How to Onboard Successfully & More: Talk Talent to Me December '22 Recap

Catch up on the December 2022 episodes of Hired’s Talk Talent to Me podcast featuring recruiting and talent acquisition leaders who share strategies, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry. 

1. Respecting history, protecting the future, and maintaining healthy office culture with Hadley Haut, Executive Director at The Atlantic 
2. Diversity on a leadership level, career path building, and successful onboarding with Amy Cappellanti-Wolf, CHRO at Cohesity
3. Educational standards, the importance of soft skills, and India as a source of talent with Aditya Singh, Director of Talent Acquisition at Informatica
4. Working for an agency versus in-house, initiating urgency and speed, and the responsibilities of a TA leader with Jodi Cohen, Director of Talent Acquisition at Tombras
5. HR personnel versus recruiters, turning a bad interview into a valuable one, and personal branding with The HR Twins Carla Patton & Camille Tate
6. Unconventional career journeys, the pressure to specialize, and why sourcing is often oversimplified with Wesley Gilbert, Global Head of TA at On
7. A white glove approach to recruiting, reframing job descriptions, and flexibility in the resume process with Alia Poonawala & Emma O’Rourke-Powell, Recruiting Directors at Johns Hopkins University 

1. Hadley Haut, Executive Director at The Atlantic

Candidates should approach the company they want to work for with deliberate ambition, adequate research, and the will to uphold company values. Hadley did exactly that on her way to becoming Executive Director of Talent and Culture at The Atlantic. She shares how, despite the difficulties of the pandemic, her company successfully maintained its office culture. Hadley also explains why working in-office is still extremely valuable for all employees. 

“When you’re ready for a new job, the best thing you can do is reach out to a company where you really want to work, because that’s the first thing anyone who is hiring you will notice.” 

Listen to the full episode.

2. Amy Cappellanti-Wolf, CHRO at Cohesity

The workplace is rapidly changing and there is an increasing focus on the mental health, wellness, goals, and happiness of employees. Amy discusses her interesting HR philosophies and shares how to find the right way to help onboarding employees integrate successfully. Amy also suggests how to lead onboarding to secure employee retention and engage employees in their work. She even offers an example of how to plan an employee’s onboarding process!

“There’s a ton of studies that if you don’t get onboarding, right within the first month to 60 days, retention drops drastically after the first year of employment. It’s not only the right thing to do for your employees but there’s real business value in doing that.” 

Listen to the full episode.

3. Aditya Singh, Director of Talent Acquisition at Informatica 

As educational standards constantly change, is it still necessary to hire talent based solely on educational background? Or, should recruiters look for something else? Aditya helps answer this and emphasizes the importance of soft skills. He also discusses India as a major source of talent for companies based outside of the country, explaining why India is unique in the talent it produces. Learn about the country’s current surge in technical skills development and why startups remain the focus of many Indian investors.

“I think we need to get away from role-based positions. The guardrails of education are slowly moving out. I think that we find the person who’s able to deliver, focus on the result and what the individual brings to the table, and then the background of the individual.”

Listen to the full episode.

4. Jodi Cohen, Director Talent Acquisition at Tombras

Jodi dives into her journey as a recruiter and how she ended up working in-house, which she compares to working for an agency. She also dives into how she brought urgency and speed to Tombras, and moves quickly while putting processes in place. Jodi tells us her thoughts on the roles and responsibilities of a Director of Talent Acquisition, and why being hands-on is essential. 

“I am still very reluctant to pass on any responsibilities through the hiring process. Anything that’s communication with the candidate, I’m still going to take on, because that ensures that the relationship with the candidate is going to be maintained throughout the process.” 

Listen to the full episode.

5. Camille Tate & Carla Patton, Head of Talent at Strava and VP of HR at RAPP

For departments that should work in tandem, many find that HR personnel and recruiters often devalue each other’s roles. This episode’s guest duo rectified this common situation and reveal exactly how HR and TA should join forces. In fact, these two guests are twins and work side-by-side to deliver the hit podcast, The Career Salon. Carla and Camille offer takes on their least favorite aspects of the opposite department too. As for advice, they tell us how to turn a bad interview into a valuable one, why it’s vital to be self-aware, and why personal branding is inherent in each of us. 

Related: What Happens When TA & Hiring Managers Unite? Best Practices from One Medical, NBCUniversal & More

“People are always watching you. It doesn’t matter if you think they aren’t; they are always watching you. If you don’t think you have a personal brand, you do.”

Listen to the full episode.

6. Wesley Gilbert, Global Head of TA at On

Not everyone follows a linear career path, and pursuing a non-traditional route can equip you with useful skills you wouldn’t otherwise have acquired. With a varied and eventful career journey, Wesley is living proof that there’s no correct way to approach your career. He offers a refreshing perspective, sharing how a fortuitous encounter facilitated his first recruitment job and how he realized the inflexibility of a larger organization wasn’t for him. He also discusses the pressure to become more specialized (and the benefits of being a generalist). 

“It doesn’t matter how senior you are when you come into a company. We’re going to give you some autonomy, we’re going to give you some scope. And we’re going to give you the trust to go and do that. And that means that you just attract a completely different caliber of people.”

Listen to the full episode.

7. Alia Poonawala & Emma O’Rourke-Powell, Recruiting Directors at Johns Hopkins University 

In another episode featuring double the insights, Alia and Emma from Hire Hopkins, the recruiting arm of Johns Hopkins University, discuss university recruitment. They shed light on their white glove approach featuring one-on-one and data-driven work, and share how building an infrastructure streamlines the recruitment process. Alia and Emma also explain how to reframe job descriptions to generate interest from the target market, why flexibility is vital in the resume process, and why you should consider international talent. 

“The companies that do well are the ones that are teachable and willing to experiment.” 

Related: Raise the Bar in 2023: Strategies from Top Employers Winning Tech Talent (VIDEO)

Listen to the full episode.

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