Hey guys happy weekends! I hope you’ve all had some good long/short week after the Easter Holidays. My week went really well with some good progress with a few of my roles 🤩
What do you guys think a Recruiter does at work? 🤔
I got asked many times — How do you work remotely and still manage to hire people? Can I shadow you for a day and see how a Recruiter work? How do you interview and assess people from so far away and know they are a good fit? Ever since starting remote work, I discovered how I can fit in my best work for the most productive parts of my day, all while pursuing some hobbies with the extra time.
So here goes! An insight into my typical workday as a Recruiter at Employment Hero 🦄
6am — 630am
I’m usually out of bed by 6am to spend some quiet time with Rootbeer 🐱. Also because at around 5.45am she’d be calling outside of our room and this has some added motivation to be awake.
This is the most sacred part of my day as it allows me time to connect with my kitten and be reminded of how much love she had showered upon us. I’d cuddle with her for 10 minutes or so while checking in on some Slack messages (my AU team would have already started work and the channels get really bustling!). I know some productivity sites/books/personalities would say no to checking work messages first thing in the morning, but it worked for me as my roles requires me to get on top of things real quick and it also gives me some assurance that I now know how to prioritise my day.
630am — 730am
This is the second part of my sacred hour where I’d get myself moving (literally!) 🏃🏋️
I vary my training routine to built momentum depending on the day in the week.
Cardios on the Mondays and Tuesdays sets me in the right momentum and gets me pumped to embrace the start of the week which is frequently packed with loads of interviews and hiring manager catchups. I do a 5km run followed by some post-run strength training or Yoga (I recently found some really helpful content on Netflix x Nike fitness series 💪). I really hate running, thus starting with the hardest (and the most dreaded) activity also provided me with that extra boost of discipline. There’s no specific running tracks but some of my go-tos are Afrobeats, Progressive Trance and some business podcasts if I am feeling fancy that morning to have brain workout as well.
Midweek will consists of a mix of either a Vinyasa sesh or HIIT Training followed by some lower body stretches. The second half of the week is the toughest for me as I find my energy level dipping especially on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, these power trainings are definitely huge morale pushes. I also look forward to midweek catch ups with my teams where we’d talk about anything interesting in our regions alongside some People updates 🥰
Fun fact: Thursday is the new Friday and we like to call it Happy Friday-eve here at Employment Hero!
730am — 830am
Before kicking off my day, I like to set aside 30 minutes for a hearty breakfast and getting into that pre-work routine. I’m currently experimenting mixed nuts, cereal, bananas and eggs as my morning fuel because they tank the hell outta my extremely high metabolism all the way to midday. Here, I spend some time on morning Slack messages again (not forgetting to slide in some cheeky memes to my team channels too 😜) and check out some candidates’ profiles for the day’s interviews. This also include sprinkling tasks such as replying to candidates’ emails, quick browse of inbound applications and looking at cute animal photos in the Company’s animals Slack community 🐱 🐶
830am — 1230pm
Doing the right thing at the right time is super important to me. I’ve identified mornings as my Green Zone where I am at my peak performance to embark on 4 hours of interview marathon ❇️ 🗣️ I batch them all back-to-backs such that I am able to complete this as a daily sprint, which is good enough to help me get my pipeline moving.
Most of my interviews are conducted through video calls and I regularly do them “standing up” at my standing desk that helps tremendously with keeping energy levels high and making me feel like I’m conversing to that person face-to-face at a cafe. Because video interviews tend to be a little harder for assessments as compared to in-person ones, I really need to get more energy onto my calls to make better assessments.
Being able to feel less corporate is always good, I hate being formal and I really enjoy a nice, genuine conversation cutting out all the “interview fronts” (if you’re my potential candidate reading this you might have scored yourself a tip 😜)
1245pm — 2pm
Lunch time (and/or laundry time)! 😋
I’m quite lazy when it comes to lunch time, especially when I’m eating alone. I usually rely on overnight leftovers and quick 10-minute meals from the Internet to keep my belly alive. I would do occasional takeaways from nearby food centres if there’s craving for Chicken Rice or Beef Noodles, plus a nice cup of Asian Coffee (I am extremely picky with my Chinese coffee as I like them slightly acidic, not sure how to describe the taste but if we have a chance to meet I will get you a cup to try).
15 minutes is all I need for food and I’d spend the rest of the time catching up on reading and podcasts to maintain the “working momentum” for my brain. I indulge in Talent Acquisition/HR/Tech articles or startup/founders-stories books in bitesize consumption because my reading attention span is really short. If you’re interested, Google “startup business books” and you will get tonnes of recommendations on some holy grail titles like “The Lean Startup” and classic titles such as “Good to Great”. I find these books/podcasts extremely helpful for a Recruiter simply because they help you breakdown business concepts, linking ideas, and understanding why businesses do what they do in very colourful writing. These are some important qualities a modern day Recruiter should possess as the TA function is now highly regarded as a true business partner across the organisation. I’ve been consuming these contents for a couple of years now, and they’ve since helped me manoeuvre around work so much easier 🙌
If it’s Thursdays or Fridays which is usually not so interview-filled, I’d head out to a nice cafe for coffee ☕ ️and get some focus work done. Switching environments for different work types actually helps with the output quality of your work! If you have any nice coffee places to recommend, please let me know 😋
2pm — 530pm
I keep the second half of my day a little more open-ended. The next few hours allows me to slot in some contingency tasks such as candidate catch up/offer/rejection calls or impromptu huddles, as well as some daily must-dos such as clearing emails, inbound applications, replying messages, interview scheduling, hiring manager updates, and candidates sourcing/headhunting.
As my job is very time sensitive, I tend to schedule in interviews by Monday/Tuesday just so candidates have time to reply and getting booked in for the rest of the week. Same goes for replying messages and clearing my Linkedin, timely responses ensures that candidates are kept top of mind and able to move them fast through any processes.
In the past, I used to always think the faster I work, the better or the more I can accomplish. While that statement hold true to some extent, I felt that I wasn’t getting enough fulfilment when skimming through some of these tasks. Gradually, I made it a point to slow down this part of the day just so I can approach the above tasks intentionally.
On average, a Recruiter would be engaging with 20–60 people (both internal stakeholders and external candidates) weekly, it’s so important that we maintain that emotional bank at a healthy gauge to engage full heartedly with people. I realised that I am at my most unproductive state between 3–4pm and I try to have frequent short breaks in this half to keep my mind fresh. This could include a power nap or a quick coffee run that allows me to be away from the screen and reset my mind.
530pm — 630pm
The last lap of my day would involve some post-workday planning as well as next day preparations. These could include rounding up interview notes, coordinations, end of day/week hiring manager updates, or filtering soft tasks I was unable to complete to the following day. As we are fully remote, it is essential to give frequent hiring manager updates of their roles’ progression, challenges and recommendations to keep everyone aligned on the interview progress.
Depending on the day of week, I’d go for an evening jog, spending some cuddling time with Rootbeer, hop onto a FIFA game on PS5 or explore some quick dinner options before the wife gets home. Sometimes, when I have random inspiration, I’d do some sourcing add-to-cart on the couch with Rootbeer — I find that I am more productive with sourcing when away from the desk so once again making use of that environmental shift to get different types of work done.
Conclusion
There you have it, if you’ve ever wondered what Recruiter does at work, you have just done a quick “shadowing” with me! I’ll be writing more about remote working life in Singapore in the next few weeks 🇸🇬
Do check out our Life at Employment Hero campaign here to discover what some of our Heroes’ days are like. Catch you soon! 🚀