Here’s this week’s edition of our Coworking series. Each week, we chat 1:1 with an HR Brew reader. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.
Kate Cook is a senior recruiter for information services company Wolters Kluwer, and she’s been doing talent acquisition (TA) for much of her career. “I’ve done everything imaginable…I’ve recruited for every kind of job…IT to entry level to manufacturing,” she said. Cook gets to make calls to people all across the country, and she doesn’t screen systematically; she really tries to get to know candidates, sometimes even wrapping up calls where recruiter and candidate are “both just crying.”
Cook said that building relationships with candidates is one of her favorite parts of the job, especially if she’s able to make an offer to a candidate who’s excited about a role. Cook is confident in her recruiting process, noting that “some people are just bad at interviewing,” but that doesn’t mean they’re not right for a job. She’ll explain to the hiring manager why she believes a person might be a good fit for an open role, even if they’ve bombed the interview.
What’s the best change you’ve made at work?
When I worked at Fox World Travel, my HRBP and I implemented Friday dance parties. Friday afternoons, we’d go to the different departments and play music and get employees to dance with us. It sounds silly, but it was very well received and really boosted morale. People enjoyed it so much that they would send us emails asking what time the HR dance party was coming around. That’s one of the odder yet effective things.
What’s the biggest misconception people might have about your job?
That I don’t work hard or do much. [That] I look at résumés and talk on the phone. They don’t see everything that goes into a TA role, the role’s responsibilities. and the importance of finding the right talent. I think they assume that people apply to roles and you just pick the best one. Easy. But there are a lot of roles that are a challenge to fill…so utilizing job boards is imperative. There is also writing offer letters, making sure your employment ads stand out amongst competitors, sending background checks and dealing with candidate’s who’ve not passed. I work with a lot of different hiring managers within my company and I feel that some of them don’t respect the TA team and treat us as lower than them because they don’t think our jobs are a true challenge.
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What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your job?
When you find a candidate that really, truly wants the job and they also happen to be a great fit, being able to extend the offer to them and tell them they got the job. Also, because I fill roles all over the US, I get to talk to a lot of really amazing individuals. I have had more than a handful of phone interviews where I make a connection with someone, and we go off topic and our half-hour phone screen has turned into an hour-long conversation about life, and we’re both crying and telling each other “[I] love you.”
There are some absolutely amazing people in this world and I’m grateful to not only be able to get to meet them, but to be able to help and hire them. That’s another wonderful aspect of my job and something that I think really sets me apart. If a person applies and they have a less than impressive résumé, I still call them. What I find is that there are some people that have amazing experience and qualifications but just aren’t good at making a résumé. Where some hiring managers turn someone down based on the résumé, but I see potential, I will set a call with that person anyways and on a handful of occasions, that’s the person that was hired.
What trend in HR are you most optimistic about? Why?
Diversity. In previous positions, I’ve worked with other recruiters that would skip calling a candidate based on the person’s name. It’s highly unethical and sad. At my current company, we have an incredibly diverse employee base, but we’re working to increase that. So, I guess it’s an internal trend but it’s one that I truly support.
What trend in HR are you least optimistic about? Why?
AI interviews. A phone screen and interviews are meant to get to know someone, both on a professional level and somewhat personal level. It shouldn’t just be a basic list of canned interview questions that you record for a computer. It should be an open…conversation, consisting of human interaction. And after 2020, I think we’re all still getting used to human interaction again and could use more of it.