Here at Opinov8, Opinov8rs represent our culture. Cover Stories portray the richness within all of us, the differences that make us who we are. 

In this edition, we will talk with Christina T., Senior Recruitment Consultant. We talked about how to find ourselves, about books that influenced us, about inspiration and people who changed our lives.

Get to know Christina a little more through this Cover Story, and don’t miss the opportunity to join us and be part of this gr8 adventure too!

How did your journey start at Opinov8?

Before Opinov8, I worked in a small company. There was a very warm and friendly atmosphere. Since I am a very team person, people are very important to me, and in this company, the people and the whole team were fantastic. But, this was one of those cases where the team could not save the situation related to the management. I realized that I did not agree with some points in the work and decided to leave. 😏

Then my ex-manager recommended me for the role of a recruiter at Opinov8. I didn’t know what Op8 was, and I didn’t know the people who worked there. Literally in a few hours, on the same day, I got a message from Galyna (Head of Talent Management at Opinov8), and it was funny, since we were familiar with her, as we previously worked together in another company, so it turned out that I do know someone there. 😄

Afterward, I met with Christian (Co-founder, Chief Technology & Operations Officer at Opinov8), where we had a very encouraging and inspiring conversation. 🙌 During our meeting, through glass partitions, I watched the guys' work in the office. It was a very calm and cozy atmosphere. I liked how the teammates get along with each other, how they communicate, how they joke, how they help and engage each other. I realized that this is exactly what I needed! 💙

How did you start your professional career in IT? Why did you decide to try yourself in a Recruitment?

To begin with, initially, I didn't plan to become a recruiter, even my education in a completely different field. 👀 Having worked for some time in my specialty, I realized that this was not mine. I began to study myself, figuring out what was interesting to me and what I wanted to do. I know that my strengths are soft skills, so they certainly need to be used in my work. 🙌

So, I decided to try myself in Recruitment. I started looking through various vacancies in this area. I came across one exciting position that sounded like a "Recruitment Researcher" in one of the largest companies in IT in Ukraine. Then I had no idea what kind of company it was and what this position represented. 😂

I applied for the vacancy, and after a while, the companies contacted me. They told me what this position was and what the potential candidate had to do at the initial screening. During the execution of the test task, I realized that this reflects what I would like to do. I wanted to deal with different abbreviations, the meaning of which I did not understand then. 🙈 It was interesting for me to know how it works and how it is applied. 🤓 And this is how I got into the world of recruitment as it is. 🚀

What do you enjoy most about the work you do? 

I do like to dive deep into various vacancies and positions. It gives me pleasure to create good positive candidate experiences and spread our corporate culture. 💙 I love to tell people about our company and what we are doing here. 

 I believe the recruiting role is, in some respects, even better than any marketing! 😉

For me, outstanding candidate experience is the core of successful recruiting and hiring. The candidate experience starts from the very beginning. I find it interesting to describe the vacancy itself, make our job application stand out among the others, display it as attractive and understandable, and make it look nice. 🙌

All of the interactions during the recruitment process impact the candidate's exposure to a potential employer. It is crucial for me to run a qualified candidate screen in a non-standard way, always using a personal approach. And the most important rule for me is

Do not ask what you want to hear, listen to what people want to tell you.

In terms of what people are looking for and why they are looking. Yes, these things are important to me, and they bring me pleasure in my work. 🥰

What’s the biggest misconception people have about your job?

Of course, everyone always has misconceptions and prejudices about everything, but this is all very individual. Over time, you start to filter and not pay attention to certain things. I am glad that there are no people in my social circle who have any misconceptions. Many people have great understanding and respect for the work of recruiters. 😊

Extremely important that the company in which you work has not such misconceptions and prejudices. What I like here at Opinov8, that: 

Everyone knows that we are one team, that we are all sailing in the same boat towards one common goal.

When someone has a problem, we don't leave you to deal with it on your own. We will always help and solve this problem together. This is amazing and very valuable to me. 💙

What are some of the funniest interview moments or situations you've faced? 

Oh yes, of course, there were many funny and even weird situations. But, I would not want to offend anyone. 🙈

I had a funny case once before, in 2014, I was working with the Moldovan market, and I had to make cold calls to candidates. At that time, for some reason, many people left their contact phone number — home number. So, making those calls, I had to communicate, frequently, with the candidates' relatives, with their mothers and even grandmothers, which was so fun. 😂

What’s something you find challenging about your work?

My personal challenge is giving feedback, precisely in the case when the feedback is not positive. It is extremely important for me to tell the truth and provide honest and truthful feedback and not to speak a standard set of phrases in such a situation.

I try to explain why this happened and what should be improved within a specific vacancy if the candidate agrees with this feedback. But in our time, not many are ready to listen, especially concerning culture fit or the general ability to adapt to a team. Of course, I don't want to upset someone, and I try to be objective. I do this with a message to inspire if the person is interested in such a direction of development. 🚀

On the other hand, I frequently ask candidates to give us feedback to find out how the candidates enjoyed communicating with our team and that this works both ways. 🤝 I always share those feedback with our team members who interviewed candidates, as I believe it is valuable information to know the pros and cons.

What activities do you do that help you maintain a work-life balance?

I am a morning person, all my life I wake up early, whether it is a working day or a weekend, I always have an alarm clock at 6 AM. For me, morning is time for myself, as I always have something to do. 🙌

Jogging or other sports activities, as well as some meditation, that's helping me to keep myself in balance. 🤸‍♀️ In the morning, I make sure to set aside time for reading. I also try to read on the way to and from the office and before bed.

