The Talent Tango

Meet: Ana Batista is the People Operations Manager at Kindbody, a start-up leading inclusive holistic reproductive health, fertility, and family-building care. Ana, a native New Yorker, graduated from Barnard College at Columbia University where she discovered her passion for Human Resources. Her career has led her to work in a variety of companies and industries such as Simon & Schuster, Jonathan Adler, and Morgans Hotel Group (now SBE). She is a true generalist, tackling HR needs from recruiting and onboarding, benefits and employee relations, to performance management, policy compliance, and more! In her spare time, Ana is the President of the Executive Board at her sorority alumnae chapter of Alpha Chi Omega supporting their philanthropy, Domestic Violence Awareness, and is a plus-size model and fashion influencer.  You can connect with Ana via LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/anabatistaphr/

Meet: Ryan Elberg - Upon joining Albert in April of 2020, Ryan brings his expertise in talent for hyper-growth startups from his prior roles as Head of Talent at tech companies such as Datadog (Nasdaq: DDOG) and Bread (acquired by Alliance Data for 450M).  At Datadog, Ryan was an early employee and managed the global tech and product talent teams, as they grew to 1000 employees. Ryan oversees the People team at Albert who optimizes the employee lifecycle from recruiting to human resources and office management. In his spare time, Ryan is an avid fitness enthusiast and spends most of his free time with his wife, his son and his dog finding new Southern California hiking trails. You can connect with Ryan via LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanelberg/

Meet: Kareem Medas-  Head of Recruiting at Thirty Madison a direct to consumer subscription-based health company bringing specialized care and treatment for chronic conditions.  If you have any questions for Kareem, please feel free to reach out to him via: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kareemmedas/

Meet: Harry Dannenbaum -  Head of Recruiting at Coda. Grew up in London, came to the US for university - where he studied History. Jumped into the tech world right after graduation, where he joined Box and subsequently helped grow the company from 160-2000+ people, leading the Technical Recruiting team.  If you have any questions for Harry, please feel free to reach out to him via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-dannenbaum-34809432/

Meet: Jon Volk is the Director of Recruiting at Unusual Ventures focused on delivering the first critical hires for our portfolio companies, while establishing the recruiting process along the way. An experienced recruiting leader, Jon started his career in Silicon Valley working for tech giants Google and Amazon, before moving on to the hyper-growth startup, AppDynamics. There, he helped grow the company from 180 to over 300 people. He then moved on to run global recruiting for internet-of-things company, Silver Spring Networks, where he completely rebuilt the recruiting function to support their global needs, all while making key leadership hires critical to the company’s growth. Jon returned to AppDynamics to run engineering recruiting in 2016, helping to grow the company to over 2,000 people, leading recruiting efforts through its acquisition by Cisco, and establishing an AppDynamics-first engineering arm in Prague. He’s very excited to help CEOs and entrepreneurs take their companies to the next leve

Great conversation with Gabrielle Hughes of Gong.io! She is responsible for employer branding and recruiting marketing efforts. She has had an interesting journey to end up in this particular role. She shares with us how she transitioned from a social/content role to employer branding. And what you can do to help your organization get the ball rolling on creating engaging employer branding content.  To get in touch with Gabrielle, connect with her: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielleh/ Instagram:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/gabriellehughes?lang=en

I had been looking to interview an engineering executive to get their insights into the hiring/recruiting process. And to my great fortune, I was able to have Michelle Grover on the podcast. Michelle is a VP of Development at SAP focused on a variety of products including Hipmunk, Concur Mobile, and TripIt.  I appreciate Michelle being on the podcast as she shares with us:  Her journey into engineering Views on diversity and inclusion Advice on how recruiters can work more closely with engineering teams How delegating is her productivity hack To get in touch with Michelle, connect with her: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-grover-24b835149/

Recruiters' schedules are very hectic and fast-paced. You need to handle a ton coming at you. So I started to ask my guests about their favorite productivity tip.  The list is pretty interesting and has helped add a few new tricks to my toolbox! I hope you enjoy and can benefit from some of these productivity tips!

I had a great conversation with Devin Schroeder. He started his career in the sports world and then transitioned into recruiting. Talk about a big adjustment after having worked for the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco Giants!  Flash forward a few years and Devin is the Head of US Talent Acquisition at Funding Circle. He is responsible for a distributed team in the US where the team is hiring in ultra-competitive environments.  We talk about: Moving from an agency to an in-house role When HQ is based in another country Sell the company mission Transitioning out of the sports world To get in touch with Devin, connect with him: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devin-schroeder-3321aa45/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrdevin37/

What IF...

