13 Apr Anda’s First Year at YourCode
Recruitment Consultant Anda has been with us for a whole year! We caught up with her to find out how her time at YourCode has been:
Congratulations on your year at YourCode! How have you found the last year?
The last twelve months have been interesting ones because I’ve been working with a new team and in general, it’s been an interesting time because the market has changed. When I joined, it was mid-Covid and remote jobs were popular and candidates were dictating the market. Now though, as inflation has hit, we’ve seen a lot of layoffs and employers are dictating the roles again. Remote jobs have gone from being quite new to one of the main things that candidates look for; people are approaching jobs differently and what is important to candidates and clients has changed. We all as a team have grown because of the changes, we needed to think differently and approach things differently. So I would say it’s been an interesting and good year with new opportunities and challenges.
What are some highlights?
Probably the positions I closed last year because they gave me a good relationship with my candidates. When you close a position it means you have listened to what the candidate and client need and provided them with exactly that so each closed position is a small win.
Another highlight was the team all meeting in Poland, it was really nice to see everyone in person not just online. I hope this year I can meet the sister teams in the UK as well!
What was your biggest challenge?
I think my biggest challenge was keeping calm at the beginning because when I first joined, things didn’t go as smoothly as I planned regarding closing positions. I think it was hard to stay positive and keep working hard because when you don’t see results it’s really demotivating. Josh and Seon were really supportive of me and the team and helped inspire me to see what is possible and to keep going. It’s important to have great directors and teammates to help you through those times.
What’s the most interesting job you had before working at YourCode?
One of my first jobs was working for a ski season in Courchevel, France for two months. The ski resort is quite fancy and it was a mind-blowing experience to see how different people live. It was a very good experience and a good reminder of how important it is to work alongside great people because it has a huge impact on how you feel and your work.
How did you come to work at YourCode? What drew you to recruitment?
It was related to my studies in HR and Recruitment but it was still quite an unknown sector for me so when I was studying, it wasn’t a career I had in mind. I had a great opportunity with the online casino company I was working for at the time to go to the HR department and see how it works. I would say I’m an extrovert so I enjoy speaking to people, it suits me and it was interesting for me. This job was my first step into IT and I really enjoyed that, it was something new for me and I’m always open to new challenges.
One day, Josh reached out to me to work at YourCode and although I was happy where I was, I recognised that it would be an excellent opportunity to work for an international company. It was important to me to practice my English language skills that I developed when I was completing an exchange program in Valencia.
Is it how you expected it to be, working at YourCode?
I didn’t have any specific expectations. I think it’s better than I thought. I like how Seon and Josh run things and how they trust their employees. It’s a great match for me to work remotely and flexibly.
What makes working at YourCode special?
I think it’s how the company is run – there’s a millennial/gen z thinking rather than a boomer expectation that you need to always be in an office working specific hours. The world has changed and businesses need to change too. What makes YourCode special is the flexible and open thinking that allows you to work to live rather than live to work.
How do you balance your career and home life?
It works differently for everyone of course. I used to be into working all the time but it was really draining and now I take accountability and listen to my body and mind and rest instead of pushing and pushing because that can have consequences. It’s important to know that you can leave some things for tomorrow and respect your boundaries while working in different time zones and trying to be available all the time.
In recruitment, I think you need to take a rest every two-three months because your mind is always working and it’s good to take a rest and not think about work or take any calls. If you just relax for a week you will come back to work better and with more energy.
What advice would you give someone facing challenges in recruitment?
Try to realise what is holding you back, sometimes it’s your thoughts. Josh told me that for some positions you just need one candidate, it’s not as though you need to find a lot, you just need to keep going. Recruitment changes all the time you need to be creative about how to approach your job and candidates. Find your niche of what people like about you and how you can be different to other recruiters.
What skills have you gained in the last year?
In some ways patience because I’m not a very patient person. At the beginning of the year, it took a while to close some positions and it helped me to be patient and wait because sometimes there’s nothing I can do and I need to just accept the reality of how things go.
What are you excited to develop/learn in the future?
I’m just excited to just gain more experience and different kinds of experiences like team leading or more work with clients. I’m always looking for new experiences because I like new challenges.
And, of course, I’m looking forward to closing more positions!