Welcome to another "Day in The Life of a BWB Recruiter" series; this week, get to know Technical Recruiter Anthony Quintanilla Guillen. Anthony joined the BWBacon team in February of 2022, and promptly joined us on an all-out road trip to the 4th annual Silverton Shred in Southern Colorado on his very first week on the job. It was quite the whirlwind introduction to the team, and we couldn't be happier he didn't run for the hills after that crazy week! Now located in Union, Missouri as BWB's first-ever remote employee, we asked Anthony to share more about his background and his perspective on what it's like being a technical recruiter in 2023.
I started my career in retail at 16, and pretty quickly ended up in a trajectory path towards leadership positions and managing people. I held a few roles over the years from being a team lead to department manager positions, and that’s when I started being involved in the recruiting aspect of the job. When I worked at Xerox, I helped with a lot of the recruiting for high-level roles for supervisors, trainers, and other leadership positions, and that’s where I really started to fall in love with recruiting. Since then, I have worked in a variety of recruiting roles recruiting for customer service positions, high-volume manufacturing roles, I’ve done full-cycle recruiting, and here we are now in tech.
When looking for a new job, I was ready for something different, and tech recruiting sounded like a really good challenge because it was something that I had not really done before. I thought it would be something exciting for my career because I love new challenges, and would also be a good growth opportunity professionally. So far, it's been great. I feel like I have learned a lot in the last year, and I’m still learning.
I think it's the gratitude that you see on people's faces or hear in their voices. When you let them know, ‘you've landed the job, congratulations!’ or ‘I have very exciting news, company XYZ wants to extend you an offer,’ hearing their reaction and excitement makes it very rewarding. It’s about being able to really help people further their careers, and I think that's very exciting. Especially these days with people being laid off, being able to help them in landing offers and new opportunities is important because you are that added resource for them as they are entering the market.
Knowing that you helped someone better their life or further their career, whatever situation they were in, that is the most rewarding part for me."
I would probably say don't give up. Some job sites now share a little bit more transparency as far as how many applicants have applied to the role, and I would say to any candidate to not be intimidated by that. If you see a job that you feel like you align with perfectly and you see that there's 1000 candidates that have already applied, go for it. You never know!
The worst that can happen is you get a rejection, or you get an interview out of it and you land the job. Also, often what happens with our clients is they may not think you are the right fit for that particular role, but they see your potential and they can find something within the organization that’s an even better fit for you. So be persistent, it's always good to just take that risk.
I would also say you should network in general, but especially with current employees of a company you are interested in because they can give really good feedback and insight on what it’s like to work there. You can ask them why they love their job and learn a lot from them. Then, I think most importantly, make sure your resume is very detailed, and that you are highlighting the requirements or skills you have that match that particular job you are going after.
Authenticity and honesty are the two that I always gravitate towards. Authenticity, which is a kind of honesty, is important because if you're not honest, then you're not being your full authentic self. Especially with candidates, being able to offer appreciation to the candidate even when you are rejecting them is part of being honest. They initially took the time to talk to me and interview with our client, and while in the end, they didn't get the job, you still have to be very thankful for their time and consideration and interest in the opportunity.
I think it takes courage to have tough conversations with people because you could easily just say, ‘thank you for your time and you weren't selected, have a great day,’ but you also have the opportunity to be empathetic, relate to the candidate, and share what they could learn from the experience or ways they could improve."
Part of authenticity [in BWB values] says ‘look for lessons,’ and I think as a recruiter, you can learn from your candidate’s experiences. I've had instances where I coached candidates, helping prepare them for future interviews that they may have based off of any feedback that was provided to us by the client. We're all different and we all recruit differently. We give it our own pizzazz because it is our own brand when we’re talking to people, so I don't think any answer is really wrong. As long as at the end of the day, it's about trying to further the candidate towards the end goal of landing the job.
I see it all the time on LinkedIn, but candidates are ghosted constantly and that’s terrible feeling. I think it’s common courtesy to let someone know where they are in the process. Some recruiters are cut and dry and when a candidate is not getting the job, they consider that person done or a waste of time, and I think that’s not a good approach.
Sometimes we know why they are on the market and we sometimes don’t, but on the other side of that communication there’s a human being. If all recruiters, no matter what industry, firm, or company, could follow through and follow up, it would change the perspective and negative connotations towards recruiters.
When you do not follow up, you are reducing the opportunity to continue a relationship, so when that person is a killer resource in five years, that relationship is not there because they had a bad experience. Never burn your bridges and remember there’s another human on the other side of the screen. Whether it's over email, text, phone call, or Zoom video, there's someone on the other side that has feelings and emotions just like you do.
Your team was terrific, especially Anthony. I built an excellent bond with your team through all the interviews and interactions. They are smart, fun, and off to the moon. Super excited about the choice we made together. Thank you for helping me with the next step in my career."
-Ryan
Anthony’s been great to work with- as a candidate looking to get my career rolling it helps having someone who’s straight to the point and clear on expectations during the interview process. Will be sure to reach out if there’s anything that comes up!"
-Mitchel
My thanks to BWB and Anthony for reaching out in the first place! I really appreciate it. Anthony was a pleasure to work with and I hope we can all stay connected until the time comes to change positions again."
-Mike
Thanks Anthony!! It's always great hearing your thoughts, thanks for sharing. If you are working with Anthony, you can expect transparency, a high level of organization, and great feedback. Anthony takes care of his candidates and advocates for them, and will never leave you hanging. If you are interested in working with him specifically, schedule a call today.
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