Recently I took the practice of keeping a diary, which is funny because I kept diaries all my childhood and really liked it. 😊 But in adult life, you describe things that happened to you during the day a little differently. You prescribe how you felt, why you felt it, and the most important thing is to understand what you felt. 💫 I do this to understand my feelings because sometimes it is difficult for me to name them and understand how I feel in terms of my emotions. I like to re-read my notes and experience the same feelings when you were inspired in some moment or vice versa. As this becomes prevalent in society, more and more people, including my friends, develop themselves and their perceptions. It inspires and makes you understand yourself more. 🧘‍♀️

Also, this summer, I was carried away by my garden. I started to plant various flowers in the garden of my house. But to be honest, not everyone survived, let's say,  the strongest survived. 😂 And of course, my cats, I think this is already the default thing for myself! 🐾 No matter how tired I come home, I immediately recharge, and my strength and energy will again appear. ✨

Who doesn't know yet, I have two of them! 😍 The first one I bought in a market in Kyiv, I remember that when I was trying to determine the most active kitten, now over the years, he is no longer as active as before. 😄 The second one came to me by accident from local children in my home city when I was visiting my parents in Rivne. The children found the kitten somewhere on the street, and no one was able to shelter it. I remember that she was so small, so unhappy and sick that I could not say “no”, so I took her under my arm and took her to my home in Kyiv. That is how we all live together. 🥰

But of course, this is not enough for me either, in addition to two cats and different plants, I admit that I am thinking about how to get a dog, 🙈 but I understand that this is a completely different kind of responsibility. The dog is the next step! 😎

From now on, I recommend everyone to save animals from the street or take them from shelters, because those kinds of animals can change your life! ❤️

Do you have someone or something that inspires you?

No matter how trite it may sound, I am very inspired by books. One is a book by Hal Elrod — “The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8 AM)”.  When I read this book, I was very inspired by the author's tips, so they became an important part of my morning awakening rituals. 

Also, at one right moment for me, I stumbled upon another wonderful book written by Marie Kondo — “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”. After reading this book, I literally began to be afraid of myself as I started to get rid of more and more various things in my house. I got great pleasure from the look of my home, in which there are plenty of places where your thoughts can roam, nothing distracts your attention, and there is no dust and unnecessary things.

In the last few months, I have become very digital because it is more convenient for me. I prefer to work from the office, and it is a little problematic for me to carry a lot of things with me, so I decided to use my smartphone for all necessary items, such as reading books and keeping my diary. 

But previously, of course, I preferred printed books, because I can't resist the smell of the newly published book and its tactility as such. But, as far as some training or workshops are concerned, I still prefer to write everything down by hand, so I remember the material better. Even now, I am actively practicing as I try to study French. 🍷

I recently caught myself thinking that I am in love with people, and I love the people who surround me. I am insanely inspired by the people who are around. It is impressive that among these people, there are a lot of guys from Opinov8. 💙 These days, I have spent a lot of time in the office, and even after hours, I often spend time with our teammates, which is so great!⚡ 

We really have gathered in one place a lot of interesting people with whom there is always something to talk about. You can always be inspired and learn something new from them, and they can always motivate you to new heights and achievements. 🚀

What keeps you motivated in life and at work?

I will not be original if I say that the result motivates me! 🙌 For example, when you lead an active life and eat healthily, you can see how this affects your health and your body, or when you read and study, you can see how to form your little expert opinion on various issues. 🧐

About a year ago, I realized that it was time for me to change. There were a number of personal issues that contributed to this, so now I try to learn something new every day, open new hobbies and activities and develop myself in different ways in order to be more varied.

When it comes to motivation at work, I am definitely motivated by: 

1. Feedback. Getting feedback from my managers and team, even if you are not given feedback, do not be afraid to ask for it.
2. Results. See the results of our work and be a part of something big by finding ways to contribute to important projects. 
3. Team. Understanding that we are all one unit and that you can always count on helping and supporting each other by sharing knowledge and helping others succeed.

If you could give some practical tips to people starting their profession in recruitment, what would you say?

Today the IT and recruiting sphere is very actively developing, and I would recommend starting with:

• Before diving into a field in which you have no experience, but there is a certain interest, I would recommend searching on the Internet for free information on as much as possible and studying it, to understand yours or not. 🤓
• I would not advise beginners to attend any courses immediately, since now there are a huge number of unscrupulous lecturers, and this is not worth it. 👀
• I would recommend finding some communities and groups with recruitment networks on LinkedIn or Facebook, in which various leads and experts often offer their mentorship. Actually, I am ready to try myself as a mentor, so you know what to do if anyone is interested! 😉
• And of course, do not be afraid to start and try it if you are really interested in it. It's also important to pick up the phone when recruiters call you. 😅
• Last but not least, do not lie on your CV, and even if you add something, figure out what it is so that later there will be no awkward moments when you are asked about it in an interview. 🧐

If you could say only one phrase to people starting their professional path at Op8, what would you say?

Just try and apply now! Even if you see that at the moment there is no suitable vacancy, write directly to us, and we will definitely come up with something together! 💙

If you wanna join our super-cool Op8 Team, don’t hesitate to check our open positions or send your CV to careers@opinov8.com