it would be a colleague I met in my first job. In addition to being a recruiter, she is an activist and a wonderful person. She gave me a lot of encouragement and support at the start of my career. I’m thankful to her for that.

All right, the easy part is over (laugh)! You’ve recently gone through two onboarding processes. You joined Humeo a few months ago,  and shortly after that you started working as an RPO recruiter for one of our clients, PGS Software. What were your initial impressions?

I feel totally comfortable at PGS. I quickly built a good rapport with everyone, even though it’s the first time I’ve worked with such a large recruitment team. But this also means a great opportunity for members of the team to share their knowledge and experience. I get to work with people who have been there for several years, even more than a decade. I appreciate the fact that they’ve guided me through the whole process of onboarding. They were very helpful. Anyway, everyone on the team is very open. When I have questions or doubts, someone is always there to help me and address my questions. I feel that they’ve accepted me as a member of their recruitment team, and we can work really well together.

I’m also glad that more people from Humeo are joining PGS. Things are always better together, but even without them I feel great at PGS. To sum up, I’m generally very happy with the client I work for. 

Check also:

Before you joined Humeo, you knew you would work as an RPO recruiter. Did you have any concerns about this role?

In my two previous jobs, I worked in the same role, so this posed no problem. I like this type of work. I didn’t have any concerns because I know this system works well. I haven’t heard any stories about RPO recruiters feeling rejected or alienated. Every RPO recruiter is treated as part of the client’s team, and no one has any issue with that. So I was open-minded and prepared for this type of work.

What do you see as the biggest advantage of working as an RPO recruiter?

I think it’s the exchange of knowledge. You come to an organization like PGS, which has been in business for over a decade, and you meet very experienced people. It’s a pleasure to work with them on tech recruitment projects and watch them in action. I also enjoy giving and receiving feedback after such conversations. Such discussions are always very constructive, and this is a great experience.

What does your typical workday look like? Could you describe your typical day as an RPO recruiter?

At PGS, I am responsible for finding candidates, making pre-calls, conducting two-hour interviews together with a technical recruiter, recommending candidates, giving feedback, and making offers. 

To give you more details, I get up in the morning, check if I have any meetings, and adjust my day accordingly. I usually start my day by checking e-mails from Humeo and the RPO client and clearing my inbox. After that, I check if I have any messages on LinkedIn, which I use to stay in touch with candidates and inform them about the status of the recruitment process. 

If I have a two-hour interview on a specific day, I prepare by taking preliminary notes. After that, I call the technical recruiter and we conduct the recruitment process together. We write interview feedback and take notes about the candidate. After that, I let the manager know if I recommend the candidate, and the manager decides if this candidate should be hired. Then, I get back to searching for candidates for other posts. If I have pre-calls scheduled, I spend about 30 minutes in the afternoon making such calls. If a specific candidate meets our requirements and wants to participate in the recruitment process, I make relevant arrangements. 

To sum up, on days with recruitment interviews, I spend about 2.5 hours conducting the interview and preparing for it. In addition, I need to make time for searching for candidates and making pre-calls. Apart from that, I reply to e-mails and provide feedback to candidates who are taking part in the recruitment process.

Do you find it difficult to share your time between meetings with the client’s team and meetings with the Humeo team? What do you think is especially important here?

As I said, I’ve worked as an RPO recruiter before, so I knew what this job would be like. Nevertheless, I have to say that this system works really well at Humeo. We use Slack to exchange experiences, let each other know about candidate placements, or just have a laugh on the channel with memes. Also, we have internal newsletters, which are a great idea because we can keep up-to-date with what is going in the company. There are also coffee chats with new recruiters, and you can use them to get to know potential coworkers and spend some time together. No other place I know has similar practices that help you to get to know candidates for recruiters in such a nice and relaxed way.

We’re also helped by monthly team building games and check-in meetings with Mateusz, our CEO. I like the fact that he is always very frank and gets back to us with concrete feedback. In big corporations, this is rarely the case, and employees are left on their own. I feel that at Humeo we are a tight-knit group.

In addition, we have an office in a nice location Kraków, and we can always meet to work together, or just meet for coffee and chat.

So I don’t feel I don’t see Humeo’s team very often. I can tell you that this area of teamwork works really well both at Humeo and at PGS.

Click here to meet our team:

To finish off, would you recommend the job of an RPO recruiter to other recruiters?

Yes. I think this type of work is great. Clients treat RPO recruiters in the same way they treat their staff. In addition, managers on both sides are constantly in touch and can exchange comments or feedback about specific recruiters. You can feel they care for their employees, and this is really great. The job of an RPO recruiter is also great because you get to work in very interesting places and on exciting projects. In addition, Humeo has quite a few RPO clients, so as a recruiter you can really show what you can do, prove yourself in different environments, and develop your skills by working with very experienced recruiters.

Of course, you also have to remember that this type of work is based on a specific project with a specific client. After some time, you move on to working on a different project, but you still work for the same recruitment agency, which is great, because you can work on different projects and develop your skills.

I understand. Thank you very much for this interview!

Thanks!

Get in touch!

Was this interview interesting for you? Interested also in checking out our RPO service?

Fill out the form below if you would like to know how the RPO would work for you.