Discovering RecOps: Passion and Problem-Solving by Geva Whyte
What did you want to be when you grew up?
This is a tricky question because I never wanted to grow up and still don’t consider myself a grown-up. That being said, my first career choice was a Pediatrician. I’ve always enjoyed helping others and still find myself in mentorship roles where I grow and develop others.
What was your first taste of RecOps?
I had my first hit of recruiting after I graduated college. I worked as a Sourcer for a boutique firm, but I wasn’t ready for a 9-5 job yet so I ended up leaving after a year. I was more interested in the operations side of things: how does recruiting exist as a function in a startup environment? I got my first real Costco-sized sample of RecOps again with Lyft in 2020, but a minor inconvenience called COVID cut that time short. I truly cut my teeth and developed my knowledge in RecOps with Stripe and haven’t really looked back since.
What led you to fully commit to RecOps?
Just the simple fact that I like it. There’s a cornucopia of problems (or “opportunities” for you optimists out there) within the world of RecOps, and those problems vary from organization to organization, depending on their size and maturity. I’m somebody who is constantly chasing mental stimulation and interesting problems (cough opportunities, cough) to solve, so it seems like a good fit for now.
What was your first “Welcome to RecOps” moment (e.g. You made a mistake or turned around and realized “Wait I’m doing this thing wrong”)
Well, a lot of things in RecOps tend to be manual. Some organizations have hacked their way to success, but when things are manual, there will always be room for error. With that being said, it was probably when I merged a duplicate profile in Greenhouse and ended up erasing previous interviewer scorecards. Thankfully, the interviewers had their feedback saved in their notes somewhere, so we were able to salvage things.
How did you get to where you are now?
I actually don’t know. Haha. The success I have had in my career in RecOps is kind of a Bob Ross moment (“Happy little accident”). I wasn’t chasing money or promotions or titles or anything like that - I just went after any opportunities that sounded interesting and asked a bunch of questions. I’m sure my previous managers would throw some words out like “adaptable”, “resilient”, and “reliable” but I think I just handle my business.
What would you say are your top 3 or 5 achievements you are most proud of in your RecOps journey?
Building and facilitating workshops to help onboard new RecOps team members.
Introduced Structured Hiring and inclusive hiring panels to help with DEI efforts.
Helping new grads get their first RC role on some of the teams I was on. A lot of them have since moved on and I’m extremely happy to have had a hand in their development.
What do you think is the most interesting part of RecOps?
Understanding the how and the why of various recruiting processes and seeing how all of that changes with scale. The problems that exist today are generally not the same problems that will exist in a year from now. Certain solutions may need to be revisited with scale. The work is truly never done, no matter how mature a company becomes.
What keeps you in RecOps?
Honestly, I’d like to get out, but “they keep pulling me back in.” I keep getting presented with new and interesting problems, so I stay. I just want to be helpful and do interesting things.
What advice do you have for future RecOps people?
Ask questions. If you think they are dumb questions, ask anyway. No organization has everything figured out—if they did, they wouldn’t keep hiring RecOps roles. So ask all the questions. Anything you break can be fixed, and always do what’s best for the candidate experience. An organization is only as good as its ability to execute on its delivery of products and services and recruiting/retaining talent.
Where are you going now?
Probably Mexico City, Japan, or Singapore, or somewhere tropical like my mom’s home island in the Philippines.
Career wise? I have no idea. I’m open to anything that sounds interesting. I’d like to try my hand in RecOps / Strategy consulting or maybe switch roles and become a Behavioral Engineer in Cybersecurity - I have a strong background in training, psychology, and behavioral economics.
Or maybe I’ll exit the rat race altogether and buy a boat and sail the Caribbean. I truly don’t know and certainly don’t pretend to know. But for now, I’m happy with where I’m at.