I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Shreya Iyer. Shreya is a Splunk veteran. Having been at Splunk for almost 9 years, pre-IPO, she’s worked with almost every function within the company. She is the Director of Talent Acquisition, Sales and G&A. In her role, she is responsible for hitting aggressive headcount targets for a constantly evolving Sales and G&A function, executing global Talent initiatives, building the Talent framework for Splunk and managing a best-in-class team. She gets to interface with Global leaders, present at conferences, and see firsthand why Splunk is such a special place to work. Here are some of the topics Shreya touched on : 4:43 - 6:08 Picking diverse risk-takers 7:19 - 8:18 Managing bias 12:12 - 14:28 Grass is greener 27:59 - 29:19 Company sells itself 31:48 - 32:38 Change management through data To get in touch with Shreya, connect with her: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyac/

Automation is great, as long as it’s not impersonal.  Do you feel like you’re talking to a bot or a real person? It changes the candidate user experience.  In this episode, we talk about what's needed to take the candidate experience to the next level. And you have to remember that every step of the process is being judged. Listen and subscribe: https://amirb.me/thetalenttango Connect with Amir and Arash, and join the Daily10 conversation: - Amir -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/amirbormand?lang=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theamirbormand/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theamirbormand/ Web: https://www.amirbormand.com - Arash -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arashbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArashBormand Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arashbormand/

Rarely do we know what we want from the get-go.  Changing your mind is ok. It happens to everyone and it happens a lot. But you must realize that any changes you make might have a ripple effect past you. In this episode, we talk about how changing requirements or your mind has associated impacts. And this is ever-present in recruiting! Listen and subscribe: https://amirb.me/thetalenttango Connect with Amir and Arash, and join the Daily10 conversation: - Amir -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/amirbormand?lang=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theamirbormand/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theamirbormand/ Web: https://www.amirbormand.com   - Arash -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arashbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArashBormand Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arashbormand/

I had an awesome recording session with Ashley Fejes. Ashley is an experienced recruiter having worked for both startups and enterprise companies. Recently, she left her role at SnackNation as Talent Acquisition Manager to tackle a new position at Snap.  We covered a few topics in this episode: Employer branding Event marketing Documenting processes Ashley’s go-to productivity hack To get in touch with Ashley, connect with her: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyfejes/

Shhhhhh...Listen more and talk less!  Definitely an underutilized skill during the interview process. Try to avoid the “rambling on and on” pitfall by listening more. If you’ve lost your audience’s attention, then does it matter what you’re saying anymore? Listen and subscribe: https://amirb.me/thetalenttango Connect with Amir and Arash, and join the Daily10 conversation: - Amir -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/amirbormand?lang=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theamirbormand/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theamirbormand/ Web: https://www.amirbormand.com   - Arash -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arashbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArashBormand Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arashbormand/

It’s a tug-of-war battle for lots of candidates between salary vs job title vs responsibilities. And this is all before interview #1 even happens.  No one wants to waste their time and the more we can foster open dialogue the better the interview experience can be for all parties. But when a hiring manager sees salary requirements what goes through their mind? Do they start setting expectations up front? Have they determined in their minds what they need to see to pay X? Listen and subscribe: https://amirb.me/thetalenttango Connect with Amir and Arash, and join the Daily10 conversation: - Amir -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/amirbormand?lang=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theamirbormand/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theamirbormand/ Web: https://www.amirbormand.com - Arash -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arashbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArashBormand Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arashbormand/

The smallest improvements over time lead to big gains. If you’re coachable, regardless of your job title, you’ll be always learning and making adjustments to keep improving. Getting or giving feedback is one thing, what you do with it, that’s how you win the game. In this episode, we talk about how coachability is one of the core competencies that we interview for. Listen and subscribe: https://amirb.me/thetalenttango Connect with Amir and Arash, and join the Daily10 conversation: - Amir - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/amirbormand?lang=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theamirbormand/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theamirbormand/ Web: https://www.amirbormand.com - Arash - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arashbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArashBormand Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arashbormand/

Stop focusing on statements of good intent.  You know what I'm talking about. Saying you are gonna but never do. We are all guilty of this. And it's a vicious cycle. It gets you nowhere. In this episode, we talk about focusing on commitments and actions over talking a big game and not following through. Listen and subscribe: https://amirb.me/thetalenttango Connect with Amir and Arash, and join the Daily10 conversation: - Amir -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/amirbormand?lang=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theamirbormand/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theamirbormand/ Web: https://www.amirbormand.com - Arash -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arashbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArashBormand Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arashbormand/

Great conversation with Natalie Heim, where she is the VP of People at Domio. Prior to Domio, Natalie led Human Resources at Maesa. She has over a decade of experience in recruiting and human resource management in both startups, large corporations and recruiting agencies. She has worked in this capacity at JP Morgan, Google, NewsCred, WorkMarket, Morgan Stanley, Liberty Mutual, and Robert Half. Natalie earned her MBA and B.S at Mount Saint Mary College and her HR certification from Cornell University. We talk about: Growing your toolkit as you progress in your career Building 30, 60, 90 day plans when you first start What to do when things don’t go right To get in touch with Natalie, connect with her: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliepheim/

What do you suck at!? It’s equally if not more important than knowing what you’re good at. Put more time into what you’re good at, not what you’re bad at. Find people to support their weaknesses.  If you’re not sure what those are, ask friends/family for their opinion. In this episode, we dive into how to balance your strengths and weaknesses when looking for a business partner. Listen and subscribe: https://amirb.me/thetalenttango Connect with Amir and Arash, and join the #Daily10 conversation: - Amir -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/amirbormand?lang=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theamirbormand/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theamirbormand/ Web: https://www.amirbormand.com   - Arash -  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arashbormand/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArashBormand Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arashbormand/