Before anyone ever worked in Recruiting, they were a candidate.

That is usually the first stop in the path to recruiting, at least it was for me. After a couple of years selling office supplies in NYC (no, not for Dunder Mifflin), I reached out to a recruiting agency for a new job. Before I knew it, I was working as a full-desk agency recruiter in the growing SaaS space.

But it wasn’t long before I found myself looking for something more strategic and longstanding. I wanted to do more for both the candidate and my internal clients. This led me on a path starting as a Recruiting Coordinator (RC), to a Technical Recruiter, and eventually growing into Recruiting Operations and Employer Brand.

Looking back on my career, I’d honestly say my first crash course in RecOps happened in my role as a Recruiting Coordinator. In that position, I was exposed to learning our applicant tracking system (ATS) and building lean and thorough interview workflows. I learned how to use data to expose areas of improvement for both candidate/recruiter experience, especially in areas like time to hire. Most importantly, I started to develop the soft skills required to influence and change processes for internal stakeholders. After getting that first taste of doing these tasks as part of my job, I knew that was the direction I wanted to take my career. Since that first RC role, every position I’ve held has always had some form of RecOps work attached to it.

Even without the title, I made it my responsibility to look at things with a strategic mindset and a curiosity for improvement. Alongside my day-to-day responsibilities, I found myself project-managing company-wide programs like onboarding a new ATS, scaling assessment practices, and even managing/writing content for our Employer Branded sites. It really motivated me to think strategically about the systems and processes that affected the results of my work.

Here are some learnings I had in my glow-up as a Recruiting Operations Manager:

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Once the need for someone to formally work in RecOps came up, I was the first to step up and take the opportunity. I finally thought I had made it and was excited to start to get to work. There was only one problem; I felt like I had actually never done this before, and the fear of being an imposter set in. But soon I realized that RecOps isn't just about the title and the responsibility - it's a change of mentality compared to recruiting. I wasn’t an imposter; my mind just needed to shift from a “Motorcycle mentality,” quickly zipping through and around new roles and candidate objections, to an “18-wheeler mentality”, thoughtfully delivering your precious cargo to its end destination.

This might have been my biggest learning moment in my career.

I needed to find my strength – what I could contribute – in this new position. Looking back, I had loads of indirect experience making operational changes and the relationships necessary to do this job well. I knew the pain points, I had the influence, and I understood WHY things were going the way they were. I could use all of these to build confidence in my ability and focus on improving some of the toolings and processes that would make all of our lives easier, and the candidate happier.

Project Management Skills

The most important set of skills I could have learned had to do with Project and Program Management. Having recruiting and coordination experience was really only half the battle; the next half was figuring out actually how to drive this 18-wheeler. I needed repeatable processes that could help me make systematic changes, while influencing stakeholders and keeping everything organized. Everyone has a “way” they would go about tackling problems, but I needed to make sure I did it in a way that truly added value to the RecOps team, and all of the other dependent departments that it impacts.

To help me do that, I spent the next few months learning from the best Project/Program Managers at my company and learned how they built software, integrated IT into the business, and changed processes and behaviors. I was exposed to Agile, Waterfall, and the main steps of the PM Lifecycle. I also gained some knowledge about tools to use and ways to communicate/keep stakeholders involved. These teachings allowed me to put some structure to the overall path each project would take, and how to guide them to a successful completion, regardless of the industry-specific knowledge or experience.

Learning That You Can’t Fix it All at Once

I started out as a one-person band when I first stepped into my role as Recruiting Operations Manager. This is pretty common in the RecOps world, and it can be a bit overwhelming. As a company’s first RecOps employee, you’re initially in a nebulous position adjacent to Talent Acquisition, HR, Program Management, and Employer Branding with the intention of influencing all of them to work cohesively. It was this thought that initially had me spinning, constantly asking the question “Where do I start”?

Before getting caught in paralysis by analysis, I shifted into a “don't react, just listen” mindset. I was listening to the experiences of my main stakeholders, their values in Recruiting, and discussing potential areas for improvement. That helped me not only get started but gave me a direction to go in next.

I was able to organize projects by Effort and Impact, ultimately giving us a list of potential projects to tackle. They helped me identify which area of the puzzle to focus on, and then, together, we put down one piece at a time. I may have been alone on the org chart, I was not expected to tackle these programs alone, nor am I the first person in Rec Ops to have run into these things.

The value of building and maintaining strong professional relationships with each of these adjacent teams couldn't be more important. Different from being a recruiter, my “wins” were fewer but larger, and I shared the podium with a lot of other employees in various departments. It became apparent early my adjacent teams soon became partners, willing to tackle work for the betterment of Recruiting Operations. By listening to the stakeholders, gaining their trust, and staying focused and organized, the Recruiting Operations world can start to feel a lot more manageable.

In Closing

Throughout my career, I’ve come to learn that working in Rec Ops is much more than the experience you have with it. Every Recruiter or Coordinator has a responsibility to keep effective processes and clean data. However, to be successful in this space requires a wider perspective in scope/focus, as well as a shift in mindset. It’s necessary to look at each process, tool, and stakeholder individually as well as collectively, understanding the intricacies of the entire ecosystem. The adjustment isn't easy, but with the help of strong management, and industry leaders, it’s possible for anyone willing to make the change.

Disclaimer: The views expressed and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and they do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author. Since we are critically-thinking human beings, these views are always subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time. Please do not hold them in perpetuity.